Virgin Atlantic has a frequent flyer program named “Flying Club”. You can make the most out of Flying Club from India itself. It Joined the SkyTeam Alliance on 2nd March 2023. They already had direct flights to London from Delhi & Mumbai. So upon Joining SkyTeam Alliance, few opportunities have arisen. Even earning Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points in India is possible. These points can be used for travelling not just on Virgin Atlantic Flights but also on more airlines. So, you must know everything through this guide on Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
Update: Award Flights Changes are Live and will be updated here soon.
Sign-up
Virgin Atlantic’s flying club is a free-to-join frequent flyer program. To sign up, you need to visit here. You will need this account for earning and using Flying Club Points.
Why should you know about Virgin Atlantic Flying Club?
Virgin Atlantic has been able to get into agreements with multiple airlines before joining the SkyTeam alliance, such as Singapore Airlines, Air France, and Delta. It also has some sweet spots which are not available elsewhere. Also, its flights to London from India come with lucrative options. And now, upon Joining SkyTeam, you can use these Flying Club Points with more airlines. For Example, now you can travel to Vietnam with Vietnam Airlines using Virgin Atlantic flying club points. So, a few gates have been opened, giving you options to use points for travel.
Related: Virgin Atlantic New Destinations Include Bengaluru and São Paulo
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Elite Tier
There are four tiers of Flying Club, of which two are Elite Tier. These tiers are:
- Red Tier (Base Member)
- Silver Tier
- Gold Tier
- Lifetime Gold Tier
Eligibility
Once you join Flying Club, you become a Red Tier member. This is the base member. However, as you fly more with Virgin Atlantic, you can achieve a Silver Tier or Gold Tier.
Here is the eligibility requirement:
- Red Tier: Joining
- Silver Tier: 400 Tier Points (300 Tier Points Before 31.03.2023)
- Gold Tier: 1000 Tier Points (800 Tier Points Before 31.03.2023)
- Lifetime Gold:
- Consecutive 10 Years of Gold,
- Minimum 7500 Tier Points Each Year, and
- Tier Points Excluding Codeshare flights, bonus tier points etc.
All tier points expire after 12 months. So, once you achieve a tier, you can remain in that tier for another 12 months or until you get upgraded.
How to earn Tier Points?
Firstly as a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club member, you can earn Tier points even on reward tickets. That means you can achieve an elite tier without having to spend a lot of flights.
This is how many tier points you earn, which is calculated based on Cabin Class & Ticket Type:
So, if you book two Upper-Class tickets with ticket types J, C, D, or I, you will get 400 Elite Tier points, enough for silver.
Additionally, you can get 20 Tier points on every £500 (INR 49400) spent on Virgin Atlantic Holidays with a maximum of 400 Tier points over and above regular Tier points.
How to earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Elite Tier in India?
Although Virgin Atlantic does not have many flights from or to India yet, there is still a way to earn its flying club elite tier. It is possible as Virgin Atlantic runs a Status Match with other airlines. If you hold any Elite Status with these airlines, you can earn the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Elite tier.
Below are the airlines and their status match with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club:
| Airline Programme | Silver Elite | Gold Elite |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | Platinum Pro | Executive Platinum |
| BA Executive Club | Silver | Gold |
| Cathay Pacific Marco Polo | Gold | Diamond |
| EL Al Matmid | Gold | Platinum |
| Hong Kong Airlines Fortune Wings | Silver | Platinum or Gold |
| Iberia Iberia Plus | Oro | Platino |
| Lufthansa Miles and More | Senator | Hon Circle |
| Scandinavian Airlines SAS Eurobonus | Gold | Diamond |
| Singapore KrisFlyer | Silver | Gold |
| South African Voyager | Silver | Silver |
| United Mileage Plus | Premier Platinum | Premier 1k |
From the above airlines, you can earn Singapore KrisFlyer in India, which you can match with Virgin Atlantic. But you can earn an Elite Tier once in your lifetime with Status Match.
Apart from the above, you can take chances with the following frequent flyer programme, as you will see these options while applying for the status match here:
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- Qatar Privilege Club
- Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
Related: How to earn an Airline Elite Status in India?
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Elite Benefits
Both Silver Elite and Gold Elite of Flying Club have decent benefits.
