Save 50% on Virgin Atlantic transatlantic awards through the end of June (surcharges not halved)

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Virgin Atlantic has launched another one of its award sales and this time it’s offering a bigger saving than it did last time. For transatlantic travel taken through the end of June, the point element of a Virgin Atlantic award booking are halved, but as surcharges on these awards continue to be disappointingly high the deals may not be as great as they could have been.

The sale

• Book by 20 March 2024.
• Travel between 14 March and 30 June 2024.
• Save 50% on Reward Seats. All US routes. All cabins.
• The sale is valid for departures from the US or the UK.

[HT: HfP]

Key terms and conditions

• Offer valid for new reward flights and upgrades booked using Virgin Points between 00:01 GMT 14th March 2024 and 23:59 GMT 20 March 2024
• A 50% reduction will be applied at the time of booking to the standard Virgin Points price of all flights that meet all eligibility criteria departing between 14th March 2024 – 30th June 2024.
• This offer is for Virgin Atlantic reward flights, upgrades, and companion bookings (including those earned on Virgin Atlantic Credit Cards) for one-way or return flights in Economy, Premium and Upper Class. Bookings in Economy will be for travel in the Economy Classic category.
• >To be eligible for this offer, members must book a new reward flight or upgrade through virginatlantic.com or Virgin Atlantic Customer Centre.
• Full taxes, fees and carrier-imposed surcharges apply and vary according to the choice of cabin, departure airport, destination, and date(s) of travel. The exact amount will be advised at the time of booking. The discount only applies to Virgin Points, not any cash element (taxes, fees, and carrier-imposed surcharges) of the flight price.
• Valid on Virgin Atlantic marketed and operated routes only (flight number starts with VS).
• Routes included are: LHR-JFK, MAN-JFK, LHR-LAX, LHR-BOS, LHR-SFO, LHR-MIA, LHR-MCO, MAN-MCO, EDI-MCO, LHR-IAD, LHR-TPA, LHR-ATL, MAN-ATL, LHR-LAS, MAN-LAS, LHR-SEA. Promotion is valid for listed routes for both directions of travel.
• Partner airline and codeshare flights are not eligible.
• Discount is not valid on Gold Reward flights (reward flights booked with double points) or Points Plus Money bookings.
• Standard tier points will be awarded. Passengers are not entitled to earn Virgin Points.
• This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other Virgin Atlantic promotional offer.
• Existing bookings changed to dates within the promotional period will be eligible for this offer and any reduction in the points price will be credited back to the member’s account. Changes are subject to the usual change fees and any increase in taxes, fees, and carrier-imposed surcharges.
• Bookings made within the promotional period which are then subsequently changed to new departure dates, outside of those detailed within this offer, will no longer be eligible for this offer and will be charged the difference in points plus any applicable fees, and additional taxes, fees, and carrier-imposed surcharges at the time of making the change.

Full terms and conditions can be found on the promotion pages (link to US page & link to UK page)

Quick thoughts

Ok, let’s get one key thing out of the way before we go any further: Virgin Atlantic’s reward flight surcharges can be ridiculously high, so no one is going to be using this sale to fly in relative luxury for just a few dollars.

What some people will be able to do, however, is book cheaper premium cabin trips than they would otherwise have been able to book.

The sale’s travel period covers off-peak and peak periods in the Virgin Atlantic schedule so the number of points needed to book will vary depending on when you choose to travel.

Examples of one-way options that you’ll find are as follows:

Business Class

• New York/Boston to London (LHR): 23,750/28,750 Points + $997.80
• West Coast to London (LHR): 33,750/38,750 Points + $997.80
• Miami (MIA) to London (LHR): 23,750/28,750 Points + $997.80

Premium Economy

• New York/Boston to London (LHR): 8,750/13,750 Points + $452.80/$477.80
• West Coast to London (LHR): 13,750/18,750 Points + $452.80/$477.80
• Miami (MIA) to London (LHR): 11,250/16,250 Points + $452.80/$477.80

For travel in Business Class, the costs in points are more than reasonable, but the surcharges are still too high to tempt me into a booking.

From travel in Premium Economy, however, I could be tempted into a booking if in comparison to a cash fare the numbers made sense.

I value Virgin Atlantic points at 1 cent each, so a one-way off-peak Premium Economy award between Boston and London would effectively cost me ~$540 while a similar booking from LA would effectively cost me ~$590 … and those are not terrible prices to pay.

Availability of awards in another thing to consider.

From the East Coast, availability in the two premium cabins looks pretty good …

… but things are noticeably less impressive for departures from the West Coast:

Three things to remember

Don’t forget that Virgin Atlantic hands out elite status tier points on award bookings, so anyone who is still in need of some points to earn/retain elite status may be able to use this sale to earn/retain that status without parting with too much cash.

Also, keep in mind that you can use your Virgin Atlantic upgrade instruments and any 2-4-1 certificates that you may have in conjunction with this award sale – combining those with the deals available here will probably yield the best savings.

Lastly, if you find a deal in this sale that works for you but you find yourself short of Points, don’t forget that Virgin is currently running a sale in which points can be purchased from 89 pence (UK accounts) or 1.48 cents (US Accounts).

Bottom line

Between now and 20 March, members of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club can save 50% on the points element of all transatlantic award bookings for travel through 30 June 2024. The traditionally high surcharges are not being discounted so for most people, the savings on offer will probably be modest.