Virgin Active joins Virgin Red – redeem your points for gym passes

The biggest problem with Virgin Red, the central portal for earning and spending Virgin Points, is that very few Virgin Group businesses are fully integrated apart from Virgin Atlantic.

This is a function of how the Virgin-branded operations are set up, with Virgin Group usually only having a minority equity stake. There has been progress (Virgin Wines is now a full earn and burn partner) but not much.

Virgin Active has now gone live on Virgin Red. It isn’t full integration, however, and existing Virgin Active members will NOT earn Virgin Points on their monthly subscription fee.

How does the Virgin Active partnership work?

You can use Virgin Points in three ways:

• buy a one day pass for a local Virgin Active gym, from 4,000 to 9,000 points

• buy a one month pass for a local Virgin Active gym, from 13,000 to 57,000 points

• buy a Kickstarter Bundle (three months membership, including one personal training session per month) from 36,000 to 153,000 points

The points price will vary depending on which Virgin Active site you choose.

Interestingly, the one month and Kickstarter passes do NOT restrict you to one gym. Virgin Active sites have been banded into seven tiers, and your pass allows you access to any site up to the tier level you have purchased. This could be useful if you have a site near your home and a site near your office.

It seems that you CANNOT stack one day, one month or Kickstarter passes indefinitely. Virgin Active redemptions are restricted to one, of any type, per person.

You must give your bank details when registering your monthly or Kickstarter pass and, to quote from the Virgin Red app:

After the reward period ends, your membership will automatically continue for successive 12-month periods at a special rate just for Virgin Red members [15% off the standard rate]. Don’t worry, if this isn’t for you, you can opt out.

There are unnecessarily complex rules about starting dates for the one month and Kickstarter packages. Memberships can only begin on the 1st of the month. If you wish to join mid-month, you need to pay cash for that period, albeit at a special rate (50% of the standard monthly fee, pro-rata).

Conclusion

It’s always good to see more Virgin Group brands joining Virgin Red.

However, this isn’t the ideal set-up:

• Virgin Red loses out on a big surge of new customers because Virgin Active isn’t giving points to existing gym members and

• Virgin Red members lose out because they cannot stack monthly passes for a permanently free gym membership

It’s a first step though.

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

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 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. 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 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to 120,000 points. You receive 80,000 points when you spend £12,000 within three months and a further 40,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 60,000 points. You receive 40,000 points when you spend £6,000 within three months and a further 20,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

American Express Business Platinum

Up to 120,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

Up to 60,000 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.