If you haven’t ventured out of Australia much, you might now be learning that Virgin Australia has an older sibling in London-based Virgin Atlantic. But the ‘Virgin’ name is where the similarities end.
Both carriers have completely separate loyalty programs, which begs the question, why might you want to earn points with Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club? The simple answer? Partnerships. Virgin Points (not to be confused with Velocity Points) are relatively easy to transfer through American Express Membership Rewards. For quick, easy top-ups, you can buy them as well.
And as for spending those points? From cheap Business Class flights to New Zealand to a stunning First Class jaunt from Tokyo, these experiences and many more are possible with Flying Club. With Virgin Atlantic also now a member of the SkyTeam Alliance, the program is stronger than ever before.
How do I join Virgin Atlantic Flying Club?
It’s both easy and free to join Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, even from Australia.
- Head to the pre-enrolment page on Virgin Atlantic.
- Click ‘Join now’.
- Add your personal details and security info.
- Hoorah! You are now a member of Flying Club.
How do I earn Virgin Points in Flying Club?
By flying. Jokes aside, hopping on a plane is one of the best ways to earn points. As you’d expect, Virgin Australia is a partner with Virgin Atlantic, and you can earn 50-200% of the mileage flown around Australia and to other international destinations. Singapore Airlines, ANA and Air New Zealand are also relevant partners, along with SkyTeam Alliance carriers.
If you’re based in the UK, flying Virgin Atlantic itself is also an excellent way to top up your Flying Club balance. For example, a London-New York flight will net you anywhere from 1,728 to 13,828 points, depending on your cabin class and wallet size.
You can also earn with Virgin Atlantic’s travel partners – including hotel chains, car rental companies and more.
Buying Virgin Points from Flying Club
If any of the options above fall into the too-hard basket, we’d suggest you buy the points instead. When there’s a bonus or discount offer available, buying points can be a great-value way to fly in Business Class sooner.
Here’s a quick peek at how much the points cost (at normal pricing):
| Number of Virgin Points | Usual cost (including fees) |
| 15,000 points | £240 (around AU$426) |
| 30,000 points | £465 (around AU$825) |
| 60,000 points | £915 (around AU$1,623) |
| 100,000 points | £1,515 (around AU$2,688) |
With bonus offers, you can pocket far more points for the same cost. One of the latest deals was 60% bonus Virgin Points, so you could have purchased 160,000 points for the price of 100,000 – £1,515. We’ll keep you updated on the next points deals.
Keep in mind, you need to have existing points in your account before you can buy more points. Our tip? After signing up for the program, log in to your Flying Club account. Look for a pop-up that signs you up to the newsletter for 100 bonus points. And hey presto! Within a day, you’ll be able to start buying as many points as your heart desires.
You could also transfer a small number of points across from American Express Membership Rewards, or even from selected hotel programs like Marriott Bonvoy.
How do I use Flying Club Points?
When it’s time to start booking with your points, Virgin Atlantic has you covered. Of course, you can book reward seats and upgrades on the carrier’s own flights. Peak and off-peak pricing applies to both, so browse the linked award charts to see how many points you need.
You can also use your Virgin Points with Delta, Air France, KLM, SAS, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Australia, South African Airways and Hawaiian Airlines. As of March 2023, reward bookings are also available on most SkyTeam Alliance carriers.
With so many ways to spend your Virgin Points, let’s zone in on a couple of airlines that fly to Australia – Air New Zealand and ANA. Both carriers have interesting ‘sweet spots’ that you should know about. So let us help you sweeten the deal.
Using Flying Club’s Virgin Points with Air New Zealand
15,000 points. That’s the magic number to fly from Australia to New Zealand in Business Class. No matter the distance – from Perth or from Sydney – it’s a flat rate for direct flights.
So what’s the catch? It’s simply that Air New Zealand doesn’t often release Business reward seats to partners, particularly on longer routes such as from Perth or Adelaide. Taxes are also roughly an extra $100 per person, each way.
Even without a sale, you can buy 15,000 points from Flying Club for £240 (about AU$426), which is usually cheaper than a cash Business Class ticket. On sale, that cost could be slashed by 50% or more.
It’s very important you search for availability first before committing to buy points, unless you already have some in your account. We recommend you use the United MileagePlus website to search for Air New Zealand reward seats. Just tick ‘book with miles’ when doing your search.
