Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - Best use of Virgin Atlantic miles(flying club)

I have 60008 virgin atlantic miles. What’s the best use of these miles,what should I do with it and how?

Thanks

Convert them to Hilton Honors points?

Convert them to Hilton Honors points?

i just checked hilton as i have account there and hilton points are terrible, 50k points are worth like $200 only or one night and most hotels reservations, no matter what city or what dates i choose says "There are no HHonors Reward Certificate rooms available".

do you want to fly somewhere?

then use them to get a reward flight or upgrade from a lower cabin to a higher one.

do you want to fly somewhere?

then use them to get a reward flight or upgrade from a lower cabin to a higher one.

they fly to limited US cities and what about international? high fuel surcharge like the brits?

i just checked hilton as i have account there and hilton points are terrible, 50k points are worth like $200 only or one night.Couldn’t you convert (at the 1:2 rate) 60,000 Virgin miles into 120,000 Hilton points?
http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/points/milesforpoints.do

Then you could stay, for example, three nights at a level 6 (40,000 points per night) property such as Tokyo, Montreal, Los Angeles (and others listed here): http://hhonors.hilton.com/en/hhonors/rewards/category.jhtml?hhonorsRewardLevel=6

they fly to limited US cities and what about international? high fuel surcharge like the brits?

Since they are Brits, yes. ;)

You could also use the miles on Virgin America.

Since they are Brits, yes. ;)

You could also use the miles on Virgin America.

Or on ANZ if that's an option and NZ does not charge high fuel surcharges.

they fly to limited US cities and what about international? high fuel surcharge like the brits?


Well yes they do have a limited route network compared to some other airlines but you don't say where you are located or where you want to go to !

If you are in the UK then converting the miles to virgin wines or virgin holidays vouchers may be a way but those arn't that good value as flights.

And unless you want to loose them or give them to the VS charity then to use them on flights you are going to pay the fuel surcharge (and taxes and fees)

Well yes they do have a limited route network compared to some other airlines but you don't say where you are located or where you want to go to !

If you are in the UK then converting the miles to virgin wines or virgin holidays vouchers may be a way but those arn't that good value as flights.

And unless you want to loose them or give them to the VS charity then to use them on flights you are going to pay the fuel surcharge (and taxes and fees)

i am in the good old USA . transfer to hilton is good but hilton points are so worthless. most hotels. any city, any date i checked says NO AVAILABILITY with points booking and the very few that accept points shows 50k hilton points for one night. maybe i should transfer to advantage which i think gives 6k aa miles for 10k ?

A radical suggestion -- why not use them to fly on Virgin Atlantic? :) You have enough to upgrade a return economy fare to Upper Class from anywhere in North America. Yes you will have to pay taxes and the huge fuel surcharge, but the end result will be a good J-class experience at a big discount in price.

Maybe use on their partners ANA or US airways.

A radical suggestion -- why not use them to fly on Virgin Atlantic? :) You have enough to upgrade a return economy fare to Upper Class from anywhere in North America. Yes you will have to pay taxes and the huge fuel surcharge, but the end result will be a good J-class experience at a big discount in price.

the huge fuel surcharge plus use of miles is same as = paying 95 % of the fare full in cash!

I could buy them off you!

In the sense, that you have to buy a flight for me...

Is that allowed?

I could buy them off you!

In the sense, that you have to buy a flight for me...

Is that allowed?

bit of a grey area that one if cash exchanges hands between the two of you for the flight element (though you paying for the fuel surcharge etc is OK)

Someone on v-flyer recently has an account audit because there was a lot of activity re rewards and different names which flagged the account and there was a thread a month or so ago on the BA board on here re the same thing too.

are they hard to use on USAir or Virgin America?
they do seem worthless, the conversion to Hilton touted by so many blogs in the end does seem lame.
what are we to do with these points now?

As long as you take an approach of value maximisation rather than cash minimisation, using the miles on VS can be good value.

are they hard to use on USAir or Virgin America?
they do seem worthless, the conversion to Hilton touted by so many blogs in the end does seem lame.
what are we to do with these points now?

I managed to book 3 VX seats for this month in Y for JFK-SFO-JFK ... 25k miles each and $0. Doesn't seem worthless to me. ;)

In the past they had a good rate with Hawaiian Airline interisland flights however, I understand this is no longer avail at 7,500.
VX has a limited route network.

what flights/where i can go with 60k flying club miles?
transfering to hilton 120k is not an option cos it is so worthless, 3 nights only for $140 rooms.

thanks

what flights/where i can go with 60k flying club miles?
transfering to hilton 120k is not an option cos it is so worthless, 3 nights only for $140 rooms.

thanks

This should give you an idea of what's currently available on VS:

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/frequentflyer/spendmiles/spend_miles_table.jsp

Also, watch for spending miles sales in Economy Class or sometimes Miles Plus Money, which usually applies from US East Coast departure points. These sales allow you to spend less miles for an Economy Class ticket return, sometimes for about 50 percent less than the usual spending rate.

