Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club is a unique program that offers some distinct advantages for travellers, especially now that Virgin Atlantic has joined the SkyTeam Alliance. Here’s an overview of Flying Club and how it can benefit frequent flyers over some other SkyTeam programs.
One point of confusion for some, is there is also this little thing called Virgin Red, an entirely separate programme, that shares the same currency!
Flying Club is Virgin Atlantic’s frequent flyer program while Virgin Red is Virgin’s wider rewards program, which includes other Virgin companies such as Virgin Hotels, Virgin Voyages, and more. It’s important to open and link both accounts ahead of time so you are ready to book when a deal comes your way.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
I would recommend anyone interesting in flying to join the program. For those based in the U.K it is almost a no brainer as there are many easy ways to accumulate Virgin Miles – even if you just used the free Virgin Atlantic Rewards card.
Red: Basic tier offering points earning, discounts, and basic access to partner benefits.
Silver (SkyTeam Elite ): Mid-tier with priority check-in, seat selection, and bonus points.
Gold (SkyTeam Elite Plus) : Top-tier with full priority benefits, including lounge access, priority boarding, extra baggage, and higher points accrual rates.
Earning and Redeeming Points:
Points can be earned from flights, co-branded credit cards (like the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard), and partners such as hotels, car rentals, and Virgin Holidays.
Redemption options include Virgin Atlantic flights, upgrades, and unique experiences. The points requirements are often favourable, especially for premium cabins on routes to the U.S., Caribbean, and Asia.
Tier Points:
Flying Club uses Tier Points to help members progress to higher status levels. Tier Points are earned based on the class of service and distance flown. Business and first-class flights, especially on Virgin Atlantic, provide accelerated Tier Points accumulation, helping members achieve and maintain status faster.
Moving Up The Status Ladder
Whereas you can rack up Virgin points in all manner of spending/rewards, the only way you can achieve status is via flying.
Silver
Silver can be unlocked once you achieve 400* Tier Points within a year. This can be as simple as two roundtrip discounted fare ( G, Z ) Upper Class or 1 full fare Upper Class ( J, C, D, I ) roundtrip
Benefits Include:
30% more Virgin Points on flights
1 extra piece of checked baggage
Premium Check in
Free seat assignment in Economy Light
Earn and Spend your points with Virgin Red
Gold
Reaching Gold status can require more considerable amounts of flying or flying those more expensive Premium and Upper Class fare buckets.
You will need to hit 1000 Tier Points within your Tier year.
This can be relatively easy if you fly for work and able to get booked onto 2 full fare Upper Class round-trips and then you can simply book 1 roundtrip Upper Class redemption or 2 roundtrip Premium redemptions.
Benefits Include:
60% more Virgin Points on flights
Upper Class Check In
Access to Clubhouse lounges and London Heathrow Revivals
Extra luggage allowance, no matter which cabin you fly
Gold Reward Seats – turn any seat into a Reward Seat for double the usual points price
Earn and Spend your points with Virgin Red
2,000 bonus birthday points
Complimentary companion ticket upon yearly renewal of Gold tier*
Clubhouse passes for you to keep or share when you earn 1,500 Tier Points within your membership year
Cabin Upgrade Reward when you earn 2,000 Tier Points within your membership year
Complimentary Silver membership for a friend
The way to value elite status with Virgin Atlantic is to ask yourself if you fly Virgin Atlantic or its partner airlines in Economy or Premium Economy frequently enough to utilize the benefits?
For me, the answer will almost always be categorically NO. However that did not stop me from attaining Flying Blue Gold via KLM, which also maps to SkyTeam Elite Plus Status – the level where you gain lounge access. Virgin does offer some intriguing benefits, which could make me consider switching..
Perks of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Reward flights earn Tier miles and thus count towards Status !
This is perhaps the most unique amongst flyer programmes, that Virgin let’s you achieve status via essentially not having to spend cash directly with the airline! Strictly speaking, this is not true off-course, since like British Airways, Virgin charges an almost extortionate amount of cash as “taxes and surcharges” !
Virgin Atlantic offers excellent points redemption opportunities, especially on long-haul flights in Upper Class, often providing greater value than other SkyTeam programs like Air France–KLM Flying Blue.
Companion and Upgrade Vouchers:
Gold members earn vouchers for companion tickets or upgrades, which can be used on Virgin Atlantic flights. This is a distinctive benefit of Flying Club that adds significant value for frequent flyers.
On select partner flights, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club does not charge high fuel surcharges, a common drawback in other SkyTeam programs. This can make redemption on certain routes, particularly within Europe, more economical.
SkyTeam Alliance Benefits:
Flying Club members enjoy standard alliance-wide benefits across all 19 SkyTeam airlines according to the Tiers of status. These include priority boarding, lounge access, and extra baggage for elite members. Virgin Gold members, for instance, get SkyTeam Elite Plus status, offering perks like lounge access across the network.
