-
Hi,
I have been reading through my main question is.
Planning a trip to SFO in the summer from LHR. The economy delight fare seems to currently offer good value with the options. Is there a way of pooling the family miles, it seems there was with the old virgin miles but not via RED is that correct? is there a work around? will i need to open an account for each member 2 adults 2 kids? and we will generate 150% of miles with Delight? I was planning to combine it with miles with a new AMEX PLTM card, if the miles are earned per person where would that get us with future travel?
Can Virgin broadband be added to the miles account?I have gold With Accor if that helps with Virgin? and have miles and more normally but just basic status and an account with AF but the air fare rates are not competitive with Virgin currently.
There are a few questions here, so I’m going to break them down individually. Economy Delight is the sweet-spot for an Economy seat, on the basis you get extra legroom, priority boarding and Premium check-in desks (thus, especially on tourist-heavy routes, avoiding some of the snaking queues).
Rob’s review of Economy Delight is worth perusing, too: https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/06/17/is-virgin-atlantic-economy-delight-worth-it/.
Can I pool miles with other Flying Club members?
Yes. You have two routes. If you have Silver or Gold status, then it is theoretically possible to start a household account. However, household account creation has been suspended for a period of time – possibly until after the SkyTeam process has completed. Instead, the best currently available route is to call Flying Club. Agents are typically perfectly happy to take miles from different accounts, as long as only one account is paying per sector (e.g. two people LHR-LAX return, you could have Person 1 pay for LHR-LAX and Person 2 pay LAX-LHR). There is no need to be in a household account for this to occur, so it is open to any Flying Club member to do. You do need to call Flying Club to do this, though.Virgin Red is, simply, the Virgin Group’s loyalty programme. If, and when, you link your FC account to Red, your existing FC balance appears as Virgin Points (which they will be from then on – the ‘miles’ terminology has been replaced), and any new miles you earn will appear as Virgin Points.
Will I need to open a Flying Club account for each member of the party going?
Virgin Points need to come from a Virgin Red account to pay for each sector, as above, so any points you’re planning to use will already be in an account. You should include those people’s FC numbers on to the booking when you make it (although it’ll probably be there by default, anyway). There is no incentive in swapping Flying Club numbers around, because to earn points the passenger’s name must match the name on the account. For those passengers without a Flying Club account, you do not need to create one, but if you do, they will be able to accrue points.How many points will I earn when flying Economy Delight?
You will earn 150% of the Virgin Points given for the flown mileage, and 50 tier points, per person. Economy Classic only gives you 50% of the flown mileage and 25 tier points (unless you book a very flexible Economy Classic ticket, which is often more expensive than Economy Delight).Can I combine miles from an AmEx Platinum card with my Flying Club balance?
Yes, you can transfer the miles from Membership Rewards to Flying Club on a 1:1 basis. Mileage transfer usually takes a few moments. It is generally advisable not to transfer points until you know you’re going to be using them, since the transfer is one-way. If you transfer them to, for example, your own Flying Club account, then you’ll be left with lots more Virgin Points to use. You can use these with Virgin Atlantic (or any other Virgin Red redemption partner), per the usual way of using them – including multiple people paying per ticketed journey, as above. The world’s your oyster!Can I earn Virgin Points through Virgin Media?
Yes, but only if you’re a brand new subscriber. The details of the current offer are at https://www.virgin.com/virgin-red/earn-virgin-points/earn-up-to-10-500-points-at-virgin-media-487423.What benefit does my Accor status give me with Virgin Atlantic?
Nothing, in short. Accor and Virgin Atlantic don’t have a partnership. The closest you’d get is if you booked a VS service on a KL/AF code, but I suspect that will increase the price and you’ll then lose your Virgin Points earning. I would earn in Virgin Points, to be honest.Hope that helps! Anything else, give us a shout.
Wow, that was beyond my expectation of a response thank you AL.
I got the gist of all that but confused over the pooling “Agents are typically perfectly happy to take miles from different accounts, as long as only one account is paying per sector (e.g. two people LHR-LAX return, you could have Person 1 pay for LHR-LAX and Person 2 pay LAX-LHR)”
I would set up a FC for myself one for my wife and one each for the young children. But i was intending to pay for the whole flight in one hit not book singles each way and pay for some and have my wife pay for others?- did you intend that?
