Virgin reward voucher and Virgin Points

[Mbaldrick]

Hi all, i have tried looking for the topic to no avail so i hope I haven’t missed a post about my query.
I paid money for return Virgin Atlantic premium economy flights to US and then used my voucher to upgrade to Upper Class and added taxes etc. I also purchased Virgin Points they were running an offer. When i returned i noted i was given the tier points for the Premium Economy part of my flights but no Virgin Points. I would have and was expecting to recieve Virgin Points for the cash part of the booking. However, i am being told that when i booked it although i paid for the Premium flights and then upgraded it was considered a reward booking. Therefore i was not eleigble for Virgin Points for the cash part. That doesn’t make any sense to me and if i wasn’t entitiled to the Virgin Points for the cash part then why would i be entitled to the Tier Points for the cash part of the booking. Also, why would i be able to purchase points on special offer if the whole flight was considered a redemption flight? Has anyone else come across this? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, M

[davefl]

This is correct. With most other airlines such as BA you wouldnt even get the TP (officially, sometimes they appear accidentally).

Virgin are very clear in all their Ts and Cs that anything upgraded with vouchers or points will be no longer treated as cash bookings.

IHG operate in the same manner, points+cash bookings don’t generate points for the night even though you’ve paid cash for the points.

[AL]

I just looked through my statement – I’ve always received Virgin Points for the flights I’ve taken that I’ve upgraded from Premium to Upper with points. I can’t see anything in the Conditions of Carriage or the FC Terms that says that you won’t be receiving VS Points; I’ve always accrued points for the cash portion of the ticket.

[Mbaldrick]

Thank you davefl and AL – unfortunately i can’t find anything either in Conditions of Carriage or FC Terms. Davefl if you ouuld point me in the right direction re the T’s and C’s i would be grateful. AL i thought i had received points on a previous upgrades. Again thank you

[davefl]

HFP covered it here https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/02/26/earn-tier-points-on-virgin-atlantic-redemption-flights/

However this Virgin page https://www.virgin.com/about-virgin/latest/how-to-upgrade-a-flight-with-virgin-points

says: Even though the upgraded booking becomes a reward seat booking when you upgrade to Premium or Upper Class, the fare rules from the original ticket purchase apply, so you’ll still earn Virgin Points and Tier Points based on the original ticket purchase price.

However the Ts&Cs here https://help.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/policies/terms-and-conditions/flying-club.html in section 3.1.6 are confusing and I’ve always read ” Virgin Points and Tier Points cannot be earned on any free or reduced rate tickets including, without limitation, Rewards bookings, upgraded Rewards bookings” as them saying no to it all.

So fill in the missing points form on the website quoting the how to upgrade link and see where it gets you.

[Mbaldrick]

Hu davefl Many thanks for your comprehensive response. I will indeed complete the missing points form. See what happens – really apprecaite your help with this query. Thanks again.

[NorthernLass]

@davefl – not sure what you mean about BA, above, you would always get TP for flights on a cash booking you subsequently upgraded with avios – the glitch is that sometimes you get them for the class you upgraded to rather than the one you paid for originally.

[Mbaldrick]

Hi, Thank you for all you help it was very much appreciated. Just FYI – I have been able to get tier points and Virgin Points for the cash part of the booking. The link provided above by davefl https://www.virgin.com/about-virgin/latest/how-to-upgrade-a-flight-with-virgin-points was very useful so thank you for that. So all good now – Virgin Points and tier points have now been posted to myu Flying Club account. 🙂