Flexible Points Transfer and Usage:
Virgin points can be transferred to or from other loyalty programs, including Amex Membership Rewards, Marriot Bonvoy, Hilton Honors and IHG Rewards.
Those based in the USA frequently enjoy transfer bonuses on top, to make redemptions even more attractive.
Virgin Atlantic Holidays:
Flying Club members can earn and redeem points on Virgin Holidays packages. This offers flexibility for leisure travellers who book flight and hotel packages through Virgin Atlantic.
You can earn extra Tier miles set on a value scale – 20 Tier Points for every £500 you spend on your Virgin Holidays booking, up to a maximum of 400 tier points per trip
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Partners
Virgin Atlantic has some interesting airline partners. Historically Virgin has long had a strong relationships with Delta (which owns a big stake in Virgin) and Air France-KLM but now this is far more expansive given it has joined the 19 other airlines as part of SkyTeam.
SkyTeam Logo
Virgin still however maintains codeshare with airlines outside of SkyTeam including:
– Air New Zealand – Singapore Airlines – West Jet – IndiGo – LATAM – Middle East Airlines – Virgin Australia – South African Airways – ANA – Hawaiian Airlines
Not All Partners Are Created Equal
When it comes to earning or redeeming, Virgin does not treat all partner airlines equally. And this is largely reflected in earning rates and the award charts for individual carriers.
For example, it’s core partnership with Delta/Air France and KLM long predates it’s recent membership of the SkyTeam alliance. So things have not changed much when it comes to partnership with these airlines.
For example, earning miles and Tier points, largely resembles or closely follows earnings from it’s own flight. That is for a long haul full fare Business Class ticket, you will also earn 200 Tier points for each sector with Air France/Delta or KLM.
The Virgin points earnings seems to be in the right ballpark here however, with La Premier earning a whooping 500% of miles flown !
On the other hand, many SkyTeam carriers get consistently inferior earning rates. Secondary carriers like ITA/Aeromexico/Saudia/China Airlines for example only earn 75 Tier points for a long haul Business ticket?
Virgin Flying Club Redemption Sweet Spots
Traditionally some of the best ways to redeem Virgin points is for Premium or Upper Class tickets to the East Coast of USA for as low as 17,500 Points in Premium and 47,500 in Upper Class.
I will reserve a more detailed look at these in it’s own post but one negative side affect of joining SkyTeam has meant that what was by far once THE BEST FIRST CLASS REDEMTION ever, anywhere with Flying Club, is no longer such a sweet deal.
This is still possible to book ANA First Class, but at substantially more miles required. That is if, and what is always the BIG IF, in the redemption world, ANA even releases premium awards.
In the last 2 years ANA premium reward seats have been few and far between and nigh on impossible to book !
One sweet spot remaining however, is that it is STILL possible to book Delta One Business Class from USA to Europe for a flat miles rate of 50,000 and just £5 in fees. The only caveat with this is you cannot fly to UK, it has to be somewhere in mainland Europe !
Credit Cards: You can also accrue a lot of Virgin points through one of two Virgin Reward Credit Cards there are similar cards in the USA.
Other Spend: If you did not happen to have one of the branded Virgin credit cards, you can still earn ( or double dip ) on Virgin points via Virgin Red for everything shopping and even things like booking Virgin Trains etc
Transfers: Lastly, you can also get Virgin points simply by transferring you points from other portals such as Amex Membership Rewards points or Marriot Bonvoy.
My Current Take On This Programme
I admit, I’ve been a bit of a Flying Blue fanboy, and thus, have not taken much time to look at Flying Club as a means to earn status, even if I have used it for many many years.
One of the main attractions that drew me to achieving Flying Blue Gold Status was that it opened up easier access to Air France First Class awards. This is no longer the case, as Air France/KLM have moved the goal post – so you now require Flying Blue Platinum status.
Platinum is not a level I envisage I will reach, as simply put, I’m a massive airline whore and do like to spread the love between the alliances.
With Virgin now being a fully fledged SkyTeam member, the value proposition has now changed for the better. And I am seriously considering switching to Flying Club as my main program that I credit too, as Flying Club Gold would offer me most of the same benefits as Flying Blue Gold, with a few extra “home” advantages thrown in.
In follow up posts, I will look at Virgin Atlantic Flying Club redemptions in greater detail, watch this space!
Faze, founder of Wander Up Front and Elevate Your Stay, is a London-based travel specialist with a deep passion for aviation. With over 2 million miles flown, he has spent the last 7 years focusing on First and Business class experiences.
Faze provides straightforward, no-frills insights into premium airline products and services, sharing what matters to help travellers make informed choices.
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