15 November 2024

We made a pre-announcement about the changes in Virgin’s Flying Club last month, which remained somewhat vague – in line with how Virgin had communicated itself about the changes.

Now everything is life and the two main facts to retain are that 25% of all Virgin Atlantic flights don’t offer any Saver Awards anymore (and much more if you look solely at Business Class), but only apply a fully dynamic award pricing, often with corresponding astronomic prices in Business Class (capped at 350,000 miles one-way). On the flights with Saver Awards, prices are capped at previous levels and are hence rather reasonable.

Secondly, the class of service bonuses in Premium Economy and Business Class were increased, not only on Virgin Atlantic, but also on its core partners Delta, Air France and KLM. As such, one can earn up to 500% of miles flown in Business Class – and even up to 800% as Gold member.

So while you clearly lose out with the changes if you want to travel over Easter with a family of four to Orlando, you are actually better off if you travel in Business Class and are flexible to use your miles during off-peak periods since also Saver Awards are dynamically priced and can be much cheaper than the published maximum levels, starting at 28,500 miles one-way to/from the East Coast in Business Class. That is about the number of miles you earn on one paid flight as Gold member.