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Hi everyone, first time poster so hopefully this isn’t a stupid question!
I currently have no status with Virgin, however have built up points and shortly will have the companion voucher available to use. I’m currently considering the following for myself and my partner but unsure on the points required:
London to Shanghai in Premium, return in Upper for both of us.
Currently premium return is 45,000 points.
Premium out and Upper return is 80,000 points.I understand booking in upper class would still require 50% of the points for the second ticket, but how does this apply for the different classes outbound and return?
Thanks in advance,
TimSeatSpy shows the amount of points you need in each cabin on peak and off peak dates, also you can do a dummy booking for a specific date on the Virgin website.
It can be better to use the voucher to upgrade than as a 241, you’d need to play around with the numbers.
The Virgin call centre (in the North East, I assume based on accents) are incredibly helpful when I’ve called them to make 241 bookings- they’re happy to chat through the options etc. So once you’ve got a vague idea from the website, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone.
I don’t want to be the party pooper, but a lot of times I called Virgin cust services to book a companion flight it was a nightmare for me.
One time they denied that I have a voucher. Hung up immediately.
Few times they denied me the availability. It was really odd as they told me there is no availability so so quickly that it was suspicious and awkward. They also told me they can only check three dates for redemption. And I can only ask for it once in 24h. Really weird stuff. Who knows what she was on.I know Virgin CS is highly regarded here but there are some unlucky people like me who had to chase hard.
Also what is it with Virgin surcharges? If SeatSpy is to be believed (not a given, admittedly), they seem to differ vastly by country, so UC fees to BGI are £460 whereas to NYC, which is a shorter flight, they are £620! Coming back the difference is even wider, though presumably that’s due to the departure fee of the respective countries. MLE is actually one of the most reasonable redemptions, bizarrely.
I don’t want to be the party pooper, but a lot of times I called Virgin cust services to book a companion flight it was a nightmare for me.
One time they denied that I have a voucher. Hung up immediately.
Few times they denied me the availability. It was really odd as they told me there is no availability so so quickly that it was suspicious and awkward. They also told me they can only check three dates for redemption. And I can only ask for it once in 24h. Really weird stuff. Who knows what she was on.I know Virgin CS is highly regarded here but there are some unlucky people like me who had to chase hard.
Wow, it’s mad how different experiences can be!
It’s frustrating that the vouchers can’t currently be redeemed online. I’m hoping that by the time I take the card out again and earn another one in future, the program may have been tweaked slightly, for the better.
Well Virgin is a small airline and there is no real incentive for them to move the whole redemption procedure online apparently. Maybe it is cheaper to keep it this way.
Otherwise there is no rational explanation how primitive the whole show is.Thanks for all the info – I’ll get in touch with Virgin to see what the options are!
Word of caution – Double check what you are told! Especially in relation to mixing Upper Class and Premium using a Companion Voucher. I was told the amount of points I needed for both journeys and therefore the amount I needed to transfer to my wife as she had the Companion voucher. The agent was calculating that I needed 25% more points for Upper Class not 50%.
Further update – After being told the correct number of points required for the return leg! The Virgin 20% sale was then released. A few days ago I booked the return (Upper Class) so good news I didn’t need so many points! However, the agent calculated the number of points I needed and it was 5 to 6k points less of what it should have been with the 20% off, so I didn’t query it.
That’s good news!
I have had an agent forget to mark the voucher as used, a voucher go missing after a cancellation… It is a completely manual system, entirely dependent on the abilities of the agents – most of them are great, but not all.
I assume one doesn’t have to use a Virgin Credit Card to book it? Unlike the Amex BA voucher?
You can use any payment card.
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