EL AL flights will be bookable with Virgin Points from next Wednesday

Last week Virgin Atlantic announced three new codeshare deals.

Two of these – SAS and Saudia – were with SkyTeam (or future SkyTeam) partners so didn’t mean much in terms of earning Virgin Points and tier points.

The third, however, is a genuinely new airline – EL AL.

As of this Monday, Virgin Atlantic is selling and putting its own flight numbers on EL AL flights between London and Tel Aviv. This will be reciprocated with EL AL flight numbers on Virgin Atlantic’s flights to Tel Aviv when they relaunch on 5th September.

As long as you book EL AL via the Virgin Atlantic website, or another route which ensures that your flight ticket shows a VS flight number, it will earn Virgin Points and Virgin Flying Club tier points.

You will be able to redeem Virgin Points on EL AL

What wasn’t clear after the initial announcement was whether the partnership would include reciprocal frequent flyer redemption.

Over the weekend EL AL sent an email to members of its Matmid frequent flyer scheme telling them that redemptions on Virgin Atlantic would be possible.

This made is very likely that Virgin Atlantic would follow suit, and it has.

Virgin Atlantic has now confirmed that you will be able to use Virgin Points for EL AL flights from 19th June.

Importantly, this arrangement will cover the entire EL AL network and not just the London to Tel Aviv route.

This announcement is more important than it might appear because redemptions on EL AL are currently tricky for UK residents. The airline is not in any major airline alliance and has a limited number of partnerships.

Neither American Express or HSBC Premier points can be converted into Matmid. The main route for redemptions has been to transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Qantas Frequent Flyer and book via that partnership as we covered here.

We don’t know how many Virgin Points will be required for EL AL flights or how high the taxes and charges will be.

Information should appear on this partner page of the Virgin Atlantic website very soon. (EDIT: pricing is now available at that link)

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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.