Tickets on sale: Fly to Cape Town from 12,500 miles one-way with new Virgin route

Tickets on Virgin Atlantic's relaunched route to Cape Town are now on sale. As of Monday morning, the carrier is showing return flights from its base in London to the popular holiday destination of Cape Town.

As reported by One Mile at a Time, the airline has started issuing tickets on the relaunched route. As of 25 October 2020, Virgin will fly daily between London Heathrow (LHR) and Cape Town (CPT) — a route it previously serviced until 2014.

On the route, Virgin will use one of its Boeing 787-9 aircraft, which feature a three-class configuration: Upper Class, premium economy and economy.

Return flights with Virgin are showing as £598 ($778) in Economy Light, Virgin's most restrictive economy ticket. For £669 ($870) round-trip, you can purchase an Economy Classic ticket, which is less than Virgin's original advertised price of £713 ($927) round-trip.

If you're looking to use points and miles from London Heathrow (LHR), you can expect to pay as few as 57,500 Flying Club miles + £391 ($509) one-way in Upper Class —or 115,000 miles and around £590 ($768) in taxes and fees round-trip.

However, if you originate in Cape Town and want to redeem for a one-way reward ticket in Upper Class, you can expect to pay slightly less in taxes and fees. For example, this one-way flight costs the same 57,500 Flying Club miles but 4,451 South Africa Rand, or about £228 ($297) — more than £150 ($195) less than originating in London.

If economy is more in the books, expect to pay 25,000 Flying Club miles and around £275 ($358) for a return itinerary from London to Cape Town — from 12,500 miles plus taxes and fees one-way. Based on TPG U.K.'s most recent valuations, those 25,000 Flying Club miles are worth £300 ($390). On top of the taxes and fees, you're looking at about £575 ($748)— a good value, considering it's booked in Economy Classic, where the lowest cash fare is £668 ($869) round-trip.

We also found flights from the U.S. to Cape Town via London for about $974 round-trip from New York (JFK), from Los Angeles for $1,155 round-trip, and about $1,307 from Seattle.

Related: Virgin Atlantic to fly its new A350 4 times daily to New York City

Related: Virgin Atlantic adds more A350 flight, book them with points and miles

The best way to get Flying Club miles is by transferring points from a bank or hotel program.

You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards (instant transfer), Chase Ultimate Rewards (instant transfer), Citi ThankYou Rewards (instant transfer) and Diners Club points to Flying Club at a 1:1 ratio.