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Forums Frequent flyer programs Virgin Flying Club Virgin voucher plans scuppered, best non-US alternative?

  • dshunter 87 posts

    So unfortunately my wife (who is Brazillian, and not eligible for the esta) has been denied a US visa so our trip to NY booked on the old system with our virgin voucher is off. Apparently they believed that she was going to ditch her comfortable life and husband in the UK to be an illegal worker in the US. Regardless of whether they were right or not ;-), there’s not enough time to comfortably reapply and rebook before the voucher expires in July.

    Trouble is there isn’t really many non-US destinations, especially in the summer. I’ve got around 160k virgin points, 30k MR if needed, and no status. Oh and a second Virgin voucher has come into play.

    Johannesburg in business might be what we go for, but it’s clearly pushing my points to the limit, and I’m really not sure if I have enough. I think i can just about to do it on some dates in may/june/july if I use the two vouchers somehow, but when I called the guy was pretty unhelpful about what the best way was to do it – maybe he did not know.

    Any ideas? Carribean is out as we just went, and we’ve got a trip to india later in the year.

    davefl 2,004 posts

    Your best bet is to work through the options here https://www.virginatlantic.com/reward-flight-finder

    Middle east, Africa, Canada and Asian destinations are your options depending on your OH’s visa situation for those areas.

    dshunter 87 posts

    I know – I’ve got seat spy. I’m totally flummoxed about how many points I need with the upgrade vouchers though.

    NorthernLass 10,479 posts

    Can’t really add anything re destinations, it is very unfortunate (and ridiculous) about your wife’s visa situation as the US is probably the best option for redemptions since the dynamic pricing appeared.

    Re your vouchers, you can use them to upgrade both of you each way, if you can find dates with affordable points pricing.

    I would look again at the Caribbean, weather should be nice in May/June.

    JohnF 20 posts

    While I would definitely recommend South Africa do bear in mind our summer is the middle of their winter. Obvious I know but so easy to overlook when,like you, you have more serious matters to consider. They do say it is the best time to do Safari. As for the caribbean why not look to a different island? Best of luck in your crazy situation.

    dshunter 87 posts

    Thanks!
    Can I understand the two options I have. Ignoring taxes as I think it’s the same both ways.

    Option 1 : upgrade two premium ecomomy returns.
    This will cost the premium economy points + voucher + (difference between current business points and saver premium points and 75000)

    Option 2 : apply 2 companion single fares with two vouchers
    This will cost business points – 75000 each each way.

    I believe option 2 is the cheaper option in most cases unless when the single fares is less than 75000 points for one of the singles, and the other single fare is much more expensive.

    Have I understood correctly?

    paul-uk 142 posts

    How about 2 x one way flights to a non USA destination and then a cruise back to Europe

    Could be Caribbean, South America or a couple of other destinations that have slipped my mind

    Look at vacationstogo website to get cruise routing options

    NorthernLass 10,479 posts

    Thinking of where VS actually fly to, BGI springs to mind for picking up a cruise. Points prices are looking very spendy to anywhere exotic these days though!

    They’ve pulled the NAS route from March, which is a shame. You might need a cruise with no US stops such as Puerto Rico or USVIs (can’t remember if you need ESTA/visa for cruise stops, but you did used to have to clear US immigration on the ship) but it should be doable.

    Candor 61 posts

    I believe you still need an ESTA for a cruise stop for US + Puerto Rico , not sure about USVI

    dshunter 87 posts

    The problem with the cruise idea is that it doesn’t burn my second voucher with a very us-centric airline. I’m probably going to pause collecting with Virgin as a result of this visa issue as I doubt getting a visa having been refused before will be easy.

    Also been bitten badly by bad weather in the Caribbean in the summer though BGI tends to avoid much of that. If I can’t get a safari trip to work it seems like the best option.

    dshunter 87 posts

    Thanks all for suggestions!

    NorthernLass 10,479 posts

    I would definitely chance the weather in May, it tends to be less windy than winter as well. I would have said up to July/August, except that we had a hurricane blow through GCM at the start of last July!!

    A friend of mine did a cruise recently starting and ending in BGI (so theoretically you could use 2 vouchers to upgrade both ways), it went around Aruba and that area so probably didn’t touch US soil at all.

    It does also depend what kind of holiday you’re planning but Cancun is a handy gateway for all sorts of activities like sightseeing/scuba diving/whale shark watching (summer).

    Damn, VS has so many options from LHR compared with MAN!

    BBbetter 1,254 posts

    If you don’t mind the heat during mid day, Dubai is an option? Relax indoors mid day (spa?) and go out evening and night?

    Other option is to fly to India and take a short hop to somewhere closer?
    Srilanka, Maldives, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan… obviously don’t trust me on weather as I have no idea which month you can travel.

    paul-uk 142 posts

    How about………….

    LHR to Barbados on March 20th for a Saver Rate in PE at 21,000 points plus £638 tax for TWO – then use just 1 voucher (as its a one way flight) to upgrade to Upper Class (which are a saver at 70,000 points for 2)

    Then a P&O Britannia cruise from Barbados to Southampton on March 21st for 14 nights for just $1538pp in a balcony cabin

    Get off in Southampton April 4th

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