A painful change to Virgin Atlantic’s policy on infant redemption tickets
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
The relaunch of the Virgin Atlantic website last month will not go down as one of the greatest IT triumphs of the year, to put it mildly.
As well as general technical issues – such as not being able to access your account – there has also been some loss of functionality. This ranges from the mild (the loss of the referral bonus for introducing new members to Flying Club) to the seriously annoying (the reduced functionality of the ‘month at a time’ availability calendar for Virgin Flying Club redemptions).
There is one very serious issue which has been introduced, however. Redemption tickets for infants are no longer charged at 200 miles (Economy), 750 miles (Premium Economy) or 1500 miles (Upper Class) plus taxes and charges.
They are now charged at 10% of the lowest cash fare, plus taxes and charges.
This appears to have been forced on Virgin by the limitations of the new booking software, which they have inherited from 49% shareholder Delta. The new policy is identical to the Delta policy.
Virgin has told me that they are working on a way of getting around this and reverting to the old system but that it will not be possible until H1 2017.
How bad can this be? Very bad indeed, actually.
Let’s assume you are booking an Upper Class redemption to New York, return, for 1st to 10th February and want to take your 1-year old with you.
This would previously have cost you 3,000 miles plus taxes and charges.
Today, it will cost you 10% of the cheapest Upper Class return cash ticket on those dates which would be £179.50 (10% of £1,795) plus taxes and charges. This is not too bad, although Upper Class is rarely this cheap for cash.
Let’s imagine you only need a one way flight though.
A one-way Upper Class flight to New York on 1st February will cost you £5,551 (that is not a typo!). This means that Virgin will ask you for £555, plus taxes and charges, for your infant redemption ticket.
If you need to travel with an infant who does not require a seat (ie will be under 2 on the date of outbound travel) then you may want to think carefully before planning to book a reward seat with Virgin, at least until they have found a way to go back to charging a nominal number of miles.
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.
mark1980 
Matthew 
Rob 
Danie; 
Wayne Phillips 
Mark Byron Dowie 
Toby Walsh 
Brian 
Liz 
Scanditraveller 
xcalx 
Mike 
Leo (not the one who asked a q on other thread) 
jamie 
Cate 
Kathy 
Comments (50)