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I’m still learning so please correct me if i am wrong;
I have a 241 voucher to use, have silver status. Looking to book UC for myself and hubby to JFK rtn.
Checking fights with other airlines, there appears to be return flights in Business for around £1200 when we want to go (Feb 24) so my question is what are the point of these vouchers or even points when the taxes before anything else with virgin are £1k!?
I understand to use the voucher it must be virgin flight, and therefore they all start in UK thus making up the high “Taxes”
I will soon lose the silver status so if i book now it will be under silver, but we travel under red status? what happens then? Anything?
Am i using the vouchers wrong? I dont understand 🙁When cash price is that low then you’re right, rewards booking isn’t a good idea (unless you’d value the flexibility)
You’ll get better use redeeming for something more expensive – South Africa, Caribbean, west coast USA etc
You don’t have to start in the U.K. – we flew out with BA and home with Virgin from MCO in January, using the Virgin voucher for 2 PE seats.
can use them as upgrade vouchers too on both cash and reward tickets, may be more valuable than using as conventional 241…
Thank you all, i had no idea i could use it for an upgrade or even on a return journey only!
Thanks again for the other ideasI will soon lose the silver status so if i book now it will be under silver, but we travel under red status? what happens then? Anything?
As others have said, you can use the voucher as a Companion, an Upgrade or a Clubhouse voucher. The latter option is usually of least value, so I wouldn’t do that, unless you really want to get rid of them and you find the cash price is better.
You can use the voucher as a companion voucher with any ticket, in any booking class, in any cabin of travel. If you wanted to use it in Economy (which it sounds like you don’t), then you must already have a reward or revenue fare booked in to Economy Classic. The fare buckets for Economy are all the same, so the only way to tell is to check what the VS website says you’re in. Your companion cannot be booked in to a higher cabin than you are.
If the voucher was earned through a credit card, then you can book the companion in to any cabin, regardless of what tier status you hold. If, when you book, you hold Silver or Gold status (which you do), then the companion costs zero points. Therefore, assuming you hold an existing revenue or reward seat, the total transaction is 1 x Voucher, 0 Points + taxes (£200 – £1000, depending on cabin). If you were Red when you made the booking, you would still get a zero point transaction in Economy or Premium but would need to contribute 50% of the Upper cost in points towards the booking.
If you use the voucher as an upgrade voucher, then it is valid for a one-cabin upgrade in to P (for Premium) or G (for Upper) from a ticket held in any booking class, including reward flights. If you wish to double-upgrade (i.e. Economy to Upper), there must be P and G availability on the flight. You can check reward inventory at https://travelplus.virginatlantic.com/reward-flight-finder – find your dates, and then follow the link through to book to see a per-flight breakdown. The checker assumes you’re starting in the UK, but you can switch that by choosing the ex-UK sector of the route, then clicking “See Return” at the top.
Thank you for taking the time to explain this, I finally understand it now. Thank you i really appreciate it.
I will soon lose the silver status so if i book now it will be under silver, but we travel under red status? what happens then? Anything?
As others have said, you can use the voucher as a Companion, an Upgrade or a Clubhouse voucher. The latter option is usually of least value, so I wouldn’t do that, unless you really want to get rid of them and you find the cash price is better.
You can use the voucher as a companion voucher with any ticket, in any booking class, in any cabin of travel. If you wanted to use it in Economy (which it sounds like you don’t), then you must already have a reward or revenue fare booked in to Economy Classic. The fare buckets for Economy are all the same, so the only way to tell is to check what the VS website says you’re in. Your companion cannot be booked in to a higher cabin than you are.
If the voucher was earned through a credit card, then you can book the companion in to any cabin, regardless of what tier status you hold. If, when you book, you hold Silver or Gold status (which you do), then the companion costs zero points. Therefore, assuming you hold an existing revenue or reward seat, the total transaction is 1 x Voucher, 0 Points + taxes (£200 – £1000, depending on cabin). If you were Red when you made the booking, you would still get a zero point transaction in Economy or Premium but would need to contribute 50% of the Upper cost in points towards the booking.
If you use the voucher as an upgrade voucher, then it is valid for a one-cabin upgrade in to P (for Premium) or G (for Upper) from a ticket held in any booking class, including reward flights. If you wish to double-upgrade (i.e. Economy to Upper), there must be P and G availability on the flight. You can check reward inventory at https://travelplus.virginatlantic.com/reward-flight-finder – find your dates, and then follow the link through to book to see a per-flight breakdown. The checker assumes you’re starting in the UK, but you can switch that by choosing the ex-UK sector of the route, then clicking “See Return” at the top.
Thank you for taking the time to explain this, I finally understand it now. Thank you i really appreciate it.
@AL thanks for good overview.
How do you do a double upgrade from Econ to G (Upper)…stacking 2 vouchers?
Are the Upper Class sweet spots eg minimal taxes, flying into UK, using the voucher to upgrade PE inbound flight to UC?
Do you avoid the 50% UC contribution in points as Red status if you are using voucher as upgrade for a solo traveller ?
you cannot use the voucher to double upgrade cabins, only single cabin. you can use points to double upgrade.
if you are red and you use for upgrade then yes you avoid additional contribution – that only applies for companion tickets.
PVG – LHR tax difference between PE and UC is minimal approx £20.
Can you help me with this idea
If I booked a reward ticket in ECO for 1 adult and 1 child, One way NYC-LON and used my voucher for us both to upgrade to PE and then paid points to upgrade again to UC what would i being paying in total if these are the points and taxes etc for each area…..ECO – 20k points with $303 taxes
PE – 35k points with $893 taxes
UC – 95k points with $1953 taxes
All are based on 1 adult and 1 child.(not sure if this makes a difference but thought i would give the info)A quick look at Google flights shows 1 adult 1 child business class tickets one way are from £1404 upwards…with other airlines.
Depends on your dates, stops, and flight time flexibility.
Perhaps others can shed light, but I’ve yet to see Virgin points and/or voucher redemptions in UC to US be good value.
Just another point to note, it isn’t always fair to compare the cost of an inflexible flight (like the £1,200 you quote) to a companion flight booked with points and cash because the latter is almost fully refundable.
so sometimes it is better value to use the 241 etc if you value the flexibility at all.
Not supporting virgin or BAs taxes and charges as they are pretty scandalous really.
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