Last month, Virgin Atlantic announced that it would soon be making major changes to its Flying Club loyalty program, including (among other things) switching to a new dynamic pricing model. If you’ve been sitting on a stash of Virgin points, now might be the time to redeem them.
The changes will be introduced on Wednesday, October 30, and with the airline promising a host of new opportunities for Flying Club members to earn and redeem their points – including making all seats on Virgin-operated flights bookable with points – it’s hard to ignore the fact that they will also be introducing dynamic award redemption prices.
While it’s hard to say how much of a drop in Flying Club awards will be seen before Wednesday, there’s likely to be a lot of variation in the current redemption opportunities – especially in getting Upper Class seats.
We’ll do a more detailed analysis on Wednesday once the changes go live, but for now, here’s an overview of what we already know about the upcoming changes.
Moving to dynamic values
While Virgin’s communications surrounding the changes have been surprisingly focussed on benefits (more on this below), it’s also impossible not to notice the subtle reference to the new dynamic pricing structure.
“Flying Club members will be able to use Value Points to pay for any seat on any flight on any day, offering complete choice and flexibility to our loyal customers,” Virgin said in a press release. “The price of seats will vary according to demand, in the same way as regular tickets.”
Related: The price of a premium flight is out of control – here are some ways to beat it
The line is short and thin, but it’s clear that the airline will use variable rates to set award fares based on schedule. Conversely, this rarely ends well for award travelers.
Virgin has gone to great lengths to assure its customers that more than half of its flights with economy award seat availability will see the same or lower prices than now. The airline also says a “significant” number of award seats available in the Upper Class cabin will be booked at the same or lower price than they are now.
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It remains to be seen how this will affect the Flying Club faithful, for better or for worse. However, it’s important to note that Virgin has not indicated whether it will issue higher or lower award amounts.
Availability of additional prizes
OK, now that we’ve talked about the elephant in the room, let’s look at the good stuff.
As of Oct. 30, Virgin’s Confirmed Availability system for booking awards will, depending on how you look at it, be improved.
From Wednesday onwards, all seats on flights operated by Virgin Atlantic will be booked using Virgin points – including upgrades. This is a significant change to the current Guaranteed Availability program, which, from 2022, has made 12 award seats available on every flight operated by Virgin.
If you look at this correctly, it means that you will have more opportunities to use your points, and more seats available. On the downside, given the new flexible pricing structure, there is likely to be a significant difference between award prices for these seats. And once the cheap seats are gone, you can expect to split points for exactly the same seats.
New savings opportunities on award seats
In an effort to combat this, Virgin will lock in prices on a select number of seats on each flight in a new “saver reward seat” product. This will lock in the fare at the same prices available today or even lower.
It is not yet clear whether these Saver award seats will be available in all cabins, or whether Virgin will designate a fixed number of seats on each flight. TPG has reached out to Virgin Atlantic for clarification.
The company says Flying Club members should see some of its lowest points prices ever — including award flights from the UK to New York City for 6,000 points. Those prices are nothing to sniff at if you can take advantage of this offer before it’s quickly snapped up.
Voucher award changes
We will see some changes to how Flying Club members can use Companion and Upgrade vouchers.
Currently, the cabins in which you can use these vouchers are determined by your Flying Club status. Moving forward, from Oct. 30, you will be able to use your vouchers to book in any cabin.
However, there is a catch: Your Flying Club status will determine the maximum value of your voucher.
As of Oct. 30, the voucher will be valid up to 75,000 points for Flying Club Red category members or 150,000 points for Flying Club Silver or Gold members based on your status at the time of voucher use. Although you will be able to book seats worth more points than this, you will be required to make up the difference.
If you were planning to use the voucher on a large return trip for two, this could be a real loss of value for some Flying Club Red members.
Increased chances of earning on flights
The last change announced is a difference in the number of points that guests will earn for their fares. Once the changes start, Flying Club members will enjoy up to 50% more on Upper Class fares and up to 75% more on Premium tickets. A new benefit chart detailing the cost will be available from Oct. 30.
Bottom line
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club will move to a variable pricing model starting Oct. 30. They will also introduce new saver award releases and adjust how award vouchers can be used and how much points will be available for each flight.
Stay tuned for our full analysis once the changes are fully released.
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