Virgin Atlantic Partners: Who They Are and How to Get the Best Redemptions

Founded by Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Atlantic is known for its great flying experience. But did you know the airline also has an awesome loyalty program called the Flying Club? This program doesn't just offer the chance to redeem Virgin Atlantic miles for valuable rewards. It also provides ample perks, including the opportunity to earn bonus miles, free seat upgrades, airline lounge access, and more.

The good news is you can get in on the savings and upgrade your travel experience by taking advantage of Flying Club benefits if you fly on Virgin flights or use one of the best travel credit cards that offer points or miles transferable to Virgin. And once you're a member, you can get incredible value by redeeming club miles with many different airline partners.

To make the most of your points, it's important to understand who the Virgin Atlantic partners are and which ones offer the most bang for your buck when redeeming points.

The basics of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program

It’s free to sign up for Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club. Once you’ve registered, you can earn miles on Virgin Atlantic flights as well as tier-qualifying points that you can use to get more membership perks from Virgin and its partners.

Miles you earn with Virgin can be transferred to friends and family members or redeemed for:

• Free flights with Virgin or one of its partner airlines
• Merchandise with spending partners and participating merchants
• Spa treatments at Virgin's Gatwick or Heathrow Clubhouses
• Chauffeur service after arriving at your destination

Tier-qualifying points also allow you to take advantage of special Flying Club membership benefits, which vary depending on whether you've qualified for the Red, Silver, or Gold tier.

• You become a member of the entry-level Red tier simply by joining the Flying Club for free. Red allows you to earn miles on every flight and buy additional miles that can be redeemed for rewards.
• Silver requires you to earn at least 400 qualifying Tier Points per calendar year. When you reach Silver tier status, you get 30% additional bonus miles for every flight. You're eligible for Premium Check In with every ticket and free seat selection when you travel Economy Light.
• For Gold tier status, you need to earn at least 1,000 qualifying Tier Points per year. Gold comes with a host of benefits, including 60% bonus miles on all Virgin flights; free seat selections for you and traveling companions when flying Economy Light; free exit row seats in Economy Classic; extra carry-on baggage; Upper Class Check In, regardless of which class you're flying in; exclusive Clubhouses passes for you and a guest; one complimentary Clubhouse spa treatment and 10% off all future treatments; and access to the Revivals lounge in Heathrow.

Virgin Atlantic partner airlines

Virgin Atlantic partners with other airlines to provide increased benefits for its customers. This includes earning and redeeming miles with certain partners (interline partners don't always offer these benefits). Here are Virgin Atlantic's partner airlines (as of Mar. 7, 2023):

SkyTeam Alliance

Virgin Atlantic recently became a part of SkyTeam Alliance, a global partnership of 20 airlines that allows travelers to earn miles and maintain their status across different airlines. If you're a flying club Gold member, you can enjoy SkyTeam Elite Plus status when you fly on any SkyTeam airline. If you're a Silver member, you'll have access to Elite benefits. You can earn Tier Points, earn and spend Virgin Points, and more on all SkyTeam member airlines.

What you need to know before redeeming with Virgin’s partner airlines

When miles are redeemed directly with Virgin Atlantic, they're valued at around 1.5 cents per mile. For example, a $223 flight in economy class from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Heathrow Airport would cost around 15,000 miles. But you may actually be able to get a better value by redeeming with Virgin’s partner airlines. Virgin Atlantic charges fuel surcharges on many flights redeemed directly with the airline rather than through one of its partners.

If you're planning to redeem with Virgin Atlantic partner airlines, research what miles are worth with different airlines so you can get the most bang for your buck. This is easier said than done because different partners value miles differently and have varying rules for how they can be spent. Some partners, for example, charge a certain number of miles for free flights based on distance, while others do so based on zones.

To find the redemption rules for partner airlines, visit Virgin Atlantic's partner airline page and click on the airline you're interested in. For example, when you click on the Delta page, you'll see that a flight to the U.K. costs between 15,000 and 77,500 miles (plus taxes) depending on where in the U.S. you fly from, the fare type, and when you fly.

On the other hand, Singapore Airlines has an entirely different chart that provides more detail about how many miles you'd spend visiting certain destinations.

Some Virgin Atlantic partner airlines don't provide details on how much rewards flights cost at all. If that’s the case, you'll need to either contact the partner airline directly or call Virgin's Flying Club at 800-365-9500 to find out the cost and book a flight with Virgin miles.

How you can best use your Virgin Atlantic miles with partner airlines

It can be challenging to determine which flights offer the best value when redeeming Virgin Atlantic miles — especially since you often must call Virgin or work with the partner airline directly to find out how much each flight will cost.

