Back in 2017, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club announced it would be making changes. I don’t know about you, but whenever I get emails like this I always shudder. I know that cheery subject line is an attempt to get readers excited about some “terrific” new update. In reality, the news usually couldn’t be more opposite.
Virgin Atlantic negatively changed paid flights and mileage earnings. Virgin did what a lot of other airlines, like United, Delta, and American have done, which is reward the highest spenders with supercharged mileage earning potential. While travelers who buy cheap economy seats (A.K.A. most travelers) will see the miles they earn take a big hit. This stinks.
To be honest, though, I’m not concerned with earning Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer status. Nor am I terribly concerned with earning Virgin Atlantic miles exclusively. I have transferable credit cards which allow me to earn miles for a variety of airlines.
For this post, I’m going to focus on how to use Virgin Atlantic miles to Europe for terrific value and show why I’m actually not that disappointed with some of the changes.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: The Basics
- Virgin Atlantic is not a member of a major airline alliance. However, it does have airline partnerships. Virgin Atlantic partners include ANA, Delta, Singapore Airlines, Hawaiian, Air New Zealand, Scandinavian Airlines, South African Airways, Jet Airways, Air China, and Virgin Australia.
- Virgin Atlantic is a 1:1 transfer partner for all 4 major transferable points travel-rewards programs, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest, Citi ThankYou Points, and American Express Membership Rewards. This means Virgin Flying Club miles are easy to get!
- Watch out for high taxes and fees! While you’ll see below I think the fees are sometimes very worth it, Virgin Atlantic is notorious for high award travel fees.
- American Express and Citi typically offer 25%-30% Virgin Atlantic transfer bonuses a few times a year. For this reason, these are the best points to use for Virgin Atlantic awards.
How I’ve used Virgin Atlantic Miles to Europe
In 2016, I used Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles for flights to Europe twice. This was with the old Virgin Atlantic award chart. I’m sharing just to give you some examples. Keep reading for how to use Virgin Atlantic miles now.
- I traveled solo on a one-way ticket to London this summer before continuing on to Romania, Stockholm, and Swedish Lapland.
- I also booked an absolute steal of a girls’ trip to the European Christmas Markets in Prague and Munich with my mom and sister for December by first flying to London one-way on Virgin Atlantic. Then, for just a few thousand British Airways Avios, we flew from London to Prague.
I took advantage of simultaneous promotions with Virgin Atlantic and a 30% Amex transfer bonus for flights across the pond for my mom, sis, and me!
Yes, there were taxes and fees on the one-way economy flights of about $135 each. But, for just 10k Amex MR points per person from NYC, it was our chance to all get to the Christmas markets together.
Booking a one-way, though, is essential.
The value of a deal like this is lost on roundtrip flights from the U.S. to London. The airline fees in both directions combined with the U.K.’s hefty departure tax back to North America is too much out of pocket. You’d be better off booking a cheap cash flight and saving the miles for another trip.
For example, you could visit London and take the train or a cheap short-haul flight out of the U.K. to avoid or minimize departure fees. Then, you’d use different miles with an airline that has minimal taxes and fees, like United or American, for a one-way back to the U.S. Flexibility is key in order to be a successful travel hacker!
Virgin Atlantic Miles to Europe: Current Award Chart
Virgin Atlantic’s award chart is broken up into Standard and Peak awards and divided by class. Of course, you’re looking for Standard availability for the best pricing. And luckily, as much as 2/3 of the year counts as Standard.
The Virgin Atlantic award chart has 4 different U.S. regions.
- Northeast: New York JFK, Newark, Boston, and Washington, D.C.
- Midwest: Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit
- South: Miami, Orlando
- West: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Seattle
The Virgin Atlantic award chart below shows roundtrip award prices. But one-ways are the way to go to avoid high taxes and fees! One-way awards are half of the number of miles shown.
|
To/From the U.K. |
Economy (Standard) |
Premium Economy (Standard) |
| Northeast: New York JFK, Newark, Boston, & Washington, D.C. |
20k |
35k |
| Midwest: Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit |
25k |
45k |
| South: Miami, Orlando |
25k |
45k |
| West: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, & Seattle |
30k |
55k |
Sorry luxury travelers, upper-class awards between the U.S. and London come with crazy high taxes and fees and eliminate any value with the overall redemption.
The real gem here??
