Virgin Atlantic – Bonus Miles & Tier Points

Virgin Atlantic Bonus Miles And Tier Points

Virgin Atlantic has launched a pretty decent offer for Flying Club members traveling from London to a few select cities – earn 50% extra flying club miles and bonus tier points when you fly.

The offer is valid for travel in all classes (Economy, Premium Economy and Upper Class) for travel between London and:

  • Dehli
  • Dubai
  • Hong Kong
  • Johannesburg
  • Lagos
  • Shanghai

Booking period: Between now and 31 October 2015

Travel Period: From my reading of the T&Cs the bonus miles and tier points will only be awarded on flights that take place between 3 September and 31 December which means that all travel must be completed by the end of the year.

Earning Limitations: The is no limit to how many times you can earn these bonuses within the qualifying period.

Flying Club Mile Bonus:

The 50% extra Flying Club miles are awarded in addition to the normal Economy, Premium Economy or Upper Class Flying Club mileage earned.

Standard Flying Club earning levels:

Virgin Atlantic Mileage Chart

Tier Points Bonus:

In addition to the regular tier points that you’ll earn for flying….

Virgin AtlanticTier Point Chart

Virgin Atlantic is giving the following bonuses for round trip travel:

Economy – 2 tier points per round trip

Premium Economy – 4 tier points per round trip

Upper Class – 6 tier points per round trip

Can you collect more Miles?

The T&Cs say that this promotion “cannot be used in conjunction with any other Virgin Atlantic promotional offer” but you may still be able to eek out a few more points:

  • If you’re not already a member of Virgin’s Flying Club you can get a bonus 3,000 points by joining via the Virgin Red iOS App
  • If you’re taking one of these flights it may be worth considering taking Virgin up on their “Miles Booster” program – but only if you book between now and 23 September while there’s a 20% bonus in place (the closing date may actually be 7 October but the website is unclear – it mentions both dates).

How Miles Booster Works:

Taking the London-Dubai route as an example:

The base mileage earned on a return trip in Economy would be 6,806 Flying Club miles and “Miles Booster” allows you to buy up to twice the number of base miles earned at a cost of 1.6c/mile (1.0p/mile or 1.36 Euro Cents/mile).

Under normal conditions this would allow you to buy a total of 13,612 Flying Club miles for $217 (£136/€185). Factoring in the 20% bonus you would get 16,334 Flying Club Miles for the same outlay which equates to 1.33c/mile (0.83p/mile or 1.13 Euro Cents/mile).

That’s not a bad deal at all…especially if you already have a redemption in mind.

Are you planning to take Virgin up on this offer? Has it made you change you existing travel plans or encouraged you to take another flight? Let me know in the comments below.