Some hyperlinks to merchandise and journey suppliers on this web site will earn Touring For Miles a fee that helps contribute to the operating of the location. Touring For Miles has partnered with CardRatings for our protection of bank card merchandise. Touring For Miles and CardRatings might obtain a fee from card issuers. Opinions, critiques, analyses & suggestions are the creator’s alone and haven’t been reviewed, endorsed, or authorized by any of those entities. Phrases apply to all bank card welcome provides, incomes charges and advantages and a few bank card advantages would require enrollment. For extra particulars please see the disclosures discovered on the backside of each web page.
Virgin Atlantic’s has introduced again one of the best factors sale that we’ve ever seen it run and that implies that for the subsequent few days, Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership members can purchase factors from 0.89 pence every (UK accounts) or from 1.48 cents every (US accounts).
The sale
There are 5 tiers to the most recent Virgin Atlantic factors sale and that is what they appear to be:
- Purchase 1,000 – 4,000 factors and get no bonus
- Purchase 5,000 – 24,000 factors and get a 20% bonus
- Purchase 25,000 – 69,000 factors and get a 40% bonus
- Purchase 70,000 – 124,000 factors and get a 60% bonus
- Purchase 125,000 – 200,000 factors and get a 70% bonus
Key phrases
- Purchase and Reward Virgin Factors purchases made between twenty seventh September and 23:59 BST twenty fourth October 2023 will probably be eligible to obtain bonus factors. The bonus factors will probably be credited on the time of buy and can seem on the members account inside 24 hours.
- Members who make a Purchase or Reward buy between twenty seventh September and 23:59 BST third October 2023 will obtain as much as 70% bonus Virgin Factors on their transaction.
- Members who make a Purchase or Reward buy between 00:00 BST 4th October 2023 and 23:59 BST twenty fourth October 2023 will obtain as much as 60% bonus Virgin Factors on their transaction.
- A member can usually buy a complete of 100,000 factors every calendar yr. Between twenty seventh September and 23:59 GMT twenty fourth October 2023, this restrict has been elevated to 200,000.
- Members may have the best to cancel any purchases of factors for as much as 14 days after the date of buy offered that not one of the bought factors have been redeemed. If any of the bought factors have been redeemed, the member won’t be entitled to a refund for any of the bought factors together with people who haven’t been redeemed.
- As soon as the 14 day cooling off interval has expired any factors bought and acquired by members are non-refundable and non-transferable, besides as expressly permitted beneath the Flying Membership phrases and situations.
- Each buy comes with a one-off £15 / $22 transaction price.
- You gained’t be capable to purchase, present (or switch) factors in case your factors steadiness is zero.
Full phrases and situations will be discovered by way of this hyperlink.
Click on To Purchase Virgin Factors
The numbers
UK-based accounts
So far as UK Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership accounts go that is what you’ll have to know:
As a result of Virgin Atlantic provides a £15 ‘dealing with price’ to each transaction the fee per level will differ relying on the bonus on provide and the variety of factors that you simply’re shopping for, however, importantly on this sale, the fee/level while you purchase 125,000 factors is sort of precisely the identical as the fee/level while you purchase the total 200,000 factors so there’s no want to purchase the utmost variety of factors on provide to get an awesome deal.
In case you have been to purchase the utmost variety of factors this sale permits you to purchase it could price £3,015 and you’ll web 340,000 factors:
340,000 factors at a value of £3,015 comes out to a value/level of ~0.89 pence
US-based accounts
Primarily based on what OMAAT has reported (my UK account doesn’t present US pricing), Flying Membership members whose accounts are registered to a US tackle can purchase factors from 1.48 cents every.
As you possibly can see, shopping for Virgin factors from a UK-based account is significantly cheaper than shopping for them from a US-based account (that’s why I preserve my account based mostly within the UK) however even at 1.48 cents/level, this sale remains to be one of the best that we’ve seen Virgin Atlantic provide to its US members.
Is it price shopping for factors on this sale?
In case you don’t have a plan for the best way to use the factors you shouldn’t be shopping for factors in any respect – stockpiling factors within the hope of utilizing them down the road is a nasty thought as you by no means know when a loyalty program will devalue its providing (a degree that’s effectively illustrated by the truth that Virgin Atlantic has just lately elevated the price of ANA First Class awards with out discover).
Additionally, and this actually shouldn’t want saying however I’ll say it anyway, please don’t purchase any factors earlier than checking that the awards that you simply’d prefer to ebook are literally obtainable. Virgin factors are greatest used for a couple of area of interest redemptions so in case your Plan A isn’t an possibility, you could battle to make use of the factors you purchase successfully and economically.
Personally, I don’t like utilizing Virgin Atlantic factors for journey on Virgin Atlantic (with one exception) due to the excessive surcharges that the airline chooses so as to add to award bookings, however I like utilizing them for premium cabin awards on ANA.
ANA now has an awesome Enterprise Class product (the Room) and though I’ve but to check out it out, I’m fairly positive that it’s one of the best Enterprise Class seat on the earth. Sure, it’s in all probability higher than the Qatar Airways Qsuite (overview).
So how do you employ Virgin Atlantic factors to ebook such an awesome product? It’s simple.
