How Virgin Flying Club works as tens of thousands to get bonus points from this month

Flying Club is Virgin Atlantic’s loyalty rewards programme, letting you earn points when purchasing flights and holidays with the airline. There are other ways to earn points too, such as with the Virgin Atlantic Credit Card.

The system is similar to Avios points and British Airways, in that your accrued Virgin points can be put towards flights and holidays or to upgrade your seats to premium or upper class.

Virgin Atlantic has now boosted its offering with a new Flying Club reward scheme, where frequent flyers can earn 12,000 extra Virgin Points.

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Tens of thousands of customers will qualify for the bonus scheme, known as High Five, from January 2026.

Here’s everything you need to know about how Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club works, what you can get and who qualifies for the High Five bonus.

What are Virgin points?

Virgin points are the currency used in Virgin's loyalty programme. You can earn them when you fly with Virgin Atlantic or its partners, use the Virgin Atlantic Credit Card, or by spending with selected retailers.

You can also earn points on everyday spending via Virgin Red. Virgin Red is separate to Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club, but both let you earn Virgin points on qualifying spending. You can link the two accounts, to stack up the points.

You can also buy or exchange points, if you want to.

If you’re a Tesco Clubcard holder, you can get a further boost by swapping your Clubcard points for Virgin points. Other examples include exchanging one American Express membership rewards point for one Virgin point, or swapping 5,000 World of Hyatt points for 3,000 Virgin points.

What is Virgin Atlantic’s High Five reward?

The new High Five scheme launched in January 2026.

It means Flying Club members will earn a reward when they fly with Virgin Atlantic across five different years, consecutive or not.

All Flying Club members will get 12,000 Virgin points, regardless of whether they’re red, silver or gold members.

Flying Club red tier members will get an extra boost in return for their loyalty – they will be entitled to a 10% Virgin points bonus on all future flights, once they unlock the High Five award.

The scheme will be backdated to 1 January 2021, which means “tens of thousands” of members will get the bonus from January 2026, Virgin Atlantic says.

This is because some Flying Club members will have flown with Virgin Atlantic in the five calendar years since January 2021.

You will be able to track your progress via the Virgin Atlantic app from early 2026 and the reward will be automatically added to your Flying Club account once you qualify.

Virgin says a return saver reward seat from London to New York starts from 12,000 Virgin points in economy class and 16,500 in the premium cabin, although this is subject to availability and taxes, fees, and charges apply.

How to spend Virgin points

You can spend Virgin points when booking flights. Seats paid for with Virgin points are known as reward seats, and the price varies based on demand. You will also need to pay some money to cover taxes and fees for the flight.

To travel from London to New York, reward seats start at 6,000 points for economy, 10,500 points for premium and 29,000 points for upper class, Virgin Atlantic says. This example does not show the additional fees and taxes.

In December, MoneyWeek found a return trip from London Heathrow to New York on selected dates in February/March 2026 costs 12,000 points (Economy Classic) plus £277 in tax. This same flight in Economy Classic was priced at £484, or £374 for Economy Light.

You can also use your Virgin points to upgrade to a premium or upper class seat, depending on availability. Note you may need to pay the difference in any taxes and fees if you change cabins, using money.

You can also spend Virgin points with Virgin Atlantic Holidays or with other Virgin companies, such as Virgin Voyages, Virgin Hotels and Virgin Active. Points can also be used for treats, such as experiences or wines.

What are Flying Club tier points?

Flying Club tier points are different to Virgin points.

You earn tier points when you fly with Virgin Atlantic or its partner airlines, or book Virgin Atlantic Holidays.

As you progress through the tiers, you will be entitled to better rewards. Rewards can include free economy seat selection, premium check-in and priority boarding, extra checked baggage and even airport lounge access.

You'll start off in the 'red' tier, and can then climb up to ‘silver’ and ‘gold’, depending on how many tier points you accrue within a 12-month period.

If you reach silver or gold, you'll remain at that status for 12 months. If you don't re-qualify in that time, you'll drop down a tier and your tier points will reset.

For example, if you joined Flying Club on 1 January 2025 and accrued 400 tier points on 15 March 2025, you would become a silver member. You’d need to earn 400 tier points by 31 March 2026 to retain the silver status.

If the same traveller earned a further 600 tier points before 31 December 2025, they would become a gold member, as they’d have gained 1,000 tier points within the 12-month period.