This should give you an idea of what's currently available on VS:

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/frequentflyer/spendmiles/spend_miles_table.jsp

Also, watch for spending miles sales in Economy Class or sometimes Miles Plus Money, which usually applies from US East Coast departure points. These sales allow you to spend less miles for an Economy Class ticket return, sometimes for about 50 percent less than the usual spending rate.

i can get US to london economy for $700 round trip economy with cash. NO need to waste 38k miles AND $660. CHICAGO 38,500 $660.
i applied for this card knowing i can get 2 hilton points per 1 VA flying club mile, never did i know even 120k hilton points i can get is worth only about 3 nights at rooms costing $140 a night and that too at very few select hilton hotels.

i can get US to london economy for $700 round trip economy with cash. NO need to waste 38k miles AND $660. CHICAGO 38,500 $660.
i applied for this card knowing i can get 2 hilton points per 1 VA flying club mile, never did i know even 120k hilton points i can get is worth only about 3 nights at rooms costing $140 a night and that too at very few select hilton hotels.

I don't know whereabouts in the US you are but it would be much better value to use the miles in PE. You would have enough as long as you fly from the east coast (excluding FL) or Chicago.

Alternatively you could buy an extra 20,000 miles for a few hundred dollars and fly UC.

As you have seen, redeeming in economy is usually very poor value.

lets not forget we already paid $90 for the credit card, (anybody get the fee waved) in addition to the re-directed spending on this card.

i can get US to london economy for $700 round trip economy with cash. NO need to waste 38k miles AND $660. CHICAGO 38,500 $660.
i applied for this card knowing i can get 2 hilton points per 1 VA flying club mile, never did i know even 120k hilton points i can get is worth only about 3 nights at rooms costing $140 a night and that too at very few select hilton hotels.

Yeah, you can use US from a US departure point to LHR in Y (or book with any other US carrier for that matter) for that price because your ticket would be booked ex-USA thus avoiding fuel surcharges and Advanced Passenger Duty versus if the ticket were booked ex-UK. I mean don't slam VS for those charges. They are forced to apply the surcharges just as any other UK carrier charging similar fares.

The link is just showing you what the current redeem rates are with VS miles. The rates do change more than occasionally. It's up to you to figure out what you want to do with your miles. :cool:

Yeah, you can use US from a US departure point to LHR in Y (or book with any other US carrier for that matter) for that price because your ticket would be booked ex-USA thus avoiding fuel surcharges and Advanced Passenger Duty versus if the ticket were booked ex-UK. I mean don't slam VS for those charges. They are forced to apply the surcharges just as any other UK carrier charging similar fares.

The link is just showing you what the current redeem rates are with VS miles. The rates do change more than occasionally. It's up to you to figure out what you want to do with your miles. :cool:

Sorry but booking in the USA does not exempt you from Air Passenger Duty - it is applied to ex-UK Flights and not in any way related to how you booked your ticket. The only way to avoid it is to fly back to the US from Europe (other than Germany who also have an APD equivalent - on an LH redemtion last year LHR-DUS-EWR I was charged both and it was the UK-US APD and not the UK-EU rate!).

And no VS are not forced to apply the fuel surcharge. The are forced to charge governement taxes and airport fees but they choose to apply the fuel surcharge to reward bookings.

Sorry but booking in the USA does not exempt you from Air Passenger Duty - it is applied to ex-UK Flights and not in any way related to how you booked your ticket. The only way to avoid it is to fly back to the US from Europe (other than Germany who also have an APD equivalent - on an LH redemtion last year LHR-DUS-EWR I was charged both and it was the UK-US APD and not the UK-EU rate!).

And no VS are not forced to apply the fuel surcharge. The are forced to charge governement taxes and airport fees but they choose to apply the fuel surcharge to reward bookings.

Ah, thanks for the update!

I think the OP was referring to booking a regular fare ticket on a US carrier ex-US to UK being equivalent or cheaper than booking VS ex-US to UK by redeeming miles. You've pointed out what the current charges are, at least in terms of what VS currently charges. The fare rules and fees are so complicated today and keep changing such that it's difficult to keep up.

