Get 50% off reward flights with Virgin Atlantic

Black Friday has arrived early for Virgin Atlantic. On Monday, the airline unveiled its Black Friday sale early, featuring some offers for both cash and reward tickets.

Let’s break down each offer separately.

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50% off reward flights

Perhaps the best deal of all for this Black Friday offer is a 50% off sale on all reward flights with Virgin Atlantic.

Beginning Monday, customers can get 50% off all reward seats on the Virgin Atlantic network. In order to get the 50% off discount, you must book your reward ticket by Nov. 30 and travel between Nov. 23, 2020, and Oct. 20, 2021.

With the sale on reward flights, you can get one-way flights for as little as 4,500 Virgin Points during off-peak travel dates — on Virgin’s route from London Heathrow to Tel Aviv. Or, from the U.S., for as few as 5,000 Virgin Points one-way from Boston to London.

Let’s take a look at some examples of what you can book as part of this deal, though keep in mind that you'll still have to pay the sometimes-exorbitant taxes, fees and surcharges:

New York (JFK) to London (LHR) for 47,400 Virgin Points + $1,745 round-trip in Upper Class (23,700 Virgin Points one-way):

Los Angeles (LAX) to London (LHR) for 67,400 Virgin Points + $1,745 round-trip in Upper Class (33,700 Virgin Points one-way):

Boston (BOS) to London (LHR) for 10,000 Virgin Points + $468 round-trip in economy (5,000 Virgin Points one-way):

As you can see, there’s wide-open availability on many routes in Virgin’s network. Additionally, you can utilize a tool like SeatSpy to quickly search award availability before heading to Virgin’s website to book.

If you don’t have enough Virgin Points in your account at the moment, keep in mind that you can earn them fairly easily. For example, you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points at a 1:1 rate. Alternatively, as part of its Black Friday sale, Virgin is offering 50% bonus points when you buy 5,000 Virgin Points or more. You can buy up to 100,000 Virgin Points per year.

Remember, too, that since September, Virgin now allows Flying Club members to earn elite-qualifying Tier Points on reward flights. In other words, if you were to purchase one of the Virgin Atlantic-operated flights as part of this 50% discount offer, you will also earn Virgin Flying Club elite credits.

Keep in mind, too, that you’re buying Virgin Points — the new currency of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. As announced last week, Virgin Points are managed by the new loyalty program arm of the Virgin Group, Virgin Red. While the Virgin Red program is available on an invitation-only basis right now in the U.K., when it’s open to the public in 2021, you’ll be able to redeem your Virgin Points on a number of other products and retailers, such as a cruise with Virgin Voyages.

Discounted cash fares

In addition to the discounted reward tickets, if you’re looking to travel on a cash ticket or don’t have the Virgin Points, the airline is also offering discounted fares.

Let’s take a look at some sale fares that are showing on Virgin’s site, noting that they're not necessarily the least expensive you'll find on some routes:

Los Angeles (LAX) to London (LHR) for $624 round-trip in economy:

Boston (BOS) to London (LHR) for $1,050 round-trip in Premium:

Ultimately, thse cash fares aren't as sweet as those being offered for Virgin Atlantic customers in the U.K. However, if you're set on flying with the airline from the U.S., it could be worth doing some searching to see if there's a fare being offered by Virgin that's less expensive than the competition.

Ultimately, this is a really nice sale offer from Virgin Atlantic — though sweeter for those based in the U.K. The real value here for U.S. customers could come from a 50% reduced reward seat — if you can find an itinerary with reduced taxes, fees and surcharges.