Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Virgin Atlantic has reintroduced its best-ever promotion for buying miles: Flying Club members can buy Virgin points with up to 70% bonus for a limited time.
This latest promotion from Virgin Atlantic is tiered, meaning the more Virgin points you buy, the bigger your bonus will be. The largest bonus is 70%, while the smallest is 20%. At the highest bonus, this drops the purchase price to 1.48 cents per point.
The tiered bonus structure for buying Virgin points as part of this deal breaks down as follows:
- Buy 5,000 to 24,000 points and get a 20% bonus.
- Buy 25,000 to 69,000 points and get a 30% bonus.
- Buy 70,000 to 124,000 points and get a 60% bonus.
- Buy 125,000 to 200,000 points and get a 70% bonus.
In other words, if you want a full 70% bonus, be prepared to spend a good chunk of money.
This promotion runs through March 31. According to Flying Club's terms and conditions, members can purchase up to 100,000 Virgin points per calendar year; however, the limit has been increased to 200,000 points during this promotion.
Note that bonus points earned with this promotion don’t count toward that total. All transactions to buy points are also subject to a $22 transaction fee, regardless of the number of Virgin points purchased.
U.S.-registered Flying Club accounts pay slightly more than U.K.-registered accounts for Virgin points. This is because Virgin Atlantic sells points to U.S. accounts at a rate of $25 per 1,000 points before the bonus. U.K. accounts pay 15 British pounds (about $19) per 1,000 points.
Is it worth it to buy Virgin points?
Before jumping into the specifics, it’s worth mentioning that TPG doesn’t recommend buying points speculatively. In other words, buying a large sum of points may not be a good idea if you have no immediate use for the purchased points. That’s because airline currencies are generally a bad long-term investment — at any moment, they could be devalued with little notice.
Related: When does it make sense to buy points and miles?
However, if you have a use for the points, this is a great opportunity to increase your Flying Club account balance. TPG values Virgin points at 1.5 cents apiece. With this promotion, you can purchase points for less than that.
Virgin Atlantic-operated tickets are usually accompanied by high fuel surcharges, but many partner redemptions don’t add these fees. Our favorite Virgin Atlantic Flying Club redemptions include tickets from the U.S. to Europe in Delta One business class for 50,000 points and from the U.S. to Japan in All Nippon Airways business class for 45,000 points one-way from the West Coast or 47,500 points from the central U.S. or East Coast.
If you purchase points during this promotion, pay with a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending, as these transactions are processed by Points.com rather than Virgin itself. One of the best options is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, which earns 2 miles per dollar on all purchases.
Related: Unlock incredible value with Virgin Atlantic points
Bottom line
This is a tempting promotion from Virgin. If you’re in the market for a few extra Virgin points, purchasing points at just 1.48 cents apiece is a solid deal, but you must purchase before March 31.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is also a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards. Citi is offering a 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic through Saturday.
In other words, you can transfer points you may already have to Virgin at a 1:1 ratio — no purchasing points involved.
