Best usage of Virgin companion vouchers to go to the Far East

[sam5035]

Hey all,

I have 2x virgin companion vouchers available which I would like to redeem for my partner, baby (under 2) and myself later this year, before my little turn 2 year old and has to have their own seat..

We are not interested in going to the states or the Caribbean but would prefer to visit the far east i.e South Korea, Japan, Singapore etc..

Any thoughts on how best to achieve this whilst utilizing my companion vouchers and having Virgin Silver status.

My only thought was to fly to Shanghai in UC and then take a separate cash flight to the final destination.

Shanghai flight
Cash: £2800+ per ticket in UC or £1800 per ticket in PE
Points: 115k+£550 for UC

Anyone think of another approach? Or ways to save money?

[NorthernLass]

Is the points price one way? Is the plan to use both vouchers for this trip? Possibly using each voucher to upgrade you and your partner each way from PE to UC might be a decent option. Have you checked availability on the route (though VS availability seems pretty good)?

[Gary]

Unfortunately no other options since VS stopped flying to HKG. Off peak 115,000 return in UC for 2 using one companion voucher being silver is not a bad deal. I am sure you are aware most need visas to enter China and the broader considerations transiting in a location where announcements are generally unilateral and sudden.

Ps Forgot what VS charges for under 2s but wouldn’t be much. Also there is some Visa Free transit scheme which was previously discussed if you search the forum.

[Ash]

I recall virgin telling me you could use 2 vouchers on same trip, just can’t recall the order …buy one on points or cash, upgrade with voucher to UC and use 2nd voucher to get a companion UC seat.

[SamG]

Gary wrote:

Unfortunately no other options since VS stopped flying to HKG. Off peak 115,000 return in UC for 2 using one companion voucher being silver is not a bad deal. I am sure you are aware most need visas to enter China and the broader considerations transiting in a location where announcements are generally unilateral and sudden.

Ps Forgot what VS charges for under 2s but wouldn’t be much. Also there is some Visa Free transit scheme which was previously discussed if you search the forum.

You can use the visa free transit scheme to a third country – at Shanghai this allows up to 144 hours. Can be seperate tickets. It’s a long standing policy (pre-COVID) so wouldn’t expect sudden changes. Hong Kong counts as a third country. Japan is reasonable via China, places like Singapore are a pretty long onward flight (and can be quite expensive at the moment) so less useful. If you want to go that far south then via India could be interesting although likely you’ll need a visa.

There was also a guy on here who went via the Maldives to Thailand which geographically makes a lot of sense, though award seats are rare and onward flights can be limited/expensive