The Virgin Atlantic ANA award chart is a region-based chart and appears like this:
The factors prices proven are for round-trip journey – divide by two for one-way pricing (open-jaw itineraries are permitted too).
These are the highlights on this award chart:
- Europe to Tokyo: 95,000 factors/170,000 factors (Enterprise Class/First Class)
- New York to Tokyo: 95,000 factors/170,000 factors
- Los Angeles to Tokyo: 90,000 factors/145,000 factors
The present Virgin Atlantic sale permits you to purchase sufficient factors for any of those awards and that is how a lot they may price, assuming you purchase factors on this sale at 0.89 pence every (UK) or $0.0148 (USA).
Enterprise Class Fares (UK pricing/USA pricing)
- Europe to Tokyo: ~£846/$1,406 + taxes & charges
- New York to Tokyo: ~£846/$1,406 + taxes & charges
- Los Angeles to Tokyo: £801/$1,332 + taxes & charges
First Class Fares (UK pricing/USA pricing)
- Europe to Tokyo: £1,513/$2,515 + taxes & charges
- New York to Tokyo: £1,513/$2,516 + taxes & charges
- Los Angeles to Tokyo: £1,291/$2,146 + taxes & charges
In case you’re shopping for Virgin Atlantic factors in GBP, these Enterprise Class fares are staggeringly good (though the surcharges have elevated prior to now yr), and even if you happen to’re compelled to endure the upper USD pricing, it’s laborious to think about many higher Enterprise Class offers within the miles and factors world.
When you think about that it prices 135,000 – 155,000 Flying Membership factors to fly spherical journey between the West Coast and Europe in Enterprise Class on Virgin Atlantic or Delta these ANA awards look superb.
Sadly, it’s not all excellent news.
Firstly, ANA Premium Cabin awards have steadily grow to be lots tougher to search out (particularly if you happen to can’t be versatile with dates or in order for you multiple seat), so please don’t go shopping for any factors earlier than you’re positive that the awards you’d prefer to ebook are literally obtainable.
Secondly, there’s a draw back to Virgin utilizing a region-based award chart for ANA redemptions.
Per Virgin Atlantic:
What this implies is that oblique routings now price much more as a result of two awards are required.
Take New York – Japan – South Korea in Enterprise Class for instance. To ebook this with Virgin Flying Membership factors will take two award bookings:
First, it’s important to ebook the New York – Japan segments for 95,000 factors after which it’s important to ebook the Japan – South Korea segments for an additional 35,000 factors.
The whole round-trip price is 130,000 factors and that’s not such an awesome deal anymore – one of the best offers available are on continuous routings.
Looking for & reserving ANA awards
You may’t ebook or seek for ANA awards by way of Virgin Atlantic’s web site so it’s important to look to different Star Alliance airline websites for assist… however don’t purchase any factors till you’ve checked that awards are literally obtainable for the dates you possibly can fly.
I discover ANA’s web site a bit clunky, so my go-to websites are Aeroplan or United.com that are each simple to make use of and fairly dependable on the subject of exhibiting true award availability.
When you’ve discovered an award you’d prefer to ebook you’ll should name up your native Virgin Atlantic reservations line the place the brokers ought to be capable to ebook your chosen itinerary.
Utilizing Virgin Factors for Delta bookings
Virgin Atlantic Factors can be put to good use when reserving Delta Enterprise Class awards that don’t embody flights to/from the UK (so long as yow will discover them!).
Up till 31 December 2020, Virgin Atlantic had only one award chart for all Delta awards that didn’t embody flights to/from the UK. From 1 January 2021, that award chart now solely applies to Delta awards for continuous itineraries between the USA and Europe (excluding the UK).
This award chart represents one of many few candy spots within the Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership program as there are not any carrier-imposed surcharges if you happen to originate in the USA and are usually not touring to the UK.
50,000 factors bought on this sale would price ~ £445/$740 (UK pricing/USA pricing) and that’s an incredible deal for a one-way transatlantic Enterprise Class award.
The caveat: Identical to the ANA awards, these Delta awards will be laborious to search out if you happen to can’t be versatile with dates or if you happen to want a number of seats, so preserve that in thoughts earlier than you get your bank card out and begin shopping for miles.
Click on To Purchase Virgin Factors
Don’t overlook
Virgin Atlantic sells its factors by Factors.com so there’s no scope to earn a journey/flight/airline bonus by utilizing a bank card that gives bonus factors for procuring in a kind of classes.
What this implies is that it is a good alternative to make use of a bank card on which you’re working in the direction of a welcome bonus (like this one) or to make use of the superb card_name (overview) which can earn you 1.5% money again (or 1.5 factors/greenback).
Backside line
Virgin Atlantic is now promoting factors with bonuses as excessive as 70%. This sees UK-based Flying Membership accounts in a position to purchase factors from 0.89 pence every and US-based Flying Membership accounts in a position to purchase factors from 1.48 cents every.
In case you’re contemplating shopping for factors to ebook flights on Virgin Atlantic, the worth in all probability nonetheless isn’t fairly there, however if you happen to’re contemplating an ANA Enterprise Class reserving or a Enterprise Class award on a Delta-operated transatlantic flight that doesn’t contact the UK, this sale might provide really wonderful worth if yow will discover award availability that works for you.
Click on To Purchase Virgin Factors