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There is just one thing better than a flight to New York on Virgin Atlantic, and that’s flying to New York using Virgin Points! Collecting points is fun but spending them is even more fun! The Big Apple is one of those dream destinations many of us plan on visiting one day!
20,000-40,000 Virgin Points are needed to fly from London to New York and return in Economy. 35,000-53,000 Virgin Points are needed in Premium Economy. 95,000-115,000 Virgin Points are needed in Upper Class. The lower points shown are for off-peak flights and the higher points shown are for peak.
The great news is that you can fly to New York with Virgin for as little as 20,000 Virgin Points! This sounds great but it can cost up to £266 in taxes and fees for an economy flight which is in addition to the 20,000 Virgin Points you will need to use. Considering an average cash price flight to New York is around £320 it means you are only saving £54, and also means your Virgin Points are only worth 0.2p each!
I’ll show you how to increase the value of your points up to 2p each, and how best to use Virgin Points when flying to New York!
Virgin Points – New York in Economy
It isn’t always easy to collect Virgin Points, although there are a few tricks and ways to do it faster! Once you do see your point balance increasing it’s very tempting to just start spending them as soon as you can.
It’s now possible to fly to New York with as little as 20,000 Virgin Points!
And yes, that is a return flight! There is a caveat here, and with flying with Virgin Atlantic in any class, and that is the seat on the plane is free, but you still have to pay the taxes and fees associated with flying. There are a lot of them! As you can see in this real-life screenshot below. A return flight can be had for just 20,000 Virgin Points BUT in almost all cases it will cost an additional £266 in taxes and fees.
This has to be paid in cash and it is in addition to spending your 20,000 points. If we now compare this to the cash price for the flight, in this real-life screenshot with the same dates, it will cost £479.62 (as the points price is based on Virgin Classic).
This means you save £213.62 and that each Virgin Point is worth around 1p each. The value of Virgin Points are anywhere between 0.5p and 2p based on our recent analysis, so at 1p per point in this example, it is definitely one to consider. The 2p value is usually available only when flying in higher class tiers, usually Upper Class.
If you calculate your Virgin Points to be worth 1p or more in an Economy redemption, this would be considered a good deal!
Virgin Points – New York in Premium Economy
Who doesn’t enjoy a little more luxury when they fly? Leather seats, further reclining, a welcome fresh orange juice or glass of champagne when you board as well as wider seats and more leg room. Welcome to Premium Economy! The price of a Premium Economy flight is on average double that of a Virgin Economy Light Class flight, but this really varies depending on route, off-peak or peak and how busy the flight is or expected to be.
As you can see in this real-life screenshot below the cost of flying out on the 1:30 pm flight as opposed to the 10 am flight would save you £1,830!
This is why it pays to be flexible when you fly.
Now let’s look at points!
Although the 1:30 pm flight on this day was sold out for Premium Economy point redemptions, the 6:50 pm flight was still available and was operating at the same cash price as the 1:30 pm flight, so let’s have a look at a real-life case:
You will need 35,000 Virgin Points for this flight as well as paying £483.32 in taxes and fees.
On the basis the cash price for the same flight is £777.62 it means our savings are £294.30 – and that means our Virgin Points are worth 0.8p per point. In fact, in this example, we get more value from our points in an Economy redemption than we do from a Premium Economy redemption.
This is not always the case of course which is why flexibility and searching multiple days around the date you wish to fly is important.
Virgin Points – New York in Upper Class
Flying Upper Class is truly an experience you need to try and enjoy at least once! The speed through check-in and baggage drop using the Upper Class only desks, brisking through security with ease with a dedicated channel only for Upper Class, Business Class, and First Class flyers at the airport.
Relax at the sumptuous and elegant Virgin Upper-Class Business Lounge with free food and drink before boarding your flight first and on to your own spacious seat that expands into a full 6ft lie-flat bed.
A cash price for Upper Class is usually out of reach for most when booking a holiday. A family of four could easily pay £10,000-£12,000 (or more) just for the flights in Upper Class alone! It is normally reserved for business flyers or those where cost is not an issue – and also for savvy Virgin Point collectors!
Let’s have a look at a real life case screenshot showing the points needed for an Upper Class return flight:
Now what is interesting to note here is that not all flights are available. You may be asking why that would be as we have already seen flights in Upper Class were available on that date (as seen in previous screenshots).
This is because not all available seats are available to be purchased using points. Each airline only allows a number of seats to be purchased using points, the rest can only be purchased with cash. Once the reward seats have been used by other Virgin Point collectors, it means you will have to choose another date or pay in cash.
But, as we can see, you would need 112,500 Virgin Points to fly to New York in Upper Class, as well as £674 in taxes and fees. The cash price for this flight when I checked was £3,290.62. This means a huge saving of £2,616.62 for 112,500 Virgin Points – and means each Virgin Point has a value of 2p!
How to Maximise Virgin Points when Flying to New York
The best way to maximize your Virgin Point spending when flying to New York is to fly off-peak, as well as trying to save as many points as you can and try and reach an Upper-Class flight redemption.
As we saw in this real-life example, if you managed to reach 112,500 Virgin Points you would save £2,616.62 and each Virgin Point would be worth, the maximum I have seen of, 2p a point.
That said if this number of points is simply not achievable then redeeming your points on either Economy or Premium Economy can still yield you a return of 1p per point if you choose your flight wisely and have some flexibility in your travel. If at any time the value of each point is less than 0.5p, then it really isn’t a good way to spend your points and I would save them for another time.
How Much Are Virgin Points Worth When Flying to New York
Virgin Points are worth 0.5p-1p per point when redeeming in Economy, 0.75p-1.5p per point when redeeming in Premium Economy, and between 1.5p-2p per point when redeeming in Upper Class. How much your points are worth per flight has many factors such as season, popularity of flight, and the number of reward seats still available for the flight.
Flying to New York with Virgin Points – The Insider’s Notes
- Flying to New York is one of the most popular ways to redeem Virgin Points for Virgin customers.
- You can fly to New York with just 20,000 Virgin Points return – although you will have to pay taxes and fees in cash.
- When redeeming your points, you should find each point has a value of between 0.5p and 2p depending on class you fly, season and popularity of the flight.