Here are the Virgin Points needed for Air New Zealand reward flights (taxes are additional):
| Air New Zealand (one-way) | Economy | Business |
| Domestic NZ | 7,500 pts | – |
| Australia-NZ | 10,000 pts | 15,000 pts |
| NZ-Pacific Islands | 10,000 pts | 15,000 pts |
| NZ-Asia | 30,000 pts | 40,000 pts |
| NZ-Hawaii | 30,000 pts | 45,000 pts |
| South Pacific-Los Angeles | 30,000 pts | 45,000 pts |
Using Flying Club’s Virgin Points with ANA
Japanese-based airlines have a great reputation for impeccable service and delectable food – particularly if you enjoy Japanese cuisine. All Nippon Airways, more commonly known as ANA, offer amazing Business and First Class cabins on longer routes, such as from Tokyo to London or the US.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club has traditionally been a great way to book ANA’s premium cabins at lucrative rates. But as of March 2023, the program amended several of the ANA First Class redemption rates without prior notice.
Here are the Virgin Points needed for ANA reward flights (taxes are additional):
| All Nippon Airways (one-way) | Economy | Business | First |
| Domestic Japan | 7,500 pts | – | – |
| Japan-South Korea | 9,000 pts | 17,500 pts | 25,000 pts |
| Japan-China/Guam/Hong Kong/Philippines/Taiwan | 11,500 pts | 22,500 pts | 30,000 pts |
| Japan-Malaysia/Myanmar/Singapore/Thailand/Vietnam | 20,000 pts | 32,500 pts | 52,500 pts (was 40,000 pts) |
| Japan-Hawaii/India/Indonesia | 22,500 pts | 35,000 pts | 57,500 pts (was 45,000 pts) |
| Japan-Australia/Canada/Western USA | 30,000 pts | 45,000 pts | 72,500 pts (was 55,000 pts) |
| Japan-Europe/Central & Eastern USA/Mexico | 32,500 pts | 47,500 pts | 85,000 pts (was 60,000 pts) |
A 12-hour or longer flight in First Class for just 85,000 points? That’s still reasonably good, even though it was previously even greater value before at just 60,000 points.
What status tiers does Virgin Atlantic Flying Club have?
Virgin Atlantic keeps it simple with three public membership tiers, two of them being elite. Status is earned with Tier Points, which you can collect by flying Virgin Atlantic and partner airlines on eligible paid fares. On top of that, there’s an unpublished tier exclusively provided by invitation only: UNIQ.
Here’s a quick overview of the perks of the public tiers.
Flying Club Red
Achieve/Maintain: Just enrol in the program.
Everyone’s got to start somewhere, right?
Flying Club Silver
Achieve/Maintain: 400 Tier Points in a membership year (temporarily, 300 until 31 March 2023).
In addition to base benefits, some major benefits of Flying Club Silver status include:
- 30% more Virgin Points on selected flights
- Premium check-in and priority boarding
- Free seat selection on Economy Light
- Priority baggage
- Maternity cover
- Extra benefits with Delta, Air France and KLM
- SkyTeam Elite recognition across the SkyTeam Alliance
Flying Club Gold
Achieve/Maintain: 1,000 Tier Points in a membership year (temporarily, 800 until 31 March 2023).
As the highest public tier, Flying Club Gold members enjoy:
- 60% more Virgin Points on selected flights
- Upper Class check-in and priority boarding
- Free exit row seats with Economy Classic
- One extra piece of hand luggage
- Clubhouse lounge access whenever you fly Virgin Atlantic or Delta (+1 guest)
- Access to the Heathrow Revivals lounge on arrival
- Extra benefits with Delta, Singapore Airlines, Air France, Air New Zealand, Virgin Australia and KLM
- SkyTeam Elite Plus recognition across SkyTeam, including Sky Priority perks
How do I contact Virgin Atlantic Flying Club?
For most partner reward flight bookings, you’ll need to call to book. To get in touch with Flying Club about a membership enquiry or flight redemption:
- Call +44 344 209 2722 from outside the UK, or +1 800 862 8621 for the US contact centre
- Send a direct message on Twitter or Facebook
Unfortunately, Virgin Atlantic doesn’t have a presence in Australia, so you’ll need to call the overseas lines.
Summing up
Flying Club has traditionally been more of a small and niche program. But since joining SkyTeam, the program has become quite interesting.
On top of that, Virgin Atlantic’s loyalty program has an excellent range of close-knit partners, with great reward seat rates. Wait for points to go on sale, and you could be snagging an ultra-cheap Business or First Class seat in no time.