From the Northeast, it costs just 10k Virgin Atlantic miles + about $148 in taxes in fees for a one-way to London. And the even better award is a Premium Economy seat for just 17.5k Virgin Atlantic miles + about $183 in taxes and fees.
And, what about that transfer bonus?
To further justify the money spent on taxes and fees, time your points transfers from Citi or Amex during one of their 25%-30% transfer bonus periods for a one-way London economy redemption UNDER 10k miles!
And, I’d certainly pay 12,250 Virgin Atlantic miles (taking into account the 30% transfer bonus) + $183 in taxes and fees for a Premium Economy seat to the U.K. from NYC!
Aside from a $99 WOW Air or Norwegian one-way ticket to Europe, this Virgin Atlantic award across the Atlantic is a stand-out way to use miles and points as an access point to Europe. Not to mention, it includes at least 1 free checked bag (2 for Premium Economy), seat selection, and a meal, none of which are included on a budget airline basic fare.
Remember, if the U.K. isn’t your final destination, BA Avios are great for short hauls within Europe. For as little as 4k Avios, you could be in Prague or skiing the Swiss Alps!
How to Book a Virgin Atlantic Award Flight to Europe
So, would you like to book a Virgin Atlantic award to Europe?
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I’ve never traveled on Virgin airlines and I find this very useful and hope to do so one day along with using a better credit card that lets me transfer points to different airlines as an option.
Glad the post is useful for you, Noel. Credit cards with transferrable points give the greatest flexibility. I’d start with a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred/Reserve or similar card with travel transfer partners.
Very interesting! We would love to head back to Europe next year but it’s always the flights that hold us back bc we travel with our 5 kids which = 7 airline seats. Major cash! I feel like I may be able to make it work using these tips if we time it right.
It could be a great way to go if you travel during those off-peak times and transfer points during a transfer bonus. I’ve always found great availability whenever I’ve searched, which is not always the case for families looking for award seats. Good luck!
Some really useful information here! We haven’t really researched using miles and points properly before – but we did recently save nearly £100 on our Christmas flights to Amsterdam using points we had saved up! It is definitely a great way of saving if you travel regularly.
Great work, Fabio! 🙂 Miles and points can really go a long way to save some money. 🙂 Enjoy Amsterdam!
Thanks for putting together all this research and sharing. Your non-stop from New York to London for $135 is an insane deal.
I was not familiar with Virgin’s award program before, but I think I may be taking advantage of the program in the near future. Also, I”m a Florida resident, so happy days for me indeed 🙂
I’d love to fly into Edinburgh and spend some time in the UK!
Totally agreed, Heather! Compared to the 22.5k-30k charged by major carriers like United, American, and Delta and many of their alliance partners, Virgin’s deal is a steal! Edinburgh looks amazing. Hope you can make it soon!
I was totally unimpressed by Virgin. We used Delta miles to fly with them from Atlanta to London. I thought the seats felt really cramped and flight attendants were not particularly enjoying their job that day. I’ve chalked it up to just setting my expectations too high based on all the great things I’ve read about them. Oh well, you’re only on the plane for a short time anyway, right?
Hope you enjoy the Christmas Markets in December. On my bucket list!
Sorry to hear you had an underwhelming experience with Virgin, Alana. Definitely worth another try if you have the chance! 🙂
Nicely done. I’ve used Virgin Atlantic miles on Virgin America and it was a great value. Not sure I’d transfer AX Rewards though. Much rather use those for Singapore Suites. 🙂
I understand, Debra. I’m just always trying to squeeze all I can from my miles and those Amex transfer bonuses are too good to pass up in this case. 🙂
Ugh, another airline making it harder to use/earn points. Thanks for showing us how to still get a good value though!
The revenue earning model seems here to stay, Brianna. It does the opposite of growing brand loyalty. With so much competition, most travelers will just continue to search for the best prices.
I have never really followed the rules of the miles etc and have barely any idea how to use it. 😀 Thanks for the post, maybe I will finally figure it out now.:D
It’s not as hard as it looks, Kinga, once you learn a few basics. If you’re interested, check out my free miles and points course. 🙂
I never flew that airlines… but good useful info.
I am collecting miles in some flights that operate here.
Thanks for reading, Indrani. I’m glad the post is helpful. 🙂 Hope you can make good use of your airline miles soon!