Flash sale: £995 Virgin Atlantic Upper Class return London to Chicago with free stopover

For some reason, Virgin Atlantic is having a one-day-and-a-bit Flash Sale on seats in Upper Class from London to Chicago.

The fare is just £995 return.

Here is the best bit.  You are, in theory, allowed a free stopover in:

• New York
• Atlanta
• Boston
• Detroit
• Minneapolis
• San Francisco
• Washington
• Miami
• Orlando
• Las Vegas
• Los Angeles
• Seattle
• Philadelphia

A second stopover can be added for £125.

The stopover rules mean that in theory you can use the £995 fare to get to any of those places, and not bother seeing much of Chicago at all!  For example, you could do London to Los Angeles (stopover) to Chicago (must spend a Saturday night in Chicago) to London.

If you choose not to fly directly to Chicago, you will either be doing the entire trip on Delta using Virgin codeshares or on a mix of Virgin Atlantic and Delta.

If you want to stopover at somewhere other than Chicago, you should use delta.com to book.  Under ‘Fare Class’ select ‘Business (Z or higher)’.  When you are shown flights, you MUST only select those marked ‘Business (Z)’ or ‘First (P)’ which will be the cheap ones.

You must book this flight before midnight on Friday 28th August.  You can travel at any point until the end of June 2016, as long as you can find seats.  Remember that you need ‘Z’ in Business Class.

I can’t find any official online information about this deal but it is definitely NOT an error fare.  If you want to learn more about Virgin Upper Class, take a look at their website here.  The Clubhouse lounge at Heathrow is regarded to be one of the top 3-4 airport lounges in the world.

Have a play around at virgin-atlantic.com and see what you can find ….

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points.