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The Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program is one of the most popular frequent-flyer programs in the United Kingdom, where Virgin Atlantic is headquartered.
However, this program is also largely popular among U.S.-based points-and-miles enthusiasts because it’s a transfer partner of many programs, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards, making it easy to rack up Virgin points if you have a credit card from any of these major issuers.
Virgin Atlantic is also a member of SkyTeam alliance, meaning that Flying Club members have many options for redeeming their points for partner flights, some of which offer outstanding value.
One of the most overlooked ways to get incredible value through the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program is to use your points to book Companion Seats. With this feature, members who are already booked on a Virgin Atlantic flight can purchase a ticket on the same flight for a companion with points at a 50% (and sometimes even larger) discount.
Essentially, by purchasing a Virgin Atlantic Companion Seat ticket with points, you’d instantly be doubling the amount of value you’d get if you purchased the award ticket for yourself. Of course, there are some rules that you need to be aware of when booking a Virgin Atlantic Companion Seat. But, for the most part, this offer is exactly as it seems—book a Companion Seat with points at a 50% discounted rate.
What Is a Virgin Atlantic Companion Seat Voucher?
Broadly, a Virgin Atlantic Companion Seat voucher is a voucher that allows a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club member to bring a companion with them on the same flight. However, there are actually three different kinds of Companion Seat vouchers that are earned in three different ways:
- Standard Companion Seats: You can purchase these vouchers with Virgin points (at a 50% discounted rate) when a Flying Club member is already booked on that flight and there is award availability on that flight. Taxes, fees and surcharges apply.
- Gold Renewal Companion Reward: You earn these vouchers each year that you renew your Gold elite status in the Flying Club program. You don’t have to spend any Virgin points to use these vouchers. Taxes, fees and surcharges apply.
- Credit Card Companion Reward: You earn these vouchers when you spend either 20,000 British pounds sterling (about $25,336) in a cardmember year on the Virgin Atlantic Rewards Credit Card or 10,000 British pounds sterling (about $12,668) in a cardmember year on the Virgin Atlantic Rewards+ Credit Card. You don’t have to spend any Virgin points to use these vouchers. Taxes, fees and surcharges apply.
Once you’ve earned them, all three of these Companion Seat vouchers work in similar ways. However, for the sake of this article, we’re going to focus on Standard Companion Seats and how you can get a ton of value out of your Virgin points by redeeming for them.
As a quick note on Gold Renewal Companion Rewards and Credit Card Companion Rewards, although these Companion Seat vouchers come as a byproduct of your elite status or credit card spending, we still recommend maximizing their value redeeming them for the ticket with the highest cash price available.
How to Book a Virgin Atlantic Companion Seat
To book a Virgin Atlantic Companion Seat, you need to be a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club member and you need to be booked on a Virgin Atlantic-operated flight. To book a Companion Seat award, the primary member can purchase their ticket with cash or points.
Additionally, there must be award availability on the flight that you’ve booked. So, if you plan on booking a Companion Seat, we recommend doing so immediately after you book your own ticket so that award availability doesn’t fill up.
To search for award availability on Virgin Atlantic flights, we recommend using the Virgin Atlantic Reward Checker tool if you plan on flying to or from the United Kingdom. With this tool, you can select a Virgin Airlines route and view the exact amount of award space in each cabin class for each day of the month.
If your origin or destination isn’t in the United Kingdom, then the best way to search for award space is simply to go to the flight search tool on the home page of the Virgin Atlantic website, click the Advanced search drop-down menu and select Show Price In Points.
From there, you can search for Virgin Atlantic flights that have award availability. When you find an award flight that you want to book a Companion Seat on, you’ll need to call the Virgin Atlantic U.S. customer service line at 1-800-862-8621. It’s not possible to book Companion Seat awards online. Be sure to tell the customer service agent that you’re trying to book a Standard Companion Seat, as the different versions of companion fares may cause some confusion if you don’t specify what you’re trying to book.
Once again, to book a Virgin Atlantic Companion Seat successfully, you must already be booked on that flight and there must be award availability on that flight. If your request meets these conditions and you have enough Virgin points in your account to purchase the Companion Seat voucher, the customer service agent will confirm your purchase.
How Much Does a Virgin Atlantic Companion Seat Cost?
As previously mentioned, award rates for Companion Seats are at a 50% discount (and sometimes slightly more) compared to regular award rates. Just like with regular award tickets, there are two separate award charts for Standard season pricing and Peak season pricing.
