Virgin Atlantic notified upcoming changes to its frequent flyer program earlier in the month. Now, these are live and available in full detail. Earlier, Virgin Atlantic had a Fixed Award Chart with peak and off-peak pricing. Now, Virgin Atlantic New Award Flight mileage is dynamic. Dynamic Award flights have both good & bad. The same is the case here. Here is what has changed.
Guaranteed Award Seats [Not Good]
Earlier, Virgin Atlantic used to offer 12 guaranteed award seats on each flight, which were available for booking at fixed mileage. After moving to dynamic awards, this guarantee has gone instead. Now, more seats are available, but pricing could be staggeringly high.
Result: Bad
Cancellation Charges [Not Good]
Earlier, you could cancel a Virgin Atlantic award flight for $50 if it originated outside the UK and £50 if it originated in the UK.
Now, due to dynamic pricing, you may be able to find lower-priced award tickets after booking if you want to cancel the old booking. However, it would cost $100 if the flight originated outside the UK and £70 for the UK. So, this change has been made to eliminate any small to mid-arbitrage opportunities.
Nonetheless, these charges are staggering for genuine cancellations and are among the highest airline charges.
Result: Not Good
Carrier Surcharge [Good]
There have been significant changes in Carrier Surcharge charged by Virgin Atlantic.
For example, earlier Delhi to London flights charged over £100 for an economy cabin and £325 for an Upper-Class cabin. Now, you pay £66 for economy cabins and £293 for the upper class for the same flight. So, the amount has been reduced, which is good for travellers.
Result: Good
Dynamic Pricing [Worst]
The only good part about dynamic pricing is that the mileage now starts at 6K for economy cabins, 10.5K for premium economy, and 23K for Upper-Class cabins for India to London flights. However, availability at this mileage would be limited. You would be lucky to find this price in the next six months, and even after six months, the seats would be limited.
If you are considering the maximum mileage, Virgin Atlantic appears to have set some limits to the charges. For economy cabin, the maximum mileage is 150K, 250K for premium economy cabin, and 350K for Upper Class.
Dynamic Pricing is not for Partner Awards.
Result: Worst
My Take on Virgin Atlantic Dynamic Awards
Based on an analysis of two months, Premium Economy Cabins are cheaper on several occasions than Economy Cabins. Even the difference between an economy cabin and a premium economy cabin can be very high, whereas an economy cabin is expensive. This is also true for Business Class cabins.
Just look at the pricing below.
However, buying Virgin Atlantic & speculative transfers from Amex in 2:1 won’t make sense unless you have a specific plan in mine. And, to find the mileage requirement seats.aero is a good option for Virgin Atlantic Award flights.
Bottomline
Virgin Atlantic New Award Flight mileage could be staggeringly high. At the same time, there could be limited opportunities to book at the lowest mileage. Also, cancellation charges are now one of the highest. I think these changes are negative for travellers.