I'm telling the OP that US carriers (not just US but others like AA, UA, etc.) will most likely have lower regular fares because of the differences in fees you've just pointed out that are charged ex-UK.

ok, i guess the only good option is transfer to hilton for 120k points.

So... (I think asked but not answered yet) has anyone booked USAir flights with VS miles? Is there a phone booking fee, YQ, or any other fees? How about on VA using VS miles?

I need to get from BOS to LAX (and back) next April, and am wondering if applying for a VS card or two is a good option. Both US and VA fly non-stop BOS to LAX.

EDIT: The US flights I was seeing were actually United Codeshares, which I don't think are available for award redemption. Still interested in hearing answers.

So... (I think asked but not answered yet) has anyone booked USAir flights with VS miles? Is there a phone booking fee, YQ, or any other fees? How about on VA using VS miles?

I need to get from BOS to LAX (and back) next April, and am wondering if applying for a VS card or two is a good option. Both US and VA fly non-stop BOS to LAX.

i also still don't know how to book partner airlines with this.

with advantage it is easy to book AA flights on british airways.

So... (I think asked but not answered yet) has anyone booked USAir flights with VS miles? Is there a phone booking fee, YQ, or any other fees? How about on VA using VS miles?

I've never booked US or VA flights but I have booked many HA tickets with VS miles and I imagine the fees from VS would be the same.

1. I was never charged phone booking fees
2. US and VA don't do YQ (at least on domestic flights) so VS can't charge for it.

i also still don't know how to book partner airlines with this.

with advantage it is easy to book AA flights on british airways.

What's wrong with calling them?

ok, i guess the only good option is transfer to hilton for 120k points.

I disagree. You can get thousands of pounds/dollars worth of value from 60,000 miles if you spend them with VS as long as you are willing to spend some cash too.

I disagree. You can get thousands of pounds/dollars worth of value from 60,000 miles if you spend them with VS as long as you are willing to spend some cash too.

i dont know if my 60k flying club miles is worth thousands for flights within UK or europe but they dont have many flights within US and flight outside the US is a total waste of money. it asks to pay the same amount of cash you pay when you with cash PLUS the miles.
I can get (sometimes) round trip to london from US for $700 booked with cash but booking the same flight with this miles asks me for the same $700 plus 36k or more in MILES.

i dont know if my 60k flying club miles is worth thousands for flights within UK or europe but they dont have many flights within US and flight outside the US is a total waste of money. it asks to pay the same amount of cash you pay when you with cash PLUS the miles.
I can get (sometimes) round trip to london from US for $700 booked with cash but booking the same flight with this miles asks me for the same $700 plus 36k or more in MILES.


Are you perhaps choosing the 'miles plus money' opton the the bookign engine rather than the 'spend miles' option?

And yes the fuel surcharge, government taxes and airport fees are the SAME a reward flight as on a 100% cash flight.

i dont know if my 60k flying club miles is worth thousands for flights within UK or europe but they dont have many flights within US and flight outside the US is a total waste of money. it asks to pay the same amount of cash you pay when you with cash PLUS the miles.
I can get (sometimes) round trip to london from US for $700 booked with cash but booking the same flight with this miles asks me for the same $700 plus 36k or more in MILES.

Yes, if you redeem in Economy the value is usually rubbish. Redeeming in PE and UC is where the real value lies.

As I stated upthread, you have enough miles for a PE return and you could buy more miles for a few hundred dollars which would give enough for a J return. This allows you to save thousands.

Yes, if you redeem in Economy the value is usually rubbish. Redeeming in PE and UC is where the real value lies.

As I stated upthread, you have enough miles for a PE return and you could buy more miles for a few hundred dollars which would give enough for a J return. This allows you to save thousands.

can you tell me the PE & J return thing?

can you tell me the PE & J return thing?

For 55,000 miles and $770 you can fly from, say, NY to London return in Premium Economy. The usual fare would be something in the region of $2000+.

For 80,000 miles and $1100 you can fly from NY to London return in Upper Class which gives you a flat-bed etc. For this option you would have to buy the extra miles so the cash outlay would be around $1500 but the ticket would normally cost perhaps $3500 at best.

Hope that helps a bit.

For 55,000 miles and $770 you can fly from, say, NY to London return in Premium Economy. The usual fare would be something in the region of $2000+.

For 80,000 miles and $1100 you can fly from NY to London return in Upper Class which gives you a flat-bed etc. For this option you would have to buy the extra miles so the cash outlay would be around $1500 but the ticket would normally cost perhaps $3500 at best.

