Often buying points strategically can be a good value, especially for luxury travel experiences where you can get the most outsized value. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club doesn’t sell points often, but when the program does, it’s typically a pretty good deal. The latest such promotion has just been launched, and could be worth considering.
Let me just note upfront that Virgin Atlantic has announced that Flying Club will introduce dynamic award pricing as of October 30, 2024, and we still don’t know what exactly that will look like, and if it will apply to partner redemptions. So I would only recommend making a purchase with a short term use in mind, given the risk.
In this post:
Promotion on purchased Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points
Through Wednesday, November 6, 2024, the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program is offering a bonus on purchased points. The program is offering a tiered bonus of up to 70%, as follows:
- Buy 5,000-24,000 points, get a 20% bonus
- Buy 25,000-69,000 points, get a 40% bonus
- Buy 70,000-99,000 points, get a 60% bonus
- Buy 100,000-200,000 points, get a 70% bonus
The 70% bonus is in line with the best offers we see from the program.
How much does it cost to buy Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points?
The cost to purchase Virgin Atlantic points varies based on where your account is registered:
- If your account is registered in the United States, you’ll pay $25 per 1,000 points, pre-tax before any discounts or bonuses
- If your account is registered in the United Kingdom, you’ll pay £15 per 1,000 points, pre-tax before any discounts or bonuses
- On top of that, there’s a transaction fee of £15 or $22
The pricing is much better for those with accounts registered in the UK rather than the US. Assuming you’re eligible for a 70% bonus:
- Those with accounts in the US can purchase 340,000 Flying Club points for $5,022, which is a rate of $0.0148 per Flying Club point
- Those with accounts in the UK can purchase 340,000 Flying Club points for £3,015, which is a rate of £0.0089 per Flying Club point ($0.0116)
It’s interesting how much Virgin Atlantic penalizes those in the United States when it comes to buying points. Then again, when it comes to overall points earning opportunities, we can’t really complain in the United States, given the amazing credit card offers we have.
We only see a bonus on Flying Club points a few times per year, and when we do, the offers are typically in the range of 60-70%.
How many Flying Club points can you purchase?
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club ordinarily lets members purchase up to 100,000 points per account per calendar year, before any bonuses. However, during this promotion that cap has been doubled, to 200,000 points.
Which credit card should you buy Flying Club points with?
Flying Club points purchases are processed by points.com, meaning they don’t count as an airfare purchase for the purposes of credit card spending. Therefore I’d recommend using a card on which you’re trying to reach minimum spending, or otherwise, a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending.
In this case the best option is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review) or Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review), which offer 2x miles and have no foreign transaction fees.
Usually the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review) or Citi Double Cash® Card (review) would also be good options for maximizing everyday spending, but the cards have foreign transaction fees, so wouldn’t necessarily be a good option in this case.
- Earn 1% cash back when you make a purchase, earn 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase
- $0
- Earn 3% Cash Back on Dining
- Earn 3% Cash Back at Drugstores
- Earn 1.5% Cash Back On All Other Purchases
- $0
- Earn 2x miles per dollar on every purchase
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary
- $395
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check Credit
- $95
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
Is buying Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points worth it?
Virgin Atlantic is definitely a frequent flyer program with more niche redemption opportunities. In addition to being able to redeem Flying Club points for travel on Virgin Atlantic, there’s also good value to be had for redemptions on Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, and Delta.
Award redemption rates on Virgin Atlantic are very reasonable, and a one-way Upper Class transatlantic award will typically cost you 47,500-57,500 Flying Club points. The catch is that there are significant carrier imposed surcharges (plus the UK Air Passenger Duty), especially for travel in Upper Class. You can expect that a roundtrip itinerary from the US to UK will run you well over $1,000, in addition to all the points.
Beyond that, Virgin Atlantic has several airline partners, some of which are more lucrative than others. Probably the best use of Flying Club points is for travel in ANA first & business class. You can find the redemption rates below.
Paying 52,500-60,000 Flying Club points for a one-way business class ticket between the United States and Japan is a phenomenal value to start with.
All Nippon Airways’ new first & business class are amazing products as well. The major catch is that availability can be really tough to come by.
Once again, the above pricing is based on current award pricing, though that could change as of later this month.
How much are Flying Club points worth?
Everyone will value points currencies differently, but personally I value Flying Club points at ~1.1 cents each. However, I tend to value points pretty conservatively, and there are many ways to get way more value from Flying Club points than that.
Do Flying Club points expire?
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points don’t expire. There’s no requirement to even have any account activity, as the points will never expire regardless.
What other ways can you earn Flying Club points?
While buying Virgin Atlantic points could represent a great deal, keep in mind that there are lots of other ways to earn Flying Club points. Most significantly, Virgin Atlantic is partners with major transferable points currencies, including American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou. There are several ways to earn these points aside from outright buying them.
Bottom line
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is offering members a 70% bonus on purchased points, which is an opportunity to buy the points for 1.16-1.48 cents each (in USD), depending on where your account is registered.
There are plenty of circumstances where this could be a great deal. The only major consideration is that there are lots of other ways to earn Virgin Atlantic points with transferable points currencies, so some may prefer to earn rewards that way. With a specific use in mind, there could definitely be huge value in buying Flying Club points.
Do you plan on buying Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points with a bonus?
Last year i was seeing discounted SFO to LHR J class tickets in the approx $2400 RT range.
Why would i go through the points game which will cost more with lot less availability ?
I was reviewing some of the the offers that have been made in recent times by different airlines and under most circumstances it better to buy with cash.
Not worth it unless you want to fly to London, Edinburgh or Manchester. I bought points over a year ago and have not been able to use them for anywhere else I want to go to.
The biggest thing that puts me off is the imposed fees and surcharges. The reality is, once I crunch the numbers in the $£ paid in purchasing the points and then add the £$ of fees and charges, I can usually just find a discounted Business Class ticket online and buy it outright (and earn miles) for the same price or less.
This is going to be even more true with the dynamic pricing now.
You were already paying $2kish in fees and 135k points from the West Coast. A discounted business class ticket is $3k to $4k only. It's terrible use of points imo
Yeap its £1k + 143k miles from LHR to west coast, I am trying to use up my miles before the new model becomes live , end of an era.
Might be worth considering purchasing through the new VS credit card that US customers can apply for;
https://www.virgin.com/en-us/virgin-red/rewards-credit-card
I could use a few but I'll wait until 10/31 to see what plans they have for pricing.