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Save 33% on (almost) all reward flights in Virgin Atlantic’s Black Friday reward seat sale

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Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Red have teamed up to offer a 33% discount on ALL Virgin Atlantic destinations when you travel before 30th September 2024.

Premium and Upper Class flights are included.

‘2 for 1’ bookings made using a Virgin Atlantic credit card voucher are included.

It appears, based on feedback, that upgrades are not included.

Get 30% off Virgin Atlantic redemptions in ALL CLASSES

Taxes and fees are unchanged and remain high, with an Upper Class redemption to New York pricing at around 63,300 Virgin Points + £996 off-peak. The 33% reduction in points from the usual 95,000 does take the edge off.

You need to book by midnight on Monday 27th November, departing before 30th September 2024. If your return flight is after 30th September 2024, the discount will only apply to your outbound flight.

The offer does not apply to the ‘we will open up any seat, any flight for double points for Gold members’ benefit.

Where can you go?

To give Virgin Atlantic credit, this sale includes all routes, all classes and (virtually) all dates. The only flights you can’t book are for those few days in October 2024 which are currently available.

The list of current routes (we think) is in the pricing chart below. These are all from Heathrow.

From Manchester you have:

  • New York
  • Atlanta
  • Orlando
  • Barbados (seasonal)
  • Las Vegas (launching in 2024)

There is also Edinburgh to Orlando which operates in Summer-only.

Virgin Atlantic now guarantees that 12 seats are opened to redemption on every flight – two in Upper Class, two in Premium and eight in Economy Classic. Obviously some of these may already have gone, as some of these flights have been on sale for almost a year.

Get 30% off Virgin Atlantic redemptions in ALL CLASSES

What do Virgin Atlantic redemptions cost?

Here is the current pricing chart, EXCLUDING the 33% discount:

Return pricesStandard economyStandard PremiumStandard Upper ClassPeak economyPeak PremiumPeak Upper Class
Antigua20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Atlanta25,00045,00095,00045,00065,000115,000
Austin30,00055,000135,00050,00075,000155,000
Barbados20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Bengaluru20,00035,00075,00040,00055,00095,000
Boston20,00035,00095,00040,00055,000115,000
Cape Town25,00050,000115,00045,00085,000135,000
Delhi20,00035,00075,00040,00055,00095,000
Dubai20,00035,00075,00040,00055,00095,000
Grenada20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Jamaica20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Johannesburg25,00050,000115,00045,00085,000135,000
Lagos25,00045,000115,00045,00065,000135,000
Las Vegas30,00055,000135,00050,00075,000155,000
Los Angeles30,00055,000135,00050,00075,000155,000
Maldives (Male)25,00050,000115,00045,00085,000135,000
Miami25,00045,00095,00045,00065,000115,000
Mumbai20,00035,00075,00040,00055,00095,000
New York20,00035,00095,00040,00055,000115,000
Orlando25,00045,00095,00045,00065,000115,000
San Francisco30,00055,000135,00050,00075,000155,000
Seattle30,00055,000135,00050,00075,000155,000
Shanghai25,00045,000115,00045,00065,000135,000
St Lucia20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
St Vincent20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Tampa25,00045,00095,00045,00065,000115,000
Tel Aviv18,00032,00056,00022,00040,00066,000
The Bahamas20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Tobago20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Turks & Caicos20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Washington DC20,00035,00095,00040,00055,000115,000

Sao Paulo is not on this list as it was recently cancelled.

You can find peak and off-peak dates on this page of the Virgin Atlantic website.

Virgin Atlantic redemptions now earn tier points

Don’t forget that, unlike almost any other airline, redemptions on Virgin Atlantic earn you tier points.

On redemption flights, you will usually earn the following:

  • Economy: 25 tier points each way
  • Premium: 50 tier points each way
  • Upper Class: 100 tier points each way

You don’t earn Virgin Points on reward tickets, for obvious reasons!

You can learn about tier points on this page of the Virgin Atlantic website.

Get 30% off Virgin Atlantic redemptions in ALL CLASSES

What can you expect flying Virgin Atlantic?

Virgin Atlantic now flies three different Upper Class seats. We have reviewed them all:

In addition to the usual amenities you’d expect form a business class flight, Virgin Atlantic aircraft also feature a bar or social space for Upper Class passengers – a unique feature that only the Middle Eastern airlines such as Emirates and Qatar Airways usually offer.

You’ll also get access to the impressive Virgin Clubhouse at Heathrow, which we’ve reviewed here.

You can read our review of Premium on Virgin Atlantic here.

Get 30% off Virgin Atlantic redemptions in ALL CLASSES

Conclusion

Virgin Atlantic has launched a major reward flight sale. What’s important is that ALL routes and ALL classes are included.

Economy redemptions ticketing into Economy Classic with 23kg checked baggage allowance.

