Virgin v BA frequent flyer clubs

[anonymous-user]

Hi

has anyone got any comments regarding the relative merits of the Virgin Atlantic FF programme v British Airways?
I have 400K Amex points and they can be transferred at par into either of them.

I rarely travel on either but it looks like the points would make a big dent into a long haul holiday for the family.

Any other bright ideas for spending the points?

thanks in advance

sw

[brissleboy]

400k Avios points will get you far if they can be transferred at par (with BA anyway). What you need to do is get a BA Amex, spend £10k on it (in a 12 month period) and you will be issued with a Companion Voucher which is essentially a 2-4-1 voucher. To give you an example, I just booked a First Class flight to NYC next year for 120k points and got another 'free'. You still have to pay the taxes though.

[anonymous-user]

brissleboy said:

400k Avios points will get you far if they can be transferred at par (with BA anyway). What you need to do is get a BA Amex, spend £10k on it (in a 12 month period) and you will be issued with a Companion Voucher which is essentially a 2-4-1 voucher. To give you an example, I just booked a First Class flight to NYC next year for 120k points and got another 'free'. You still have to pay the taxes though.

So if I change my "normal" amex to a BA one then I effectively get double points? I suppose that wouldn't work on the existing points though, and it is those that I am looking to spend somehow next year.

[fizz47]

Anyone use the Virgin Credit Cards that gives you points with them- I have just got their credit card and was wondering what their service was like?

Reason I dodnt go with BA is that I cant stand flying with them

[Jonathan27]

To me the big advantage of the BA scheme, over the Virgin one is redemption options. I do around 30 business class flights per year (mix of long and short haul), and by using BA I am able to earn on most routes (where as Virgin have no short haul routes) and redeem for flight to almost anywhere that I want to go i.e. occasional short haul weekend breaks in Europe for 9k points plus £27 return.

[arfur]

I have both Virgin and BA Amex cards. I alternate them monthly. I get huge amount of miles and upgrades plus companion vouchers with both.

monthly spend is about 3k

Essentially pays all Short Haul flights using BA and cheap long haul for family once a year

Works for me

[anonymous-user]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I have the points already so was really just looking for best value out of the 400K I have already.

I may be wrong, but they both have very few destinations direct from Manchester making BA unattractive for short haul so I was really just looking for a way of maximising the points. If I can get 4 (or more) free flights to a long haul holiday destination it will influence where we go. It looks like I can get anywhere with Virgin for 100K a flight, but I can't seem to get that info from the BA site.

thanks again
sw

[fizz47]

desolate said:

Thanks for the replies so far.

I have the points already so was really just looking for best value out of the 400K I have already.

I may be wrong, but they both have very few destinations direct from Manchester making BA unattractive for short haul so I was really just looking for a way of maximising the points. If I can get 4 (or more) free flights to a long haul holiday destination it will influence where we go. It looks like I can get anywhere with Virgin for 100K a flight, but I can't seem to get that info from the BA site.

thanks again
sw

From what I remmeber when looking at Virgin a couple of weeks ago it was -

29k flying points / miles for an economy return from heathrow to New York.

96 k flying points / miles for an upperclass return from heathrow to New York.



If the points are converetd on a 1 to 1 basis you potentially have some good deals out there.

[SunnyD]

I've had the Virgin Atlantic Amex for several years now and have so far got a free first class flight to Washington DC, discounted flight to New York and a free return to India. It's been really really good.

They've also recently introduced a VISA card that you can put on your Virgin AMEX account, so when your Amex isn't accepted, you can use the VISA. (it's one mile per £2 spent, so isn't such a good return, but if you can't use your Amex anyway then it's better than nothing).

Only slight gripe, and I know it's for my own good - but still - if your card is used for a transaction when you're not present ... i.e if you give your card details over the phone and it's manually entered into a machine without the PIN.... the card gets blocked. You have to call them to get them to allow it. But that could be an MBNA thing.

[audidoody]

Not worth cashing in VA miles for Economy flights as the taxes make it so you pay nearly as much for paid fare. Availability on exact Upper Class Out and In dates you want is rare and it is still around £700 per "free" flight in taxes. Good for PE upgrades to UC on an S fare though but you have to book direct with VA and not through am agent.

[SunnyD]

My return flight to India was circa £700, using my miles to get the flight "free" cost me £250 in tax. I'd say that was worth doing...!

and my Upper Class seat to Washington DC cost me £200 all-in

[anonymous-user]

Thanks one and all.

I will have a look at the availability of the Miles seats on flights to barbados from manchester.
For 4 people that can be £10-12K plus, so worth looking into.

Failing that I may just transfer to Alitalia, Finnair and any others that I use - but would get more pleasure saving the cash in one big hit rather than dribs and drabs over the years.

sw

[LooneyTunes]

From MAN, if going long haul, BA will let you hub via LHR... or at least they used to.

Had lunch with a colleague yesterday and he was saying that he's basically through with BA points: he's got over a million and hasn't been able to spend any long haul at the front of the bus for over a year. Even trying to book a LONG way in advance apparently doesn't work these days.

I must confess, I didn't have any problems spending mine with BA though...

[anonymous-user]

LooneyTunes said:

From MAN, if going long haul, BA will let you hub via LHR... or at least they used to.

If at all possible I try and avoid transfer on flights if at all possible. It's Ok when alone or travelling with a mate and you can mooch around and have a few drinks, but it's rubbish with the family. O reflection, I'll probably avoid BA as my last few flights have been rubbish,

[anonymous-user]

The best use of Avios points is always long haul in Club or First. This requires forward planning on some routes where award availability is low; sometimes booking as soon as seats are released (300+ days ahead, IIRC). For some destinations, eg SYD, it is very, very difficult to use your Avios to get a seat.

If you're serious about collecting BA miles, get the BA Premium Plus Amex. And one for your spouse. And supplementary cards on each card for each other. Clock up the 241 companion voucher on one account, then both of you switch to the other account for a second 241.

And get a Tesco MasterCard for places that don't take Amex. You can launder Clubcard points into Avios.

So I've heard...