Below are the Virgin Atlantic seasonality charts:
And here’s the Virgin Atlantic Companion Seat Standard season award chart. The rates displayed in the award charts below are for round-trip flights.
| Route (to/from the U.K.) | Economy Classic | Premium | Upper Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Israel | 9,000 | 16,000 | 28,000 |
| India, Pakistan & Dubai | 10,000 | 17,400 | 37,400 |
| USA - Northeast (Boston, Newark, New York, Washington D.C.) | 10,000 | 17,400 | 47,400 |
| Caribbean | 10,000 | 17,400 | 57,400 |
| USA - Midwest & South (Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Tampa) | 12,500 | 22,400 | 47,400 |
| Nigeria, China & Maldives | 12,400 | 22,400 | 57,400 |
| South Africa | 12,400 | 25,000 | 57,400 |
| USA - West (Austin, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle) | 15,000 | 27,400 | 67,400 |
| Caribbean Inter-Island (Barbados-St. Vincent, Barbados-Grenada) | 2,250 | N/A | N/A |
Here is the Virgin Atlantic Companion Seat Peak season award chart:
| Route (To/from the U.K.) | Economy Classic | Premium | Upper Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Israel | 11,000 | 20,000 | 33,000 |
| India, Pakistan & Dubai | 20,000 | 27,400 | 47,400 |
| USA - Northeast (Boston, Newark, New York, Washington D.C.) | 20,000 | 27,400 | 57,400 |
| Caribbean | 20,000 | 27,400 | 67,400 |
| USA - Midwest & South (Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Tampa) | 22,400 | 32,400 | 57,400 |
| Nigeria, China & Maldives South Africa | 22,400 | 32,400 | 67,400 |
| South Africa | 22,400 | 42,400 | 67,400 |
| USA - West (Austin, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle) | 25,000 | 37,400 | 77,400 |
| Caribbean Inter-Island (Barbados-St. Vincent, Barbados-Grenada) | 2,500 | N/A | N/A |
If you compare the Companion Seat award rates in the charts above with the award charts for regular Virgin Atlantic awards, you’ll see that these Companion Seat awards are discounted by 50%, which is an amazing deal.
You can get excellent value out of your Virgin points by redeeming for Companion Seats. For instance, booking a round-trip flight from the U.K. to the U.S. West in Premium class during Standard season for just 27,400 points is an incredible deal.
For instance, using the Virgin Atlantic Reward Checker tool, we found availability in Premium class of round-trip flights between London (LHR) and Las Vegas (LAS) on Jan. 9 and 14.
If you booked these flights as Companion Seats with Virgin points, it would cost you a total of 27,400 points (since these dates are during Standard season). Unfortunately, when purchasing a Companion Seat award with Virgin Atlantic, you’ll still have to pay any applicable taxes and fee, which are often quite high.
For instance, on this round-trip itinerary from London to Las Vegas in Premium class, the taxes and fees would be 533 British pounds sterling (about $678).
When we searched for Premium flights on these same dates between London and Las Vegas, the best cash rate that we could find was 3,634 British pounds sterling (about $4,590 at the current conversion rate).
Thus, by booking this flight as a Companion Seat with Virgin points instead of with cash, you’d be getting a whopping value of nearly 14 cents per point (which factors in the taxes and fees that you have to pay). This is amazing value for the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program and the entire frequent-flyer miles landscape.
With some searching using the methods that we showed you above, you can find many Companion Seat redemptions that offer just as much (if not more) value than the example above.
Can You Upgrade Companion Seat Tickets?
When you book a Companion Seat, you need to travel on the same flight as your companion. If you, as the primary member, wish to upgrade to the next cabin class, you can do so with either cash or points. However, the companion that you’re traveling with can be upgraded using cash only (and not points) and only if there is an empty seat in that cabin.
If you choose to upgrade your companion with cash, you’ll get a discounted rate. If you choose to upgrade yourself, as the primary member, with points, then your companion will need to stay in the lower cabin.
Virgin Atlantic Upper Class (Business Class) on the A330-200
Companion Seat Terms and Conditions
There are a few other rules and restrictions to be aware of when trying to book a Companion Seat award. We’ve listed these below:
- From the date when the Companion Seat voucher is issued, you have 24 months to take the outbound flight.
- Companion Seat awards can be changed or canceled for 30 British pounds (about $38) per person.
- Economy Light tickets are not eligible for Companion Seat awards.
- Economy Companion Seat awards are available only in Economy Classic. The primary member may purchase an Economy Delight seat, but the companion will be in Economy Classic.
- You are allowed to bring a child as your companion. However, that companion will be ticketed as an adult, after which a refund of overpayment of taxes must be requested.
- If you’re a Flying Club Red elite member, you can use a Credit Card Companion Reward only in Economy or Premium classes. Silver and Gold status members can use these vouchers for Economy, Premium and Upper Class.
The Bottom Line
If you’re already a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program member and you frequently book flights for others, then you should definitely start looking into using the program’s Companion Seat feature. By booking a Companion Seat, you can book a ticket for a friend or family member on the same flight as you for 50% of the regular sum of Virgin points.
Virgin Atlantic is a transfer partner of many transferrable credit card rewards programs, so if you have credit card points with one of these programs, then you may even want to consider transferring some points into the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program just to use this Companion Seat feature. It’s one of the easiest ways to get outstanding value out of your points.
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Editors Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
10xTravel is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Editors Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
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