The Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program is the frequent flyer program of U.K.-based international airline Virgin Atlantic. This airline is owned by Virgin Group, a massive multinational company (founded by Richard Branson) that also operates a shopping rewards program known as Virgin Red. These two rewards programs are operated separately and earn separate rewards (with Virgin Red members earning points and Flying Club members earning Virgin Atlantic miles). However, by linking your accounts from both programs, you can pool all of the points or miles that you earn from each program and greatly increase your ability to use them for amazing redemptions.

For example, if you want to purchase a flight through the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program, and you have 10,000 points in your Flying Club account and 10,000 points in your Virgin Red account, you can combine the two balances and have enough to purchase that flight.

Plus, by linking your two accounts, you can widely expand your redemption options. This is because Virgin Red offers many redemption options that aren’t available through Flying Club and vice-versa.

In this article, we’re going to discuss the ins and outs of both Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Virgin Red as well as how you can maximize both programs by linking your accounts.

Virgin Atlantic Airways Boeing 747

What’s the Difference Between Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club?

Before we discuss how to link your Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club accounts, let’s discuss what the difference is between the two.

First off, what is Virgin Red? Virgin Red is a free rewards club that allows members to earn and spend Virgin points with a variety of partners. Virgin Red is a shopping-focused rewards program (similar to Rakuten, Honey or Capital One Shopping), which means you can earn points by making purchases from merchants like Nike, eBay, Apple, Booking.com, Wayfair, Dell Technologies and many more.

Virgin Red points can then be redeemed for a wide variety of products, experiences, hotel stays, flights, donations and more.

The Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program, on the other hand, is the frequent flyer program of Virgin Atlantic, functioning more or less like any other frequent flyer program (such as Delta SkyMiles or United MileagePlus). Mainly, Flying Club members can earn points by flying with Virgin Atlantic or one of its airline partners. However, there are many other ways to earn points through the Flying Club program, including transferring points from credit card rewards programs (such as American Express Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards), booking hotel stays or renting cars.

In general, the best way to redeem Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points is to purchase award flights either on Virgin Atlantic or one of its airline partners. There are, however, many other redemption methods available through the Flying Club, though they usually offer less value per point.

The Power of Point Transfers

As we mentioned, the highest-value way to redeem Virgin points through the Virgin Atlantic Flying program is to purchase award flights. This redemption method offers more value per point than any redemption method available through the Virgin Red program as well.

So, by linking your Flying Club account and your Virgin Red account and thus pooling all of your points, you can redeem any points earned through the Virgin Red program for award flights through the Flying Club program and thus get a lot more value out of your Virgin Red points.

Another major advantage of pooling your points is increasing your purchasing power. If you have 10,000 points in each program, you can combine your balances and then your purchasing power is 20,000 points for either program, which gives you access to many more redemption options.

Linking Your Virgin Accounts

Now that we’ve discussed the advantages of linking your Virgin Red and Flying Club accounts, let’s discuss how to do it.

In order to link your Virgin Red and Flying Club accounts, simply log in to your Virgin Red account on your phone and then navigate to the “Account” section, which is located to the far-right of the bottom navigation bar.

Linking Your Virgin Accounts

Once you’re on the “Account” page, you can select the “Link accounts” option. Then, you can choose the “Link Virgin Atlantic” option and enter your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account number.

These few steps should instantly link your Virgin Red and Flying Club accounts. All points you earn from either program will be pooled into one balance, which you can view from either your Flying Club account or your Virgin Red account. And these points can be redeemed through either program, vastly expanding your options.

Mastering Point Transfers From Virgin Red to Virgin Atlantic

One of the great things about linking your Virgin Red and Flying Club accounts is that there are no transfers necessary. All points that you earn from either program will appear in the same balance, which you can view through either platform. You can also redeem all of your Virgin points through either program.

However, not all redemption options available through Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic offer the same amount of value per point. And, in general, redeeming points for award flights through Virgin Atlantic will provide more value than any type of redemption through Virgin Red.