To maintain gold status for another year, you’d need to earn 1,000 points within the 12-month renewal cycle. For example, if you reached 1,000 tier points on 20 October 2025, you’d need to earn a further 1,000 tier points between 21 October 2025 and 31 October 2026.

What benefits do Virgin Flying Club’s tier points offer?

Red rewards

Flying Club members automatically start at the red tier. You can gain Virgin points when you fly with the airline. The amount you will earn will depend on your booking class and the distance flown in miles, as well as your Flying Club tier status.

Meanwhile, you will earn two Virgin points for every £1 you spend on Virgin Atlantic Holidays.

You can pay for any available seat with Virgin points on Virgin Atlantic flights – although note you may need to pay in money for fees and taxes.

Other benefits include:

• Advanced economy boarding, letting you board first in economy

Silver rewards

Once you’ve reached the silver tier, you’ll be able to access more rewards, including:

• 30% bonus Virgin points when you fly with Virgin Atlantic
• Free economy seat selection seven days before travel for everyone on your booking, when flying with Virgin Atlantic, Delta, Air France and KLM
• Premium check in for everyone on your booking, regardless of cabin
• Priority boarding
• Priority baggage handling when flying with Virgin Atlantic, Delta, Air France and KLM
• One extra checked bag (max 23kg)

Gold rewards

Virgin lists a wide range of perks for gold members. We highlight some of the top benefits below.

• 60% bonus Virgin points when you fly with Virgin Atlantic
• Free economy seat selection anytime before you travel for everyone on your booking (Virgin Atlantic, Delta, Air France and KLM flights)
• Upper Class Wing check in, with a guest, when flying from London Heathrow with Virgin Atlantic or Delta
• Upper Class check in for everyone on your booking, regardless of cabin
• Priority boarding
• Priority baggage handling when flying with Virgin Atlantic, Delta, Air France and KLM
• One extra checked bag (up to 23kg)
• One extra piece of hand luggage (up to 10kg)
• 2,000 Virgin Points on your birthday
• Access Virgin Clubhouses and shared lounges with a guest
• Access to Revivals lounge when arriving at London Heathrow
• A complimentary 12-month silver membership to a friend or family member.

If you renew your status, you'll get a reward voucher worth up to 150,000 Virgin points.

Hit 2,000 tier points in a membership year, and you'll get two more vouchers.

If you maintain gold status for 10 years in a row and earn 7,500 tier points on Virgin Atlantic flights, you will gain ‘Lifetime Gold’ status, and be able to enjoy all of the perks without needing to renew each year.

We explain the British Airways tier points system in a separate article.

How many tier points can you earn with Virgin Atlantic?

The amount of tier points you earn per flight depends on the booking class.

For example, in upper class, if you are in booking classes J, C, D or I, you'll get 200 tier points. This drops to 100 tier points for booking classes Z & G.

You can also get 100 in the premium cabin, if you're in booking classes W & S. If you're in Premium's H, K & P booking class, you can accrue 50 tier points.

Economy Delight customers, in booking class V, can earn 50 tier points, as can Economy Classic customers in L, U, M, Y, B & R.

Economy Classic customers in E, Q, X, N, O & A can get 25 tier points, as can Economy Light travellers, in booking class T.

Virgin says a red Flying Club member could achieve silver by making four return Virgin Atlantic Economy Delight flights, or one return Upper Class flight.

How do Virgin Atlantic Credit Cards work?

Virgin Atlantic Credit Cards are rewards credit cards which let you earn Virgin points on your spending. If you spend with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays, you get double the points.

There are currently two types – the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card and the Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card

• Earn 3,000 bonus points with your first card purchase, made within the first 90 days
• 0.75 Virgin points for every £1 spent on everyday purchases
• 1.5 Virgin points for every £1 spent directly with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Holidays
• Get a flight upgrade or companion ticket if you spend £20,000 or more per year on purchases.

This card has no annual fee. It has a representative 26.9% APR (variable).

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card

• Earn 18,000 bonus points with your first card purchase, if made within 90 days of taking out the card.
• 1.5 Virgin points for every £1 of everyday spending
• 3 Virgin points for every £1 spent directly with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Holidays
• A flight upgrade or companion ticket if you spend £10,000 or more per year on purchases.

This credit card has an annual fee of £160, so you will need to make sure the benefits you gain outweigh the charge.

The card has an APR of 26.9% (variable) but, taking into account the £160 per year fee, the representative APR is 69.7% APR (variable) assuming £1,200 borrowed.

We compare the top credit cards for cashback in a separate piece.