Originally Posted by
TravelingRabbit
Well the big kicker is really the UK exit fee. Depending on your home airport, it CAN be a great deal. One way from LAX-LHR for example is only $135 in coach. I've found 5 coach seats on every non-stop flight out of LAX during summer, which is next to impossible to find on any other airline, plus at 21K miles for the flight (vs 30K for most other programs), I personally think it is a good value out of LAX for summer travel.
Also a note on fees, they reduced the UK exit fee for kids. I got a decent refund on my flights next summer, not sure if it is for business or not.
It is also a good value when looking at close-in bookings. I know I recently booked an economy one way for a family member LAX-LHR two weeks out and could have done it with United or AA miles. The out of pocket difference was was going to be $55 between United/AA and VS (AA and United charge $75 for close-in bookings), but VS was only 21,250 miles. Yeah AA was 20k but my family member had never flown on VS and wanted to experience it.