Top Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Redemptions

As mentioned, flight redemptions through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club tend to be the highest-value redemption option for Virgin points. However, not all award flight redemptions offer the same amount of value. So, in this section, we’re going to look at some of the best Virgin Atlantic redemptions to help you maximize the value of your Virgin points.

ANA Flights Between the U.S. and Japan

One of the best sweet spots in the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program is for ANA-operated long-haul flights between the U.S. and Japan. Generally, you’ll get higher value per point by booking premium cabin awards on these flights, but these awards can be very hard to find. Plus, you can find high value even on economy awards.

ANA-operated round-trip award flights between the western U.S. and Japan (as well as between Japan and Canada or Australia) cost 60,000 points in economy class, 105,000 points in business class and 145,000 points in first class. Cash prices for these flights can often be very high, which means you’ll get great value if you’re able to find one of these award flights at these rates.

Air France/KLM Flights Between the U.S. and Europe or the Middle East

Another great sweet spot in the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program is for flights operated by Air France or KLM between the U.S. and either Europe or the Middle East. Of course, premium cabin award flights tend to offer more value per point than economy awards, but you can still find solid value on economy awards for these flights.

Here are some of the best sweet spots from the Virgin Atlantic award charts for Air France- and KLM-operated flights:

  • One-way economy flights from the U.S. West Coast to Europe for 15,000 points during off-peak season
  • One-way economy flights from the U.S. East Coast to the Middle East for 25,000 points during off-peak season
  • One-way business-class flights from the U.S. East Coast to Europe for 48,500 points during off-peak season
  • One-way business-class flights from the U.S. East Coast to Northern Africa for 66,500 points during off-peak season

So, if you’re willing to do some searching, you can get excellent value out of your Virgin points by redeeming them for these types of transatlantic flights on Air France and KLM.

Virgin Australia Flights Within Australia

Another good way to redeem Virgin points is for domestic flights within Australia on Virgin Australia (which is a branch of Virgin Group, the same parent company of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Red). Here’s the award chart that Virgin Atlantic Flying Club uses to price Virgin Australia flights:

Flight distance (in miles)Economy class
1–6005,900–12,900
601–1,2008,900–18,900
1,201–2,40013,500–26,900
2,401–3,60015,900–29,900
3,601–4,80019,900–39,900

The prices listed above are for one-way flights. If you can find domestic Virgin Australia flights within Australia that have high cash prices, you should be able to get solid value.

Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400

Virgin Red vs. Virgin Atlantic: Which Program Comes Out on Top?

Because redemptions through the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program tend to offer considerably more value than redemptions made through the Virgin Red program, the Flying Club program is probably the more valuable of the two. However, these two programs really aren’t in competition but rather complement each other.

And, while redeeming your points through the Flying Club program is the best way to maximize their value, it’s still worth paying attention to the redemption options available through Virgin Red. Many of these redemption options are interesting and exciting even if they don’t provide the best possible value. Here are a few of the redemption options currently available through Virgin Red:

  • Crisp White Wines Selection – 18,000 points
  • Stay at Virgin Hotels Dallas (two nights) – 47,500 points
  • Transatlantic voyage from Barcelona to Miami – 280,000 points
  • Picturehouse film ticket – 2,250 points
  • Stay at Mont Rochelle, South Africa – 60,000+ points
  • One Night Glamping Break Collection – 12,000 points
  • Greggs Breakfast Roll Deal – 385 points
  • Introductory Flying Lesson – 22,000 points
  • Donate to Made By Dyslexia – 1,000 points

As you can see, you can redeem Virgin points through the Virgin Red program in a wide variety of unique ways, from flying a plane to buying breakfast to glamping. So, despite the fact that these redemptions may not provide the best possible value, they are definitely fun and interesting.

If you’re interested in travel and you want to maximize the value of your Virgin points, you’re better off redeeming your points through Flying Club. On the other hand, if you’d rather redeem your points for unique experiences and products, then redeeming through Virgin Red might be the better option. Either way, you have tons of options through both programs.

Additionally, having your Flying Club and your Virgin Red accounts linked gives you tons of options for earning Virgin points.

