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Quick query about the merits of Flying Club Vs Flying Blue.
Some sort of SkyTeam account will likely be worth it for me; planning a honeymoon in Mexico in 2026 so will be flying Aeromexico internally from Mexico City to Zihuatanejo as part of that. Being based in Glasgow I can also use KLM for a GLA-AMS city break and AF for EDI-CDG if we fancy Paris. When I’ve done random searches for cash flights both airlines basic hand baggage only fares in economy beat flying easyJet from GLA on price once hand baggage is added to the base easyJet fare. Both airlines would also be a theoretic option for long haul travel, as being based in Glasgow I don’t really see a fundamental difference between going GLA-LHR-wherever on BA vs GLA-AMS-wherever or EDI-CDG-wherever.
Based on the above, Flying Blue would appear to be the programme for me to credit the occasional flight to and build up a small stash of points. I do have a Virgin Atlantic account which I opened last summer when I started my points journey, which I converted a small amount of Tesco Clubcard points into (without properly understanding the reality of the points game and how converting tiny amounts of Tesco points is getting me nowhere fast on VA.)
Would I be better starting over with Flying Blue for my Sky Team points collecting, or should I just stick with my Virgin account, bearing in mind I currently have no interest in flying Virgin, don’t have an interest in their credit card and don’t have a conveniently located Tesco to start collecting stacks of Clubcard points with the intention of converting them?
As a fellow Scottish Flying Blue member, and close to Platinum for Life as well as Flying Blue Ultimate this year. If you are able to reach Flying Blue Gold or Platinum before the honeymoon choose Flying Blue.
Be aware, you need 280XP to reach Gold and 580XP to reach Platinum in that time.
Do not discount GLA-AMS-CDG return as an option in J to help with that. Or a couple of EDI-CDG-AMS-KRK returns too.
Virgin Atlantic won’t necessarily credit all AF/KL flights due to the fare buckets some of the connecting flights will come under.
Also, and TBC, SK are joining Skyteam from 1st September and if SAS Plus on short haul meets Flying Blue business categories then one connection returns will meet 60XP for around £350 lowering your cost to meet the number of XP required for Gold or Platinum.
Once you reach silver after 100XP, you will be silver and reset to zero plus any excess XP. Then you need 180XP less any excess XP from your flights previously (for example, two returns in business short haul with one connection each way which would give 120XP, leaving 20 excess XP, therefore requiring a further 160XP), would get you to Gold over a new 12 month period. Same for Platinum, but once reaching Gold you need 300XP less any excess.
If further information required please ask.
Remember that you are in the fortunate position that your Flying Club miles are actually Virgin Points, and therefore redeemable on anything at https://www.virgin.com/virgin-red/spend-virgin-points if you create a Virgin Red account at https://www.virgin.com/virgin-red first and link your Flying Club account to it.
In effect, if you decide to go with AFKL rather than VS, you’re not losing the points if you decided you wanted to redeem.
But if you’re only planning on travelling to CDG or AMS for a weekend on a cheap fare, you’ll be getting minimal points I’d say and certainly not a huge amount to redeem.
At least Flying Club gives more earning opportunities through Virgin Red. Shopping, trains, etc..
You can earn outside of flying on Flying Blue as well with the Flying Blue e-store for online shopping (admittedly rates are not as good as the BA e-store), or using the double dip with Accor hotels if you use them regularly too.
But if you’re only planning on travelling to CDG or AMS for a weekend on a cheap fare, you’ll be getting minimal points I’d say and certainly not a huge amount to redeem.
At least Flying Club gives more earning opportunities through Virgin Red. Shopping, trains, etc..
Yeah this is essentially my circumstances. There will be an internal flight within Mexico in February or March 2026, as well as possible cheap fares on KLM or Air France. Definitely won’t fly enough to get any sort of status.
I think the lack of expiry for Virgin points probably swings it in favour of Virgin rather than Flying Blue.
I have never held a Flying Blue account solely because the transfer partners are woeful.
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