Silver Elite Benefits
Once you reach a Silver Elite, then, you receive the following benefits:
- 30% Bonus Points
- Free Seat for Self in Economy Light
- Extra 23KG Baggage Allowance
- Premium Check-in, irrespective of Cabin Class
- Tier Renewal Bonus (2000 Virgin Points)
- Family Account (Up to 9 Members)
- Priority Waitlist
- Membership Pause for Maternity & Paternity
- Status Extension for Maternity, Paternity & Adoption
- Dedicated Flying Club Phoneline
- Gift companion and upgrade vouchers
- Complimentary Upgrade at Virgin Hotels
- SkyTeam Status Elite
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold Elite Benefits
As you reach another higher tier, that is, the gold tier, you receive the following benefits
- 60% Bonus Points
- 8 Gold Reward Seats (Double Pay Points instead of Revenue Tickets)
- Free Seat for Self & One Guest in Economy & Premium Economy
- Extra 23KG Baggage Allowance
- Upper-Class Check-in, irrespective of Cabin Class
- Clubhouse access for self and guest
- Tier Renewal Bonus:
- 1000 Tier Points: One Companion Ticket
- 1500 Tier Points: Two Clubhouse Invitations For Self & Guest
- 2000 Tier Points: Two Cabin Upgrade Reward
- 2000 Bonus Birthday Points
- Gift Silver Elite to a Friend
- Guaranteed Seat in Economy Class
- Family Account (Up to 9 Members)
- Priority Waitlist
- Membership Pause for Maternity & Paternity
- Status Extension for Maternity, Paternity & Adoption
- Dedicated Flying Club Phoneline
- Complimentary Upgrade & Breakfast at Virgin Hotels
- SkyTeam Status Elite Plus
How to earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points in India?
There are multiple ways to earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points in India. You can earn points with the following:
- Transferring Amex Credit Card Points (2:1)
- Flying Virgin Atlantic
- Bonus points with Elite Status
- Points on Flying SkyTeam and Partner Airlines
- Convert Marriott Bonvoy Points (3:1+5000 Bonus Miles on converting 60k Points)
- Convert Hyatt Points (5000:3000+7500 Bonus Virgin Points on Converting 50K Hyatt Points)
- Renting a Car Like Hertz, Avis etc.
- Buying Points
- Use Points Booster
From above, your best could be flying Virgin Atlantic or its partner airlines and transferring Amex points when there is a transfer bonus.
Spending Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points
There are a few airlines that are in an Alliance and also have great Airline Partners. Of these few, Virgin Atlantic is undoubtedly one. There are multiple ways to use your Virgin Atlantic Flying Points. The best one would be to use them for flying. Another good thing is Virgin Atlantic has a Fixed Award Chart, which can make a few sweet spots.
Flying Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic specifies that at least 12 reward seats on a flight will be available, with 8 in Economy Classic, 2 in Premium Cabin and 2in Upper Class. It also releases its award seats 331 days before the flight departure date.
For reward seats, Virgin Atlantic works based on standard season and peak season. During the peak seasons point requirement is double that of the standard season.
For Example, in the standard season, you can travel on Virgin Atlantic with 20000 points on a round trip basis, but in peak season, it will be double, and you will have to shell out 40000 points. Occasionally there may be a discount on points redemption.
Check here for Standard and Peak seasons.
Also, you can check monthly availability for Virgin Atlantic & Delta, which works well.
Although Virgin Atlantic have low points requirement, the taxes, surcharges and carrier charges are high. For Example, for travelling from Delhi to London, you must pay INR 11100, which is relatively high for Vistara Charges.
But an advantage of booking a Virgin Reward Flight is that within 24 hours, you can cancel your reward ticket free of charge or make any changes as long as your travel date is after seven days.
Flying with SkyTeam Airlines
Virgin Atlantic have fixed the award chart for SkyTeam Airlines. So there can be a few sweet spots at present, though a few Airline bookings are not available, and for a few airlines, that can be done on the phone instead of online.
You can use Virgin Atlantic Online Tool For:
- Air France
- Delta
- KLM
- Korean Airlines
- Middle Eastern Airlines
- Xiamen Air
Following Airlines can’t be booked at all at the moment:
- Aeromexico
- Garuda Indonesia
- ITA
- SAUDIA
- China Eastern
All other SkyTeam airlines reward seats can be booked on the phone.
The below Image has the points that you will require for one-way flights.
Also, Virgin Atlantic uses points based on the segment when there is connecting flight. For Example, If you plan to travel to Japan on Korean Air from India or a connecting flight to Seoul, you must use 22500 Virgin Points. It is based on the distance from Delhi to Seoul and then from Seoul to Tokyo.
Flying with other Airlines
At present, Virgin Atlantic has the following Non-Alliance partners:
- Air New Zealand
- ANA
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Indigo (Connecting Partner)
- LATAM Airlines
- SAS
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
Most of these Airlines are members of Star Alliance. And for all these partners points requirement is different.
Below Award Chart is that of ANA Airlines:
You can travel to Japan from India on a round trip basis in 45000 Virgin Points. Based on a distance of 3648 miles between these airports and according to the SkyTeam Alliance chart, you will use 4000 extra points if there is a Direct SkyTeam Alliance Flight. But ANA Business Class points requirement of 70000 on a round trip basis is way better than SkyTeam Award Chart that saves you 50000 Virgin Points. So, you can find the sweet spot on these non-alliance airlines when using Virgin Points. But you can book these airlines’ reward seats only by contacting Virgin Atlantic and not online.
Miles Expiry
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points never expire.
Bottomline
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is a great frequent flyer program with a lot of focus. Although earning opportunities for its points may be limited in India, you can use them in multiple places with several non-alliance and SkyTeam partners. But there could be high carrier-imposed surcharges. Overall, a decent program to keep track of.
