Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club changes, now status is easier to obtain
British carrier Virgin Atlantic, founded by Sir Richard Branson and now controlled mainly by Delta Airlines, has announced some [...]
Virgin Atlantic
LHR
British carrier Virgin Atlantic, founded by Sir Richard Branson and now controlled mainly by Delta Airlines, announced changes to the operation of its Flying Club loyalty program.
In this article:
If changes are usually for the worse, this time the new features are ameliorative.
It is easier to obtain the status
From April 2022 it will be easier to earn Silver or Gold status in the Virgin Flying Club.
The new thresholds will be:
- Only 300 status points, accumulated over a period of 12 consecutive months (previously it was 400), to obtain the Silver level
- Also changing are the requirements for the highest level, the Gold, from next year 200 fewer status points will be required, or 800 in a period of 12 consecutive months
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Unfortunately, these changes will not be permanent, but will only be valid for obtaining or renewing status in 2022; from 2023 we will return to pre-pandemic levels. It should also be remembered that Virgin Atlantic has protected its members by renewing the status to all elite status holders until 2023.
The benefits of the elite levels
The main benefits of Silver status are: free seat selection in Economy Light, use of premium check-in, and 30% of bonus miles on flights.
The main benefits of the Gold level are: access to the Clubhouses and Heathrow Arrivals lounge, use of Upper Class check-in, additional baggage allowance, and 60% bonus miles on flights paid in cash.
How to accumulate level points
The operation of level points for obtaining status is very similar to that of theBritish Airways Executive Club e to Air France and KLM's Flying Blue.
Personally I find this mode to be the best of all those used by the various loyalty programs Of the airlines. The reason is simple: it is super easy to understand and allows, with a route dialing strategy, to easily scale status, sometimes with just one round-trip ticket.
In addition, it is good to remember that VA is one of the few carriers that allows you to earn miles even when flying an award ticket.
The number of level points changes depending on the class of ticket, as well as according to the type of cabin.
In case of a ticket paid cash, here are the accumulation levels:
- Economy: 25-50 level points each way
- Premium: 50 - 100 level points each way
- Upper Class: 100 - 200 level points each way
If it is an award ticket instead, the following level points are accumulated:
- Economy*: 25 level points each way
- Premium*: 50 level points each way
- Upper Class*: 100 level points each way
Here is the summary table with all the different possibilities
| Economy | Premium | Upper Class | ||||||
| Class | Light (T) |
Classic (A*, E, Q, X, N, O) |
Classic (L, U, M, Y, B, R) |
Delight (V) |
(H, K, P*) | (W, S) | (G*, Z) | (J, C, D, I) |
| Status points | 25 | 25 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 100 | 100 | 200 |
The only small downside to the Flying Club program is that you cannot Merge miles into a family account, or rather until recently it was necessary to be a Gold status holder to do so. Now, however, VA has also granted this benefit to Silver status holders, but not to mere program members.
In conclusion
Virgin Atlantic is definitely one of the best European airlines, it has one huge flaw: it flies only from England, mainly from London Heathrow. With this move it is obvious that it is trying to win new customers, stealing them from British Airways as it did this spring with the status match campaign Just towards the members of the BA Executive Club.
