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The UK may have just come out of full lockdown but international travel is still band for all but a few, but that hasn’t stopped Virgin Atlantic from launching a new promotion in which flyer can earn up to 20,000 bonus points per roundtrip made between the UK and the Caribbean.
The Points On Offer
Earn:
- 4,000 bonus points per Economy Class roundtrip
- 10,000 bonus points per Premium Economy roundtrip
- 20,000 bonus points per Upper Class roundtrip
Half the number of points are available for one-way travel.
Key Terms
- Flying Club members do not need to register for this offer.
- To be eligible for the bonus Virgin Points, members must make a new flight booking through virginatlantic.com, virginholidays.co.uk, or via the Virgin Atlantic Customer Centre.
- Bonus Virgin Points are applicable on Caribbean routes for new revenue flights booked and issued between 31 March and 25 April 2021, for travel between 17 May 2021 and 30 September 2021.
- In the case of flight cancellations by Virgin Atlantic, the Caribbean Summer Bonus offer will apply to a rebooking for the same cabin and route, for travel by 30 September 2021.
- Caribbean routes include
- London to:
- Antigua (ANU)
- Barbados (BGI)
- Cuba (HAV)
- Jamaica (MBJ)
- Tobago (TAB)
- Grenada (GND)
- St Vincent (SVD)
- Manchester to:
- Barbados (BGI)
- London to:
- Booking classes G, P, and A are excluded from this promotion.
- Bonus Virgin Points are applicable to each Flying Club member traveling on the booking.
- Flights must be both operated and marketed by Virgin Atlantic (flight number starts with VS) to be applicable for the bonus. Codeshare flights are excluded from this offer.
- Bonus Virgin Points will appear as separate transactions in the member’s online account.
- The standard and bonus Virgin Points will be automatically credited to your Flying Club account within 5 days of completing your Qualifying Flights.
- Points Plus Money bookings are applicable for bonus Virgin Points.
- Bonus Virgin Points are applicable on Upgrade Rewards where you have used Virgin Points or a credit card voucher to upgrade from a revenue class. You will receive the standard and bonus Virgin Points based on the revenue class you paid for, not the upgraded reward class.
- Upgrade Rewards are only eligible for the bonus if booked and flown during the promotional period.
Full terms and conditions can be found on the promotion page.
Quick Thoughts
I value Virgin Atlantic points at a conservative 0.75p each (~1.0 cents) so based on that valuation, Virgin Atlantic is effectively offering each customer a rebate of between £30 ($40) and $150 ($200) for booking a roundtrip flight on an eligible route between the UK and the Caribbean.
That’s a nice bonus/rebate to be offered.
The big issue here, of course, is the fact that it’s looking increasingly unlikely that the UK government will lift the restrictions on international travel on 17 May as was originally planned, so anyone making a booking now will be taking a gamble on when exactly they will be allowed to travel.
The good news is that no one has to make any bookings right now (the rules on international travel from England should be a lot clearer in a few weeks time) and bookings for travel all the way through to the end of September will qualify for the bonus points so no one is being forced to make a speculative booking for travel before the summer (if international travel is still banned for most UK citizens come September, Virgin Bonus points will be the least of everyone’s issues).
Personally speaking, I have no interest in visiting the Caribbean this year so this promotion doesn’t interest me but had I wanted to travel on an eligible route, I’d probably be looking for good fares for travel after the school holidays are over and airfares are a little less ridiculous – Virgin’s current refund and cancellation policy is good enough that I’d be comfortable making a speculative booking for September.
Bottom Line
Virgin Atlantic is currently offering flyers up to 20,000 bonus points per roundtrip flight between the UK and the Caribbean for bookings made by 25 April for travel taken by 30 September. If you’re tempted by this promotion, please keep in mind that there’s still a lot of uncertainty surrounding when the UK government will lift its ban on international travel out of England so any flights that you book may not ultimately go ahead or, if they do, you may not be allowed to travel on them.