As I will be a new FC member I don’t have gold or silver status. So by calling the flying club team could the children’s points be added to one of the adult membership and be enough points to then make it a Silver account for example? I presume there is an advantage to pooling in one account?sincerely many thanks for the advice.- off topic but are there shareholder perks enjoyed from owning Virgin shares? And are there any extra points to benefit from if only booking a flight such as this double points? https://www.virginholidays.co.uk/virgin-atlantic-flying-club?
No – that wasn’t how I meant that to be read. Let’s say you want to book 4 pax. LHR SFO return on VS19 and VS20. For argument’s sake, this costs 100,000 Points and £500 in tax.
Person 1 has 150,000 points.
Person 2 has 100,000 points.Persons 3 and 4 have no points prior to the flights being travelled.
Flying Club would allow you to pay LHR SFO on VS19 from Person 1’s balance, and SFO LHR on VS20 on Person 2’s balance (by taking the per-sector cost, which they’ll tell you, from each account – they might be charging 50,000 per sector or it could be 70,000 out and 30,000 return). Taxes must come from one card, and can’t be split.
If Person 1 or Person 2 did not have enough points, they could top their account up through any regular Virgin Red earning route, by transfer from AmEx or a hotel scheme, or by buying points (which isn’t usually good value unless there’s a need for them or there’s a sale on).
That would allow four people to travel on points from two accounts.
To your second question, it is tier points – not Virgin Points – that allow you to accrue status on VS (and most other airlines). Tier points are non-transferable, so you can’t move tier points from a child’s (or anyone’s) account to another account in order to elevate one person’s status. The ways to move up the status tree are to earn by flying or status match to an airline that VS wants to gain your custom from (e.g. BA). There are additional routes, as is standard with airlines, for US customers, but we’ll put that to one side here as it’s likely not relevant.
The Virgin Group (or VML to give its acronym – for Virgin Management Limited) and Virgin Atlantic are not listed companies, so there aren’t shareholders in them. They’re privately owned by Branson and some financiers (e.g. Delta for 49% of Virgin Atlantic). Virgin Galactic and Virgin Money are about the only two VML companies I know of which do float. I am fairly sure there are no advantages – in this context – to being a shareholder.
Double TPs and other offers usually apply only to holidays. The industry generally defines a holiday as a booking containing a flight and car hire, a flight and hotel or a flight, car hire and hotel. At that point; the terms of your booking (and the laws governing them) change since Virgin Atlantic is then operating as a tour operator and not solely an airline. I haven’t seen any flight-only promotions for some time, if ever, apart from discounted fares and upgrades.
Ok AL thank you for the clear explanation. Yes not many companies offer shareholder perks, Accor do incidentally, it was just a long shot.
I will re evaluate with AF and KLM who do offer family accounts, just to check which makes the best sense with the points I do have but I doubt the flight package will be as good.You are able to book your VS-operated service on an AF or KL codeshare. This is useful if you have AF or KL points. You can credit the new points and tier points to any of VS, AF, KL or anyone else the ticketing airline has an agreement with. That’s also an option.
Thanks AL. That might be the route I go as AF have a family plan off the bat and its linked to my Accor.
Problem is I don’t fly enough these days, good for the planet I guess but tricky to make the most of something too easy to ignore..
I really appreciate you taking the time to answer.
That won’t work quite.
The fare is different by £500 because AF and KLM won’t offer the same routing as is available via Virgin- LHR-LAX-SFO 12.45 July 19th Admittedly the AF and KLM offering is direct to SFO and I’m presuming the Flex fare grade is the same as the Virgin Delight. Both are Direct back, which makes more sense to me; if there is a stop for it to be on the outward leg.looks like virgin and joining club red or £500 premium with the perk of a direct flight both ways but that said Virgin themselves direct is £62 cheaper.fun and games.
Yes – I suspect AF/KL want you to go via CDG or AMS. Your TATL(s) leg might also be on a DL service as well.
AF’s Flex fares usually provide more flexible ticket conditions with respect to changes and refunds (e.g. change to an available AF-operated service before or after your booked flight on the day of departure free of charge, and no refund/change fees) than Economy Delight. I’ve flown AF and VS Y and I think Economy Delight is going to give better service – if nothing else, extra legroom seats which AF will charge extra for.With the options presented, I’d personally still do VS – direct, cheaper, nicer service. Plus, no changing at CDG which – if they’re on strike – is miserable.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