Hope that helps a bit.

thanks for educating me on this but there is NO WAY i would pay $770 plus waste the 55k miles on US to london trip premium or economy.
becos for $700 I can get to london and back from US without the need of a single airline miles wasted.
I guess Hilton is the only best option

So... (I think asked but not answered yet) has anyone booked USAir flights with VS miles? Is there a phone booking fee, YQ, or any other fees? How about on VA using VS miles?

I need to get from BOS to LAX (and back) next April, and am wondering if applying for a VS card or two is a good option. Both US and VA fly non-stop BOS to LAX.

EDIT: The US flights I was seeing were actually United Codeshares, which I don't think are available for award redemption. Still interested in hearing answers.

I tried and gave up when they wouldn't sell me a round-trip with a connection (not a stopover) both ways for 25K. You might be able to get a non-stop round-trip for 25K.

Hilton is IMHO the best option and that's what I did. Not willing to shell out even more money for premium classes.

thanks for educating me on this but there is NO WAY i would pay $770 plus waste the 55k miles on US to london trip premium or economy.
becos for $700 I can get to london and back from US without the need of a single airline miles wasted.
I guess Hilton is the only best option

I agree with BA034. You haven't really explored all of the options using VS miles yet. You also seem to be set on just getting a US (scareways) flight ex-US city to LHR in Y. If that's the only thing you want to do then so be it, use your miles on Hilton.

But what if you were to book an award flight using your VS miles on SQ from JFK to FRA in Y? Did you try that? Or, did you try booking an award flight in Y from LAX to NRT on NH using VS miles? If you didn't, why not? Or why not book an award flight on MH from KUL to DPS? You seem bent on getting to LHR and no where else... Everyone here is trying to suggest options to you. You keep resisting...

I tried and gave up when they wouldn't sell me a round-trip with a connection (not a stopover) both ways for 25K. You might be able to get a non-stop round-trip for 25K.

Hilton is IMHO the best option and that's what I did. Not willing to shell out even more money for premium classes.

Was that on VA or US? While unfortunate that they are inflexible on connecting flights, I am mostly interested in bos-lax non-stop.

Or on ANZ if that's an option and NZ does not charge high fuel surcharges.

Did you ever do that? I am interested in redeeming VS mile to ANZ flight. I need to call VS, right? From AKL to PVG, 60000 VS miles for economy, right? Is it round trip or single way? Sorry , too many questions. Thanks

thanks for educating me on this but there is NO WAY i would pay $770 plus waste the 55k miles on US to london trip premium or economy.
becos for $700 I can get to london and back from US without the need of a single airline miles wasted.
I guess Hilton is the only best option

I don't know if it's what you are imagining but PE on VS isn't like Y+ on US-based airlines - it's a separate cabin with seats more like domestic F.

As tonywestsider points out, there are also lots of other options for using VS miles on partners.

I just think it's such a waste to convert to Hilton points (although to be honest I don't know the HH programme that well).

emptiness

I am becoming confused about what it is you want to do with your 60k miles.

You mentioned HH conversion but are unhappy with what that will actually get you in terms of room nights. Fair enough but you keep bringing it up.

You keep going on about paying $770 and wasting miles. You don't want to buy miles either (to get to 80k for a UC reward from the east coast to London) even though buying some could leverage savings.

You complain about the route network VS (and also VX) has in the US - again fair enough but VS is not a US airline but VX is and is expanding.

Maybe if you gave us a concrete example of something you'd like to do - I want to go from X to Y - we can help you more but at the moment it seems like this thread is going around in circles.

Many of us have 100,000 of miles some even more than 1M, and yet we want to get the best value out of those miles. I got into this without knowing the poor HH rates and so like other posters I want to get some value out of these miles without having to spend $$, money that I have to or do spend to keep status with several carriers each year. We all dont have time to keep up with the ins and outs of every program so any help with this small one is helpful to maximize value.
Sometimes what we want to do with the miles is based upon what comes up, and as frequent travelers all sorts of odd things come up all the time so tid bits of info to file away for later is always helpful.
So again what are best value here for those who dont want to spend any $$$.
thanks!

So again what are best value here for those who dont want to spend any $$$.
thanks!

Well flying is out of the question then as you will have to pay the fuel surcharge, taxes and airport fees !

and 'best value' is very subjective because what I think is good value might not be your idea.

I think that spending my 80k miles on a straight UC reward is good value but others would rather they spent 15,000 miles for UC or 7,500 miles for PE on a Miles plus money fare.

Again give some examples of what you want to do and we might be able to help you but enough with the general 'I have miles how do I use them' questions

Well flying is out of the question then as you will have to pay the fuel surcharge, taxes and airport fees !

and 'best value' is very subjective because what I think is good value might not be your idea.

