Which Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partner redemptions are available for online booking?

At TPG, we frequently highlight Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club program as one of the most underappreciated yet powerful frequent flyer programs. Flying Club is a transfer partner for all major credit card schemes, making it easy to accumulate Virgin points.

Nonetheless, just because earning points is straightforward doesn’t mean using them is equally simple.

In 2023, Virgin Atlantic joined the SkyTeam alliance and has several additional non-alliance airline partners that allow you to earn and redeem Virgin points. Unfortunately, the Virgin website isn’t the most user-friendly and comes with various limitations.

Some Flying Club redemption partners are bookable online, while others require you to search for award availability and call to make reservations.

Who are the airline partners of the Flying Club?

You can earn and redeem Virgin Atlantic points with the following airlines that are members of the SkyTeam alliance:

• Aerolinas Argentinas
• Aeromexico
• Air Europa
• Air France
• China Airlines
• China Eastern Airlines
• Czech Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Garuda Indonesia
• ITA Airways
• Kenya Airways
• KLM
• Korean Air
• Middle East Airlines
• Saudia
• TAROM
• Vietnam Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic
• Xiamen Airlines

Alongside these airlines, you can also use Virgin points to book award flights with the following non-SkyTeam carriers:

• Air New Zealand (Star Alliance)
• All Nippon Airways (Star Alliance)
• El Al
• Hawaiian Airlines
• Singapore Airlines (Star Alliance)
• South African Airways (Star Alliance)
• Virgin Australia

You can accumulate Virgin points with partners Scandinavian Airlines, IndiGo, and LATAM, but redemption is not available with these partners.

Which Flying Club partner airlines are available for online booking?

Besides flights operated by Virgin Atlantic, Flying Club members can use their Virgin points on the following partner airlines (for all other airlines, you must call 800-862-8621 to make a reservation).

Air France-KLM

To sidestep the hefty surcharges imposed by Flying Club on Virgin Atlantic-operated flights, booking with Air France-KLM offers a budget-friendly option to use Virgin points for travel to Europe and beyond. Although premium economy is generally unavailable for online or phone booking, economy and business class can be secured online at the following rates:

• 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 the East Coast to North Africa for 66,500 points

Delta Air Lines

With Delta's dynamic pricing reaching new heights, often demanding over 300,000 miles for one-way international business-class awards, leveraging Virgin Atlantic to snag affordable awards can be a savvy choice.

Finding long-haul flights to Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and South America is relatively straightforward and can be done online.

Regrettably, Delta's premium economy option cannot be booked with Virgin points, and while Delta One business-class seats can theoretically be reserved online, they are seldom available and now come with substantial surcharges.

Booking short-haul flights with Delta online is a breeze, with prices starting at a modest 7,500 Virgin points for economy class and 21,000 points for first class.

Korean Air

Operating out of Seoul's Incheon International Airport (ICN), Korean Air flights can be booked with Virgin points online, but finding availability outside Asia can be quite challenging.

ITA Airways

Born from the remnants of the former Alitalia, ITA Airways offers great award availability when using Virgin points and can be booked online. Their long-haul business-class service is impressive, featuring a quality lounge at Rome's Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO), gourmet meals, and elegant Italian touches.

LATAM

The South American airline LATAM can also be booked online using Virgin points, typically offering good availability between North and South America. Business-class flights from Florida to Brazil start at just 50,000 points, plus minimal fees and taxes.

El Al

Earlier in 2024, the Flying Club discreetly included Israel's national airline, El Al, as one of its partner airlines. Fortunately, you can book these flights online, although the prices for travel between the United States and Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) are quite high.

Middle East Airlines

Middle East Airlines (often called MEA) is one of the lesser-known members of SkyTeam, operating out of Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport (BEY) in Lebanon.

Although MEA does not offer long-haul services, it has a good network of routes to Europe and allows bookings online with Virgin points.

China Airlines

Despite Flying Club's claim that you can book flights with Taiwanese carrier China Airlines—also a SkyTeam member—using Virgin points, TPG has struggled to find any availability through Virgin's website.

Xiamen Airlines

Xiamen Airlines, a member of SkyTeam, is based in Xiamen, China, and operates a wide range of flights across Asia, along with select routes to Australia and Europe. Its North American destinations currently include New York's JFK, Los Angeles LAX, and Vancouver YVR.

You can redeem Virgin points to book flights with Xiamen Airlines online.

How to earn Virgin points

Boosting your Virgin points is simple with the right credit card, as Flying Club partners with every major program that has a transferable currency, including:

• American Express Membership Rewards (1:1)
• Bilt Rewards (1:1)
• Capital One (1:1)
• Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1)
• Citi ThankYou Rewards (1:1)
• Marriott Bonvoy (3:1, with a 5,000-point bonus for transferring 60,000 points and a 48-hour transfer time)

Many of these programs provide consistent transfer bonuses to Flying Club, which means you may require even fewer points than initially anticipated.

Numerous programs offer cards featuring fantastic welcome bonuses. Here are some top choices for travel rewards cards that accumulate transferable points which can be converted to Virgin points:

• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
• The Platinum Card® from American Express
• American Express® Gold Card
• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Key takeaway

Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club program has an impressive array of redemption partners, both within and beyond the SkyTeam alliance. However, the website experience is not as stellar, as many partner redemptions aren't available online, necessitating some additional work and a phone call to 800-862-8621.

You might want to use an external tool to check award availability across other programs and then reach out to the Flying Club program to secure the confirmed seats.

There are fantastic opportunities to be found, making the extra effort worthwhile.