DrRodneyMcKay

Forgive me for the potentially inane question, but I've always been confused by the fact that there are multiple "Virgin" airlines, apparently all owned and operated by the same person/company (Although Virgin America was acquired by Alaska, I believe?) Each also appear to have their own mileage rewards program.

Could someone explain to me why? That is, why have three separate airlines for different parts of the globe, yet all with the same/practically same name? If you're going for loyalty, is this not just going to confuse people? (it confuses me) Can you book, say, Virgin Atlantic with Virgin America miles? If not, why operate three different mileage programs?

I recently booked a ticket to the UK via Delta, and I've ended up on a Virgin Atlantic flight due to their codeshare agreement, so I'm wondering whether there's any benefit to me looking into becoming loyal to Virgin in some iteration/Alaska.

Again, apologies for what is probably a completely newbie question. That's what I get for flying the same 3 airlines all the time...