Virgin Atlantic joined SkyTeam Alliance on 2nd March 2023. This joining has changed a lot of things for Indian Travellers. And a few more will change in the coming months. But it is a piece of good news for Indian Travellers. Here’s why?
Match to SkyTeam Alliance Status
If you have Virgin Atlantic Elite Status, you can use it to match SkyTeam Elite Status. This gives you benefits across SkyTeam Airline members.
| Flying Club Status | SkyTeam Status |
| Red | NA |
| Silver | Elite |
| Gold | Elite Plus |
As a SkyTeam Elite Status holder, you get the following benefits:
- Priority Airport Stand-by
- Preferred seating options
- Priority check-in
- Priority Boarding
- Priority Baggage drop-off
- Extra Baggage Allowance
And, as a SkyTeam Elite Status Plus holder, you get the following benefits:
- Lounge Access
- Guaranteed reservations on sold-out flights
- Priority at Transfer Desks
- Priority at immigration and security lanes
- Priority Baggage Handling
- All SkyTeam Elite Status Benefits
Earn Points on SkyTeam Member Airlines
As a Virgin Atlantic Flying member, you can earn Tier miles on all SkyTeam airlines. Also, Virgin Atlantic points can be earned on all SkyTeam Airlines. So, if you often travel with SkyTeam Airlines and don’t have a single earning partner, you can add your Flying Club Number.
Spend Virgin Points with All SkyTeam Airlines
For me, this is the best thing out of all the things. It is because you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards to the Virgin Flying Club account in a ratio of 2:1.
These points can now be redeemed for all SkyTeam Airline members. But only a few of them can be redeemed online as of now.
At present, you can redeem Virgin Points Online on the below Airlines:
- Air France (Existing)
- Delta (Existing)
- KLM (Existing)
- Korean Airlines (New)
- Middle Eastern Airlines (New)
- Xiamen Air (New)
The remaining Airline flights can be booked offline by contacting Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Team.
It seems a few airlines; Virgin Points can’t be used as of now based on information available on the website. These are:
- Aeromexico airline redemptions will be live shortly
- Garuda Indonesia airline redemptions will be live shortly
- Members will be able to spend Virgin Points with ITA later.
- SAUDIA airline redemptions will be live shortly
- China Eastern Airline Available from July 2023.
Virgin Atlantic Award Chart for SkyTeam Airlines
Its a good news. As Virgin Atlantic have similar points redemption for all SkyTeam Airlines except Delta. That makes things easy for planning travel on alliance airlines. The points are less as compared to British Airways Avios requirement for booking partner airlines.
Since there is no Award Chart for First Class Travel on partner airlines, it will not be available to Virgin Atlantic members.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Access
One of the points of discussion among travellers was about access to Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse. This is how to access been given:
- Access to All Clubhouse (Outside UK):
- SkyTeam Airlines Business Class Travellers
- SkyTeam Elite Plus International Passengers
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold Members
- Access to Clubhouse at Heathrow :
- Business Class (Upper Class) on Virgin Atlantic Travellers
- Delta One Travellers
- Travellers Connecting to La Première on Air France
- Travelling on Clase Premier on Aeroméxico
- Flying Club Gold Card members
- Delta SkyMiles Diamond and Platinum Medallions Travelling on Virgin Atlantic or Delta
- Flying Blue Platinum members Travelling on Virgin Atlantic or Delta
- SkyTeam Elite Plus members travelling on Virgin Atlantic, Delta or Aeroméxico
How does Virgin Atlantic Joining SkyTeam Alliance helps?
The biggest takeaway on Virgin Atlantic Joining SkyTeam is that you can now use your Virgin Points on a few SkyTeam Airlines with flights from India or connecting flights. Following SkyTeam Airlines have flights to or from India:
| Airlines |
| Air France |
| ITA Airlines |
| Kenya Airways |
| KLM Airlines |
| Korean Air |
| Vietnam Airlines |
| Virgin Atlantic |
You can now book Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic and Korean Air Flights with Virgin points. I’m interested in going to Korea. So, I searched how many virgin points it takes to reach Seoul from Delhi.
And results were encouraging as you need to spend 15500 Virgin Atlantic Points or 31000 Amex Points for Korean Air Economy Class Ticket. This same flight cost INR 52,159. With this flight, the value of Amex Points is INR 1.63, which is unbelievable. But there may be cheaper options available.
It will be interesting when ITA Airlines booking is also made available online as it has direct flights from India to Italy.
Bottomline
Virgin Atlantic Joining SkyTeam Alliance is excellent news for Indian Travellers. As more and more online redemption is activated, the benefits will be great as you can book tickets from airlines that have flights to countries where Indian Airlines doesn’t have excellent connectivity.
