At TPG, we often praise Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Program is one of the most underrated and powerful frequent flyer programs. Flying Club is a Transfer Partner on all major credit card programs, so you can easily earn Virgin points.
However, just because points are easy to earn doesn’t mean they’re easy to use.
Virgin Atlantic joined the SkyTeam alliance in 2023 and there are a number of other non-alliance airline partners where you can earn and redeem Virgin Points. Unfortunately, Virgin’s website isn’t the most user-friendly and has many limitations.
Some Flying Club redemption partners can be booked online, while others require you to search for award seats and call to book.
What are Flying Club’s partner airlines?
You can earn and redeem Virgin Atlantic points on the following member airlines. SkyTeam Alliance:
- Aerolinas Argentina
- Aeromexico Airlines
- Europa Air
- French air
- Chinese Airlines
- China Eastern Airlines
- Czech Airlines
- Delta Airlines
- Garuda Indonesia
- ITA Airlines
- Kenya Airways
- KLM Airlines
- Korean Airlines
- Middle East Airlines
- Saudi Arabic
- TAROM
- Vietnam Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
- Xiamen Airlines
In addition to these airlines, you can also book award flights with the following non-SkyTeam airlines using Virgin points:
You can also earn Virgin points — but not redeem them — with partners Scandinavian Airlines, IndiGo, and LATAM.
Daily News
Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter
Join over 700,000 readers to get the latest news, in-depth guides, and exclusive offers from TPG experts
Which Flying Club partner airlines can I book online for?
In addition to Virgin Atlantic operated flights, Flying Club members can redeem their Virgin points on the following partner airlines (for all other airlines, you must call 800-862-8621 to book).
Related: Is Virgin Atlantic’s premium economy worth buying the A330-900neo?
Air France-KLM
To avoid significant surcharge Flying Club is available on Virgin Atlantic flights, booking flights operated by Air France-KLM can be a cost-effective way to use Virgin points to fly to Europe and beyond. While premium economy on these airlines is not usually available to book online or by phone, economy and business class can be booked online at the following prices:
- One-way economy flight to Europe from the West Coast for 15,000 points
- One-way economy flight to the Middle East from the East Coast for 25,000 points
- One-way business class flight to Europe from the East Coast for 48,500 points
- One-way business class flight from East Coast to North Africa for 66,500 points
Related: Private rooms and high-tech amenities: Air France’s new business class experience
Delta Airlines
With Delta taking dynamic pricing to the extreme and Charged over 300,000 miles For one-way, international, business class flights, using Virgin Atlantic to hunt for cheap rewards can be a great option.
Long-haul flights to Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and South America are fairly easy to find and book online.
Related: Review of Delta Air Lines Economy Class on Boeing 767 from London to New York
Unfortunately, Delta’s premium economy product is not available when booking with Virgin points, and while Delta One business class seats can technically be booked online, they are rarely available and now comes with a big surcharge.
Short-haul flights operated by Delta are easy to book online, with reasonable starting prices of 7,500 Virgin points in economy or 21,000 points in first class.
Korean Airlines
Based at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport (ICN), Korean Air flights can be booked online using Virgin points, although it’s difficult to find points available outside of Asia.
ITA Airlines
Rising from the ashes of the now-defunct Alitalia, ITA Airways has excellent rewards using Virgin points and can be booked online. ITA’s long-haul business class product is excellent, with a solid lounge at Rome’s Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO), sophisticated in-flight meals and a luxurious Italian interior.
Related: Review of ITA Airways business class on the A330neo from Rome
LATAM
South America LATAM flights can be booked online with Virgin points and availability is generally good between North America and South America, with business class flights from Florida to Brazil costing just 50,000 points plus minimal fees and taxes.
El Al
Flying Club quietly added Israel’s national carrier El Al to its list of partner airlines in early 2024, and fortunately, these flights can be booked online, although fares between the US and Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) are quite high.
Related: Inside El Al’s First Improved — and Significantly Upgraded — Boeing 777
Middle East Airlines
One of SkyTeam’s lesser-known airlines, Middle East Airlines (commonly known as MEA), is based at Lebanon’s Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport (BEY).
Although MEA does not operate long-haul flights, it has a good route network to Europe and can be booked online using Virgin points.
Chinese Airlines
While Flying Club confirmed that flights on Taiwanese carrier and SkyTeam member China Airlines (not to be confused with China-based Star Alliance member Air China) can be booked online using Virgin points, TPG could not find any China Airlines seats available through Virgin’s website.
Xiamen Airlines
Based in Xiamen, China, SkyTeam member Xiamen Airlines operates many flights within Asia and some routes to Australia and Europe. Current destinations in North America include New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR).
You can book Xiamen Airlines award tickets using Virgin points online.
How to earn Virgin points
It’s easy to boost your Virgin points with the right credit card, as Flying Club is a transfer partner to every major program with transferable currencyinclude:
Some of the programs offered on a regular basis Transfer Bonus to Flying ClubThis means you may need fewer points than you originally thought.
Many of these programs offer cards that feature great welcome bonus. Here are some of our favorites travel rewards credit cards Earn transferable points that can be converted to Virgin points:
Last line
Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club program boasts an impressive list of redemption partners both inside and outside the SkyTeam alliance. Unfortunately, the program’s website is less impressive, with most redemption partners not available online, requiring a little extra work and a phone call to 800-862-8621.
You may want to use an outside source to check award availability through other programs and then contact the Flying Club program to book seats that you know are available.
There are some great deals so it’s worth the effort.
