Why you should now book Virgin Points redemptions as 2 x one-way flights

We are still getting to grips with the mechanics of how the changes to Virgin Points last month actually work in practice.

There is, for example, no agreement on how Virgin Atlantic credit card vouchers should work when upgrading a reward flight. The call centre is refusing to do it when Premium seats are more expensive than Upper. The rules for upgrading a cash flight – which are clear – are totally illogical. We will do an article on these issues at some point.

Today, we want to look at a bigger problem. If you change one leg of a Virgin Points reward flight, BOTH legs are repriced.

I know of two readers who are impacted by this. Here is what one wrote:

The death of my Virgin Points collection has just occurred.

I managed to bag two Upper Class seats to Orlando at 29,000 Virgin Points each way when the new scheme launched. Happy days.

I just went to change the outbound leg to a different date. I understood I would have to pay the difference in points (the seats now are 50,000 points) and the difference in taxes plus a £70 per person fee. I was ok with all that, but no.

If you change the outbound leg of a ticket they will now reprice the whole ticket. The points price of the return flight, which I wasn’t changing, had jumped to 108,000 Virgin Points. Just to change the outbound flight is 21,000 Virgin Points but they added another 79,000 Virgin Points to the return leg. 

This is the end of flexible points fares on Virgin Atlantic.

You’re committing to making no changes unless you want to risk massive points rises on both legs, even the leg you are not changing. 

It’s a very sad day. 25 years of Virgin miles collecting. Needless to say I didn’t make the change. BA here I come.

There is no clarity at the Virgin Atlantic call centre over what is meant to happen. The reader above also tried to separately amend only the inbound leg, to see if that made a difference, but this also triggered a repricing.

However, the other reader who contacted me was told that there was absolutely no problem if you changed the inbound leg. In that scenario, only the return leg would be repriced and not the outbound. This doesn’t seem to be true based on what our first reader experienced.

One thing we don’t know is if Virgin Atlantic will allow return reward flights to be split into two separate tickets. This would allow the outbound to be changed with no impact on the return, because the outbound would become a one-way ticket.

The only way to get around this going forward is to book Virgin Atlantic flight redemptions as 2 x one-way flights. You can then change either leg without the other being repriced. The downside is that you will pay 2 x £70 cancellation fees if you decide not to fly.

Using a credit card voucher will be an issue if you do this, unless two of you are travelling and you apply the voucher to 2 x one-way flights on one leg.

The other issue – there is no realistic ability to change your return

The other key problem with flight changes is the (in practical terms) inability to make a late date change.

As we have shown, there are no (or virtually no) Upper Class Saver seats available within 28 days of departure.

If you are already on your trip or close to departure and want to change the return date, there won’t be a Saver seat available. Unless you are willing to trade your 29,000 to 77,500 points Upper Class Saver seat for potentially a 350,000 points one, you won’t be changing your return.

Booking your trip as 2 x one-way flights gives you a partial way out, although it is hardly ideal. You could cancel the return, get the Virgin Points refunded and use Avios to book a last minute ticket back ….

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (December 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):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is increased to 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 30,000 Virgin Points. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card from American Express is increased to 80,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 80,000 Virgin Points! The spend requirement is changed to £10,000 in six months for this offer. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

Huge 80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

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

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

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.)