NEW: Get up to 10,000 bonus Virgin Points when you book a Virgin Atlantic cash flight

Virgin Atlantic has launched a generous Virgin Points bonus offer for anyone who books a cash flight in the next 10 days.

We don’t often see promotions like this for Virgin Points so it’s worth jumping in if you can.

Interestingly, it doubles up with the Virgin Atlantic ‘enhanced’ status match offer launched yesterday. Virgin Atlantic will match your BA Bronze card to Silver, your BA Silver card to Gold and your BA Gold card to, well, Gold.

How many bonus Virgin Points can you earn?

You will earn:

• 2,000 bonus Virgin Points for a return Economy Classic or Economy Delight booking

• 5,000 bonus Virgin Points for a return Premium booking

• 10,000 bonus Virgin Points for a return Upper Class booking

In terms of dates:

• you must book between 9th February (today) and 18th February
• you must travel between 10th February and 30th June

No registration is required. The bonus will be paid automatically as long as you book by 18th February.

There is no small print to catch you out, but I’d flag up:

• only cash bookings receive the bonus, not reward bookings
• one way bookings receive half the bonus points
• Economy Light bookings do not receive a bonus
• your flight must be Virgin Atlantic operated and marketed (ie carry a VS flight number and be on a Virgin Atlantic aircraft)
• ‘Points Plus Money’ bookings are OK (ie cash bookings where you reduce the cost with Virgin Points)
• cash flights which are upgraded with points or a credit card voucher will receive a bonus based on the cabin originally booked

This bonus represents a worthwhile return on the cheapest cash tickets. 10,000 points for an Upper Class booking is worth around £100 if redeemed for premium flights, based on our valuations.

Full details are on the Virgin Atlantic website here.

This offer is on top of the new status match promotion

This bonus points offer is running alongside a rare ‘enhanced’ status match opportunity for elite members of British Airways Executive Club.

Full details are in our article yesterday – click here. You can register here.

It is a simple deal:

• you must have an existing Virgin Atlantic booking in Upper Class or Premium, or make one by 14th February (and this bonus points offer is a good excuse to book!)
• your flight can be for any future date
• cash OR REDEMPTION bookings count (it is not clear if a one way ticket is acceptable – I think it is)
• your status will be upgraded 72 hours before your flight – this is actually a good thing, because Virgin Atlantic status works on a rolling year and this maximises the time you have to earn enough points to requalify
• you must not have received a status match before – but you can apply if you previously held Virgin Atlantic status which you earned via flying

What match will you get?

This is how it works:

• British Airways Executive Club Bronze members will receive Flying Club Silver status
• British Airways Executive Club Silver members will receive Flying Club Gold status
• British Airways Executive Club Gold members will receive Flying Club Gold status

Remember that having a cash OR POINTS booking with Virgin Atlantic is good enough to get you matched, but you must be booked into Premium or Upper Class.

You can learn more about the status match here.

You can find out more about the bonus Virgin Points offer on this page of the Virgin Atlantic website.

PS. I am writing this before the offer is live, on the promise that it will be showing first thing today. If it isn’t, check back later – although any cash booking made today will trigger the bonus regardless.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points):

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points. 

(Want to earn more Virgin Points?  Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)