How to spend points on Virgin Atlantic Reward Seats

When it comes to spending points with Virgin Red or Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, we have loads of awesome ways to get you jetting around the world. But what is Virgin Atlantic Flying Club? What are reward seats? And how can you make the best use of your Virgin Points?

Virgin Atlantic

What is Virgin Atlantic Flying Club?

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is a programme where you can earn and spend Virgin Points on travel. If you like earning Virgin Points with Flying Club, you’re going to love Virgin Red. It’s the rewards club that gives Virgin fans even more! Virgin Red offers hundreds more ways to earn Virgin Points which you can spend within Flying Club or on the vast range of rewards on offer in Virgin Red - from everyday treats to once in a lifetime experiences. Sign up and watch your points soar. 

You can also link your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Virgin Red accounts, so your points can sync across the two. 

So if you’re a Virgin Red member and not a Flying Club member, join Flying Club.

If you’re a Flying Club member but not a Virgin Red member, sign up to Virgin Red and link your accounts. 

It’s easy and gives you access to double the benefits.

All you have to do is add your Flying Club number in the ‘Personal Details’ section of the Virgin Red app. 

Virgin Red

Once your accounts are linked, you’ll see all your Virgin Points within both Virgin Red and Flying Club, unlocking access to loads more rewards. Join Flying Club and get your Virgin Atlantic reward flights faster by earning points with a Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit card, and by converting your Tesco Clubcard points from your weekly food shop. Plus, you can spend points on Air France, KLM or Delta. Or, spend your points earned in Flying Club in Virgin Red on everyday rewards such as coffee, film tickets, experiences or wine.

Now we’ve got that out of the way, let's chat about reward seats and how you can make the most of your Virgin Points.

What are reward seats?

From Upgrades to Points Plus Money and Companion Seats, there are so many ways that you can redeem your Virgin Points with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. One of our favourite ways to redeem your points is through reward seats.  

Reward seats are seats on Virgin Atlantic flights that can be booked using Virgin Points. When you book a reward seat, you’ll cover the airfare balance with your points. The rest of the balance you’ll pay with money covers taxes, fees and carrier imposed surcharges*. This makes reward seats a much more affordable way of travelling to some of the most sought-after destinations in the world, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston, Seattle, Austin, Washington, Miami. 

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Virgin Atlantic

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Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic guarantees a minimum of 12 reward seats on every flight, helping you to book your dream trip. These seats will be allocated as reward seats when the flight is put on sale. Book fast to reserve your reward seat, so you don’t miss out. If there are not reward seats available when you’re looking to book, check back because often more do get released during the flight selling period. If these reward seats are sold out you can still use your points as part payment on a normal flight from 3,000 Virgin Points with Points Plus Money.

Something to note: there is limited availability on reward flights for peak dates to popular destinations. This means that being flexible about when you travel is a huge bonus to making sure you secure those seats. But, if you can’t find what you want, you can always use Points Plus Money to get discounts on flights, or even your Virgin Atlantic Holiday!

If you're not sure you’ve got enough points, you can use Virgin Atlantic's Virgin Points Calculator to see where you can go with your balance, or how many points you need to get to where you want to go.

Benefits of reward seats

• Reward seats offer much greater flexibility than most tickets that you pay with money in full.

• Reward seats have no minimum or maximum requirements for the duration of your trip.

• They can be one way journeys.

• Changes can be made for just £30 per person, and can be cancelled with a full points refund if cancelled more than 24 hours before the flight. 

• You can still earn Tier Points on reward flights, helping you maintain your Flying Club Tier status, or reach Silver or Gold status quicker.

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Our top tips for making the most of reward seats

1. Plan ahead - availability can change so if you see what you want, book it! If you don’t see what you want, check back - it may become available at a later date.

2. Be flexible with your travel dates.

3. Research - work out the destination you want to go to and check out the number of points you need to get there. There are two prices: Standard and Peak. Then, start earning with Flying Club and Virgin Red partners to earn enough points to fly.

Virgin Atlantic

How can I book reward seats?

All you need to book a reward seat is enough points to get you to where you want to go. And, if you’re short of points, Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club have loads of ways to earn points, to boost your balance.

For Virgin Red members

1. Find your dream destinations in the ‘Spend’ section of the Virgin Red app. For any destinations not listed, please visit Virgin Atlantic’s route network. 

2. If you haven’t already done so, join Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club, then link your Flying Club account via the accounts section in Virgin Red. Join on virginatlantic.com.

3. You can book reward flights online. Just remember to log in to your Flying Club account. Then select ‘Show Price In: Points’ when you’re searching for your flight (see more information in the ‘For Flying Club members’ section below).

4. Your Virgin Points will be deducted from your account when you book.

For Flying Club members

1. Go to the Reward Seats section of the Virgin Atlantic website.

2. Scroll down to the Standard and Peak Season tables to see how many points you need for your dream destination and what time of year you can go.

3. Ready to book? Click ‘Search flights’ and you’ll be directed to a page where you can search for a destination. 

4. Add in the destination and departure locations, along with the departure dates. 

5. Select Points under the 'Advanced Search' and the desired cabin - either Economy, Premium or Upper Class

6. Once you’ve added all your information, click the arrow and browse the reward seats available to you.

The small print

• Take a look at the Flying Club terms and conditions. 

• Reward flights are subject to availability.

* Taxes, fees and carrier-imposed surcharges vary according to destination, date(s) of travel, and cabin.