Rolls-Royce and Airbus are pressuring the UK Government to back a bailout of Virgin Atlantic, according to a report in the Financial Times this afternoon. The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has been told by both companies that Virgin Atlantic plays a key role both in […]
Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Flying Club
Virgin Flying Club is the loyalty scheme for Virgin Atlantic Airways. The articles below outline the best ways of earning and spending Flying Club points and cover changes to the Virgin route network.
Virgin is a partner with American Express Membership Rewards, Heathrow Rewards and Tesco Clubcard amongst others. You can find out more about Virgin Flying Club on their website here.
There are various ways of earning Virgin Flying Club miles from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses! Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Flying Club miles.
Virgin Atlantic to ask for state aid (FT)
27 March 2020 By 295 Comments
The Financial Times has reported this afternoon that Virgin Atlantic is about to submit an official request for state aid to avoid bankruptcy. The article is behind a paywall but you can see it by clicking here to trigger the correct Google search and then […]
Bits: join our HFP Instagram surgery from 10am, Virgin Atlantic closes at Gatwick, London City Airport closes
26 March 2020 By 58 Comments
News in brief: Join our HFP Instagram travel surgery today! First, a big thanks to everyone who is responding to queries from other readers in the comments section. They are a great resource if you are looking for advice regarding your existing flight and hotel […]
Virgin offers incentives to rebook, Aer Lingus gives a 10% bonus and Lufthansa offers €50 – will BA follow suit?
26 March 2020 By 75 Comments
Now that the majority of flights are grounded, different airlines are choosing different strategies on how they try and retain future customer bookings. (We are not, for once, talking about the ‘strategy’ of denying customers their legal right for a full refund on cancelled flights, […]
Government to UK aviation industry: Drop Dead
24 March 2020 By 208 Comments
Following a number of days of talks with British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, easyJet and representatives from UK airports, the Government has refused to provide a package of financial support for the UK aviation sector. According to reports, a letter was sent by the Chancellor of […]
End of IAG? UK Government may take stakes in British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and easyJet this week
23 March 2020 By 154 Comments
There is increasing speculation that the UK Government may move to take partial control of British Airways, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic this week as part of a bail-out of the aviation sector. It may not get this far, of course. One option for an airline […]
Morrisons supermarkets will no longer award Virgin Flying Club miles from late March
22 March 2020 By 13 Comments
We told you yesterday that you will no longer be able to earn Virgin Flying Club miles at Waitrose from 26th March. What I didn’t realise at the time is that the Virgin Atlantic deal with Morrisons supermarkets is also being dropped. The closing date […]
Norwegian secures a Government bail-out, whilst easyJet puts a UK-wide deal at risk
21 March 2020 By 144 Comments
The first European airline bail-out (if you don’t include the nationalisation of Alitalia, which was already doomed!) has been finalised. A 2nd bail-out, for Finnair, is expected to be agreed imminently albeit the Finnish Government is already a 56% shareholder in the airline. Norwegian has […]
Waitrose will no longer give you Virgin Flying Club miles from 26th March
21 March 2020 By 150 Comments
In a bit of a blow for our household, Waitrose will no longer be awarding Virgin Flying Club miles from 26th March. Here is a screenshot to confirm it: ….. although no-one seems to have received an email about it. This is not necessarily anything […]
Should you be concerned about losing your Avios and Virgin Flying Club miles to bankruptcy?
17 March 2020 By 320 Comments
Is there a risk of losing your Avios points and Virgin Flying Club miles if the airlines go bankrupt? And is it even a realistic possibility? To be honest, this isn’t an article I wanted to write. However, I am being inundated with emails from […]
Virgin Atlantic to ground up to 85% of its aircraft and cancel 80% of its flights
16 March 2020 By 74 Comments
Following the announcement by IAG this morning that BA, Iberia and Aer Lingus will – between them – be grounding 75% of their capacity on 1st April, Virgin Atlantic has now announced what it will do. The statement is below but here is a summary: […]
Virgin Flying Club extends your status and vouchers by six months – and launches two bonus promotions
16 March 2020 By 20 Comments
I have had a lot of emails in recent days asking “Will Virgin Atlantic extend my Flying Club status?”. The good news is that Virgin Atlantic has beaten British Airways to the punch and announced a comprehensive series of measures for Virgin Flying Club members. […]
UK and Ireland added to the United States travel ban (updated with BA travel policy)
14 March 2020 By 394 Comments
The United States Government has just announced that the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland will be added to the United States travel ban. Non-US passport holders / non-US residents will not be allowed to enter the United States if they have been in the […]
Bits: BA drops plastic Bronze, Silver and Gold cards, Virgin Atlantic / Air China last call, Radisson hotel sale
13 March 2020 By 186 Comments
News in brief: British Airways drop plastic cards for Executive Club status members British Airways has decided to end the practice of automatically sending out plastic cards to Gold, Silver and Bronze members of British Airways Executive Club. It has also stopped issuing paper ‘Golden […]
Here is the British Airways refund policy on the US / Schengen Zone travel ban – and how the ban will work
12 March 2020 By 130 Comments
Luckily for us, as Rhys is in Australia on his £185 Qantas deal this week, we were able to get some outline coverage of the US / EU travel ban into our 6am email. It’s now time to take a closer look. What is the […]
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