Whilst you can’t get a 33% refund on an existing booking, if you called up and paid the £30 change fee to move your outbound or inbound flight the whole trip should reprice at the lower rate. You could also cancel completely and rebook if seats are available. Be wary of doing this if you booked a long time ago when taxes are lower, as you would be liable for the current rate.

You need to book by Monday 27th November, for flights departing before 30th September 2024.

The savings should be live on the Virgin Atlantic website here – although we wrote this last night so we are trusting Virgin Atlantic to have done it. Just enter your destination and dates. To find reward flights, simply click ‘Advanced’ and select ‘Points’.


How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards

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.

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.

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

Comments (94)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • NigelthePensioner says:

    Do Virgin do Open Jaw Returns as reward seats in Upper Class? If so how can they be booked? There is no multi city option on the booking page as there is on BA……
    Thanks anyone!

  • Maurice says:

    Is this Virgin and Heathrow only, or would it apply to to a Delta route from Gatwick?

  • Martin says:

    NigelthePensionersays:
    23 Nov 12:30
    Do Virgin do Open Jaw Returns as reward seats in Upper Class? If so how can they be booked? There is no multi city option on the booking page as there is on BA……
    Thanks anyone!

    I phoned them but it was booked as 2 tickets, (currently in middle if a a LHR-NAS then PLS-LHR using a 2-4-1 voucher).

    • NigelthePensioner says:

      This is for LHR to BNA (goes via JKF then Delta) and the return MYS to LHR (goes via ATA on Delta then Virgin). I priced it as 2 singles and its double the price of a return to either BNA or MYS……….also the points are quite high but I guess that’s as there is no reduction for the internal Delta component – which may turn out to be bad vfm…??

  • Ghosty says:

    Currently in Shanghai and the flight here on Monday was very sparsely filled. Upper class had the entire middle row empty and PE looked light as well. The chief steward had to tell everyone not to move seats.
    So perhaps Virgin are feeling a bit of a squeeze hence why they have had a few of these promotions in the past year.

    • Chris W says:

      Or maybe very few British travelers want to go to China, and most Chinese travelers are choosing Chinese airlines?

    • sturgeon says:

      I’m thinking of booking this Shanghai flight but not sure about 13 hours daytime on the coffin seats. It’s not the greatest seat to spend all those waking hours in (and the small entertainment screen) and the somewhat comfy flip over bed won’t be used during a predominantly daytime flight?

      • HampshireHog says:

        Premium economy is better on a day time flight in my view, this having tried both premium and upper on a daytime 787 with VS

      • JDB says:

        It’s scheduled on the return for 15h15 on the VS flight which is ½ hour longer than BA on the same aircraft and of course only around 12h on China Eastern. I’m not sure about Virgin coffin seat vs old BA Club, but having just returned on the latter, it’s very very long for a daytime flight, but eminently survivable and Shanghai is worth it (even if Beijing is far more worth it).

  • Martin says:

    Just noticed on my Virgin credit card app that you can search for reward flights by month.

    • Mikee says:

      Looked useful until I cross-checked with the website and they didn’t match for a few dates I looked at. Website showed availability 1-3 Jan IAD-LHR butt said none available on the app…hopefully they’ll fix that soon.

  • pigeon says:

    The surcharges are annoying, but they have basically turned Flying club into revenue-based redemptions, with each flying club point worth 1p.

    So now LHR to JFK return is “63,300 Virgin Points + £996 off-peak”, plus you forgo around 15k points (or more), making the total £1779 (usual total £2096, basked on 95k points). Which is basically what a cash LHR-JFK costs.

    Of course 1p per point is still a valuable rebate, and you can still do better than that with high peak season tickets and using the flexibility.

  • 09R says:

    I’m Gold so change fees get waived (but cancellation fees don’t). Tried to change the date on a booking (with a plan to then change it back) but they said the price would stay the same.

    • 09R says:

      Just to add, this is what they have said:

      “Bookings are repriced when date changing, however, as your booking was made outside of the Black Friday deal, the reduced points levels do not apply to your booking and therefore no refund would be due. The reduced points levels are for brand new bookings made within the promotion window.”

      • pigeon says:

        09R, change it to a Tel Aviv flight and wait for them to cancel to avoid the fees.

        Of course only works if your balance is high enough for another redemption for the flights you actually want.

        • 09R says:

          Earliest TLV flights are Dec – who says they’ll get cancelled? (sorry not following)

          • pigeon says:

            Take your current ticket, change it to eg TLV-LHR one way in economy, getting points and cash differences refunded. If VS cancels you get a free refund. In the very unlikely event they don’t cancel, you have to pay the £50 cancellation fee as you’ll cancel yourself.

            Then book a second set of tickets with the 33% discount.

  • MCO says:

    Would a date change after sale is over reprice the fare? Say it stays in the same off peak pricing zone it should be the change fee only right or do they charge the original set of points too?

    • pigeon says:

      Understand it’s a full reprice if changed before departure of first flight. These sales often make money out of people booking in haste to get the deal and then having to change (eg if annual leave not approved)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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