Virgin Atlantic has launched a new promotion offering up to a 70% bonus on purchased Flying Club points through October 12, 2025. This brings the cost down to as low as 1.2¢ per point (for UK-based accounts) or 1.48¢ per point (for US-based accounts)—in line with the best offers we typically see from the program.
With this promotion, you could book a one-way ANA first class flight from the US to Japan for as little as $1,335 in purchased points—a fraction of the $15,000+ cash fare. Let’s explore whether this deal makes sense for your travel plans and how to maximize its value.
The current Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points promotion runs through October 12, 2025. The bonus is tiered based on how many points you purchase:
The cost to purchase Virgin Atlantic points varies significantly based on where your account is registered:
There’s also a transaction fee of £15 or $22 added to each purchase, regardless of the quantity.
With the 70% bonus at the highest tier, the effective cost works out to:
If you were to maximize this promotion by purchasing 200,000 base points (the annual limit during this promotion), you’d receive a total of 340,000 Flying Club points for:
It’s worth noting that you need to have made at least one qualifying earning or spending transaction in your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account to be eligible to purchase points. New accounts without any activity cannot buy Virgin Points.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club normally limits members to purchasing up to 100,000 points per account per calendar year. However, during this promotion, that cap has been doubled to 200,000 points (before bonuses).
Flying Club points purchases are processed through Points.com rather than directly by Virgin Atlantic. This means these transactions don’t code as travel purchases for the purposes of earning bonus points on your credit card.
Your best options for purchasing Flying Club points are:
If your account is UK-based and you’ll be charged in British pounds, make sure to use a card with no foreign transaction fees to avoid the typical 2.5% fee.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club offers some niche but extremely valuable redemption opportunities. While buying points speculatively is generally not recommended, there are several scenarios where this promotion can provide excellent value:
The most valuable use of Flying Club points is for booking All Nippon Airways (ANA) premium cabins between North America and Japan. Even after a recent devaluation, these rates remain significantly lower than what other programs charge:
With this promotion, you could purchase enough points for an ANA First Class award for approximately $1,138-$1,335 (depending on your route and account location), compared to cash fares that often exceed $15,000 one-way. That’s a remarkable value of over 10 cents per point!
The main challenge is finding award availability, which has become increasingly difficult. Always confirm availability before purchasing points for this purpose.
Virgin Atlantic recently introduced dynamic award pricing for its own flights, which can be both good and bad news. For flexible travelers looking for the best deals, this change has created some excellent opportunities with one-way business class (Upper Class) awards across the Atlantic sometimes available for under 30,000 points.
However, be aware that Virgin Atlantic imposes substantial carrier-imposed surcharges on its own flights—often $700-1,000 each way in Upper Class—which significantly reduces the value proposition.
Always compare the total cost (points purchase plus taxes/fees) against the cash fare before proceeding. In some cases, especially for round-trip Upper Class bookings, paying cash might actually be cheaper than buying points plus paying the surcharges.
If you’re just short of the points needed for a valuable redemption, buying the remaining points during this promotion can make perfect sense, especially if award availability is limited or you have immediate travel needs.
Before purchasing points, consider these alternative methods of earning Flying Club points:
Virgin Atlantic partners with all major transferable points currencies at a 1:1 ratio:
These programs frequently offer transfer bonuses to Virgin Atlantic (typically around 30%), which can provide even better value than buying points directly.
You can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Virgin Atlantic at a 3:1 ratio. When transferring 60,000 Bonvoy points, you’ll receive 25,000 Virgin points (20,000 from the standard ratio plus a 5,000-point bonus).
One of the best features of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program is that points never expire, regardless of account activity. This means you can buy points during this promotion without worrying about losing them if your travel plans change.
This Virgin Atlantic Flying Club promotion offering up to a 70% bonus represents one of the best opportunities to acquire these valuable points. At rates as low as 1.2-1.48¢ per point (depending on your account location), there are several scenarios where buying points can provide exceptional value:
However, always compare the total cost (points purchase plus taxes/fees) against cash fares, and confirm award availability before making a purchase. For many travelers, transferring points from partner programs may still be a more economical option, especially during transfer bonus promotions.
Remember that this promotion ends on October 12, 2025, so if you’re planning to take advantage of it, make sure to finalize your purchase before then.
You can change your preferences or opt out at any time by clicking on one of the hyperlinks available at the bottom of each newsletter.
If you are already a subscriber and would like to unsubscribe, you can click on the link at the bottom of any of our e-mails.
