Virgin Flying Club opens up household accounts to everyone – are they worth it?

Virgin Flying Club has finally opened up household accounts to all members, irrespective of their elite status. See here.

It’s been a long journey – it is exactly three years since they decided to let Silver members have one alongside existing Gold members – but they got there!

Let’s look at how they work, because it ISN’T like British Airways Executive Club household accounts.

You can learn about Virgin Flying Club household accounts on this page of the Virgin Atlantic website, where you can also start the process of creating one.

A key difference with British Airways is that everyone needs a Flying Club account BEFORE you start the process of setting up a household account. Virgin Flying Club allows children to have accounts, so you should open one for everyone under 18 years old before you do anything else.

The person who creates the household account becomes the head of the account. This person must be an adult.

Once you are in a household account, you cannot leave it for 12 months. (In exceptional circumstances it can be done, looking at the small print.)

IMPORTANT: The household head is the only person who will have access to the combined pot. This is because of the slightly odd way that Virgin Atlantic operates household accounts. Let me explain ….

How does a Virgin Flying Club household account work?

The best way of explaining this is by comparison to the British Airways structure:

Who can join a household account?

BA: Anyone – there are no restrictions on age, address or relationship to the household head (EDIT: link to ba.com in the comments implies that you do now have to share an address)

Virgin: People who live at the same address as the head of the household account. There are no age restrictions.

What happens to your existing points when you join a household account?

BA: When you form a household account, the existing Avios of all members are pooled for the purposes of making redemptions, although your personal contribution to the total remains visible

Virgin: When you form a household account, your existing balance is left with you although you can pay £10 to transfer them to the household head. Only points earned after joining the household account are contributed to it.

What happens to your future points after you’ve joined a household account?

BA: Avios earned remain with each member but there is also a combined household total shown when you log in.

Virgin: The bulk of future Virgin Points you earn are sent to the household head. They are no longer yours.

Are all future points transferred to the household account?

BA: Yes, all Avios, however earned, become part of the household pot

Virgin: Only Virgin Points earned via Flying Club activities (primarily flying and via the credit card) are sent to the household head. Any points you earn via the Virgin Red app remain with you and are not sent to the household head, although you can call Flying Club and have these moved manually without charge.

Who can spend points in the household account?

BA: Any member of the household account can made a redemption using the entire household account balance, although redemptions can only be made for household account members or someone on the ‘Friends & Family’ list.

Virgin: The only person who can spend points is the household head, because your points have been transferred to that person. There is no restriction on who the household head can redeem for. If the household head dies, Virgin Atlantic allows points (for all members, not just those in a household account) to be transferred to the next of kin.

What happens to your tier points when you fly?

BA: You retain your own tier point balance

Virgin: You retain your own tier point balance

How does being in a household account impact points expiry?

BA: If any member of the household has elite status, the balance of all household account members is protected from expiry. In reality, because any redemption creates activity for every member of the household account, it is unlikely that anyone in a household account would ever hit 36 months of inactivity anyway.

Virgin: Virgin Points do not expire, irrespective of whether you are in a household account

What happens if you leave the household account?

BA: You retain your existing Avios balance, so points earned for flights you took or credit card spend you made whilst in the household account are still yours

Virgin: Because you agreed to transfer points you earned from flying and credit card spend to the household head, you will only leave with a) points you had before joining the household account and b) points earned via Virgin Red activities whilst in the household account

How are children treated?

BA: Children are not allowed to have stand-alone Executive Club accounts. You first need to create a household account and then follow the process to open a child account as part of it. The process is entirely online.

Virgin: Children are allowed to have Flying Club accounts. Once an account has been created, it can be added to the household account in the same way as an adult account. Note that under 18’s cannot have a Virgin Red account but they can have a Flying Club account. Parents need to download, complete, scan and email a signed declaration to Flying Club before a child account is activated.

Conclusion

It’s good to see household accounts finally rolled out to all Virgin Flying Club members, but think twice before signing up.

Virgin Flying Club household accounts have always been a bit clunky compared to the British Airways equivalent.

Given that you can transfer an unlimited number of Virgin Points to another person for a flat fee of £10, and that you can’t pool your existing balance or some of your future earning, you should consider whether it is easier for everyone in your family to retain their individual accounts and just pay £10 to move Virgin Points around when planning a big redemption.

If you ARE going to set up a household account, I recommend paying the £10 per person fee to transfer the existing balances of each member to you as well. This means that you can ignore those family accounts going forward (they will be empty and will remain empty unless they earn points via Virgin Red) and you don’t need to monitor them.

You can learn more about Virgin Flying Club household accounts on the website here.

PS. If you are reading this but are not a regular Head for Points visitor, please consider signing up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters. They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and deals to improve how you travel. To sign up, visit this page of the site or click any of the ‘Subscribe’ links on this page. Thank you.

---

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (January 2025)

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.

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.

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.

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.)