Through the Flying Club program, you can earn points in the following ways:

  • Crediting flights on Virgin Atlantic and its airline partners
  • Transferring points from credit card rewards programs (including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards)
  • Transferring points from hotel rewards programs (including Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt)
  • Booking hotel stays through Virgin Hotels and directly through certain hotel chains and third-party booking engines
  • Renting cars
  • Booking holiday packages
  • Buying points

With this program alone, there are a ton of different ways to earn Virgin points. But, once you link your Virgin Red and Flying Club accounts, you’ll have even more ways to earn Virgin points. Here are a few of the different ways that you can earn Virgin Red points:

  • Buy annual multi-trip travel insurance
  • Booking, dining and reviewing with SquareMeal
  • Buying a Railcard with Virgin Trains Ticketing
  • Shopping at the Apple Store Online UK
  • Playing “Don’t Drop the Shops” game online
  • Purchasing flights from certain Virgin Red airlines

So, by using both Virgin Red and Flying Club to earn points, you can rack up points much more quickly and save up enough for your next redemption even sooner.

Expert Strategies for Optimizing Point Transfers and Maximizing Value

When it comes to optimizing your Virgin points strategy, we recommend familiarizing yourself with the many different ways that you can earn Virgin points both through the Flying Club program and through the Virgin Red program. That way you won’t miss out on earning Virgin points at every opportunity.

If you live in the United Kingdom and you really want to rack up Virgin points quickly, you may want to consider signing up for the Virgin Red Rewards Card. With this credit card, you can earn Virgin points for every purchase that you make (and also earn double or triple points for purchases in certain categories). Unfortunately, though, this card is not available outside of the United Kingdom.

Luckily, another great way to boost your Virgin points balance quickly is to transfer points from credit card rewards programs. The Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program is a 1:1 transfer partner of all of the major U.S. transferable credit card rewards programs. So, if you have a rewards credit card from Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase or Citi, you can transfer your points from that card to the Flying Club program. This is probably the best way for most U.S. consumers to rack up Virgin points.

For instance, since the Flying Club program is one of the Capital One transfer partners that offers a 1:1 transfer ratio, if you choose to transfer 20,000 Capital one miles to Virgin Atlantic, you’ll receive 20,000 Virgin points.

Of course, the best way to maximize the value of Virgin points is to redeem them for award flights and look for sweet spots in the Flying Club award charts (like the ones mentioned above).

Another way to maximize your points’ value is to look for flash award sales. Occasionally, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club runs sales on award flights on certain routes that discount them by as much as 30%. If you can find one of these flash sales, you can get great value out of your points.

When booking flights through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, you should also keep in mind that you’re allowed to change your travel date, routing and/or cabin class up to 24 hours before departure for a service fee of just $50 if your fight originates in the U.S. You can also cancel your flight up to 24 hours before departure for a cancellation fee of $50 if your fight originates in the U.S. This could come in handy if your flight plans change.

Another helpful tip is that, if you can’t find a round-trip flight on the route that you want, you can try searching for an open-jaw ticket (meaning that you’ll be flying into or out of a different airport on your return flight). The Virgin Atlantic Flying Club doesn’t charge any additional fee for open-jaw bookings.

Elevate Your Travel Game by Linking Your Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Accounts Today

If you’ve used either the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club or the Virgin Red program in the past, you should definitely sign up for an account with both programs and link your accounts. Doing so will only take you a matter of minutes and will drastically increase the number of options you have when it comes to earning and redeeming Virgin points.

By linking your two accounts,which you can do by pressing a few buttons in the Virgin Red app, all points that you earn from either Virgin Red or Flying Club will be pooled into one balance, thus increasing your purchasing power. Then you can redeem those points through either program.

If you want to maximize the value that you get from your Virgin points, you’re best off redeeming them for award flights through the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program, particularly for SkyTeam flights, certain international flights from the U.S. on non-SkyTeam partners and domestic flights within Australia on Virgin Australia. You should also keep an eye out for flash award sales, which offer award flights on certain routes at discounts of up to 30%.