To make things easier, we've compared the cost of different domestic and round-trip flights to find some of the most affordable trips. Here are our best picks for redeeming your Virgin Atlantic miles with partner airlines:

• Fly ANA to Japan: A first-class ticket will cost you just 110,000 miles round trip from the Western U.S. and Canada or 120,000 miles round trip from the Eastern and Central United States.
• Fly Delta to Hawaii: If you're in the mood for some fun in the sun, you can score a one-way flight from the U.S. to Hawaii for around 15,000 Flying Club miles. In some cases, booking directly with Delta could cost more in SkyMiles.
• Fly Air New Zealand to New Zealand: Want to head to the land down under? It will cost you around 60,000 Virgin miles to get to Auckland, which could prove a relative bargain compared to certain redemption options through other award programs.

How to sign up for the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program

Becoming a Flying Club member is quick, simple, and free. Simply visit Virgin Atlantic and select “Join now.” You'll need to provide some basic personal information, including:

• Title
• First, middle, and last name
• Gender
• Date of birth
• Preferred login and password
• Address and contact number
• Preferred communication method

You'll be ready to start earning points within just a few minutes. You'll also receive a membership number, which you can share with partner airlines when booking trips with them to ensure you can use Virgin miles.

How to earn more Virgin miles

With Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club program, you can earn miles in several ways, including:

• By flying with Virgin Atlantic or partner airline flights marketed under Virgin Atlantic flight numbers: A flight from JFK to Heathrow, for example, would earn you a minimum of 431 miles if you flew Economy Light. Virgin also offers details for each partner airline on the number of Virgin miles you can earn for flights. You’re only able to earn miles for one airline loyalty rewards program per flight, though.
  
• By purchasing miles: You can buy miles in increments of 1,000 and purchase a maximum of 100,000 miles per calendar year. It costs $27 per 1,000 miles. There’s also a one-time $25 transaction fee for each purchase, no matter how many miles you buy.
  
• By converting points from other credit card loyalty programs to Virgin miles: You can convert points or miles earned through Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYouRewards, e-Rewards, Heathrow Rewards, Hilton Honors, and more. This means if you use other credit cards, such as your Chase Sapphire Reserve^® or Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card, you can convert rewards earned into Flying Club miles. We'll go into more detail about that below.
• By earning with Virgin Red: Virgin Red is a rewards program that allows you to earn Virgin Points through a variety of means, including online shopping or through partner offers. You're able to link your Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Red accounts and redeem Virgin Points through either membership. This means you'll have more opportunities to earn points that you can put toward award flights.

Qualifying for a higher tier, such as moving up from the Red to the Silver or Gold tier, also allows you to earn either 30% or 60% more miles, respectively. This can be a big boost to the miles you get for flying.

Check out our Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard review.

Virgin Atlantic rewards transfer partners

Virgin allows you to transfer rewards points from other credit card loyalty programs to the Flying Club. But before you move your points, determine the transfer ratio to make sure it's worthwhile. Here are some of the other credit card rewards programs with points transferable to Virgin:

Chase Ultimate Rewards

Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer at a 1:1 ratio, so 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points will net you 1,000 Flying Club miles. While Virgin Atlantic isn't the best transfer program for your Chase Ultimate Rewards points, transferring can make sense if you can get a good deal on a flight with a Virgin Atlantic partner.

Recommended Chase cards to use include the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve.

American Express Membership Rewards

American Express Membership Rewards also transfer at a 1:1 ratio, so one Amex Membership Rewards point gets you one Flying Club mile. Amex members can occasionally earn rewards redemption bonuses for transferring their Membership Rewards to Virgin. If you can score this bonus, making the transfer provides a lot of bang for your buck.

Recommended American Express cards to use include the Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express and Blue Cash Everyday^® Card from American Express.

Marriott Bonvoy Points

Marriott Bonvoy credit card points transfer to Flying Club at a 3:1 ratio. Moving hotel points to airline partners doesn't always provide the best value, but Marriott's transfer ratio with Virgin Flying Club is one of the better options out there if you want to use your hotel points to fly instead of book accommodations.

Recommended Marriott cards to use include the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^® Credit Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant^® American Express^® Card.

Citi ThankYou Points

Like some of the others on this list, Citi ThankYou Points transfer to Flying Club at a full 1:1 value. Taking advantage of periodic limited-time bonuses can also boost the value of your transferred Citi points.

Recommended Citi cards to use include the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, Prestige, and Chairman cards. Each has transferable points that can be redeemed for Flying Club miles.

Final thoughts on Virgin Atlantic partners

Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club gives you bang for your buck because you can take advantage of partner credit cards to earn extra Flying Club points and maximize the value of your points by redeeming with airline partners. Just be smart about which flights you redeem for and your membership can help take you further than you imagined.

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