I think that spending my 80k miles on a straight UC reward is good value but others would rather they spent 15,000 miles for UC or 7,500 miles for PE on a Miles plus money fare.

Again give some examples of what you want to do and we might be able to help you but enough with the general 'I have miles how do I use them' questions
Well I guess, since you dont earn EQM the best is short haul, i.e. avios flights, for re positioning or regional/intra regional transit flights.
Also does HH offer any discount awards/like point breaks in IHG hotels to make these pts more valuable?
thanks

Also does HH offer any discount awards/like point breaks in IHG hotels to make these pts more valuable?
thanks

I'm guessing the Hhonors forum would b a great place to find the answer!

Well I guess, since you dont earn EQM the best is short haul, i.e. avios flights, for re positioning or regional/intra regional transit flights.
thanks

Also, this is the VS forum. You are correct, you don't earn EQM or Avios on VS. On VS you earn tier points, which is another discussion entirely.

Is there a phone booking fee, YQ, or any other fees? How about on VA using VS miles?

I need to get from BOS to LAX (and back) next April, and am wondering if applying for a VS card or two is a good option. Both US and VA fly non-stop BOS to LAX.


See post #18 on this thread where I reported redeeming 3 RT JFK-SFO-JFK on VX (Virgin America) for 25k miles and $0 each

Also, this is the VS forum. You are correct, you don't earn EQM or Avios on VS. On VS you earn tier points, which is another discussion entirely.

Right because they are not OW or *A...

So you can earn miles from SAS on VS but not redeem on SAS is that right?

So you can earn miles from SAS on VS but not redeem on SAS is that right?

Check Flying Club here (http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/frequentflyer/fcpartners/airlines/scandinavianairlines.jsp?bfSubmit1.y=13&bfSubmit1.x=28) but in short, you are correct.

how many miles is flight within US on US AIRWAYS or virgin america? i can use flying club miles on those flights? high fuel surcharge for domestic flights as well?

how many miles is flight within US on US AIRWAYS or virgin america? i can use flying club miles on those flights? high fuel surcharge for domestic flights as well?

Why not look on the VS website or phone them up?

You keep asking such vague questions ! Please be specific as to routes and carrier and maybe, just maybe, we may be able to help you

Why not look on the VS website or phone them up?

You keep asking such vague questions ! Please be specific as to routes and carrier and maybe, just maybe, we may be able to help you

You're too kind. All of those questions have already been answered in some form in this thread!

So.

Lured in by the Hilton promo (https://hiltonhhonors.com/ProcessLanding/ProcessLanding/?var=4TdOnFclkj69CrgwVc/cFQ==) and the Hertz weekender special (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hertz/1379862-hertz-weekender-special.html) (1100 VS per rental), I am looking at having a brace of VS miles relatively soon.

So I am also interested in the best uses of VS miles. Looking at things...

- the option to just convert them to Hilton points at 1:2 doesn't look too bad as a fallback, especially when combined with HH Gold + cash and points. Conrad or GLON here I come!
- I would say that the best value on the award chart is probably the HKG-SYD UC (http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/frequentflyer/spendmiles/spend_miles_table.jsp) one, followed by maybe YVR/SFO-LHR (an East Coast jaunt to save miles from the West Coast just isn't very sensible for me- that kind of silliness is reserved for mileage runs where I actually EARN miles). Those fees are pretty brutal, though. (If going to Europe, I'd probably be inclined to try and book one way into LHR and leave on... some other airline out of some other airport sans APD and every other fee under the sun to stick me with.) The HKG-SYD stuff is appealing because I can get over to HKG pretty cheaply via US miles or other tricks, and could possibly use 35K AA miles + 40K VS miles + some BA Avios very creatively to tour Australia ;). How's award availability? Are we talking "decent", or "worse than SkyPesos™ at low, abandon all hope"?
- aside from Virgin America, apparently partner redemptions are handled as a state secret- no chart (grrr), no real visibility in the forum or elsewhere as to availability (yes, I searched, and I'd be at least mildly interested in SQ redemptions, though I imagine the YQ gouge will be on). The Virgin America flights would be... something, but considering I can usually buy cash tickets to LAX for ~$200 round-trip... I could be better off with 2:1 conversion on Hilton points.
- Miles plus Money looks at least interesting, but I gather there's a catch, since I note posts where people find fares that are cheaper than those fares...

So, anyone want to share anything? I prefer as little cash outlay as possible, but I realize that's not how it works over in Blighty with your airlines.

worst yet, you cant even use miles to upgrade some of the nice c1-c2 fares VS is running. They will not upgrade from O