Virgin Atlantic joins Skyteam

[HS-TQE]

Why not TPE to offer 1 stop connections with CI to BNE/MEL/SYD?

along with a potential codeshare on the onward tag/5th freedom from BNE to AKL.

 

[jase05]

Sounds like VS has been fully integrated already and you can enjoy all the perks.

 

[AIRwin]

Welcome to the Team!

https://www.skyteam.com/en/about/press-releases/press-releases-2023/virgin-altantic-to-join-skyteam-alliance-today

 

[Mattg]

According to this article, you can now earn or redeem Virgin Points with all SkyTeam airlines except ITA Airways and China Eastern (both coming soon-ish).

Virgin Atlantic joins the SkyTeam Alliance

With Virgin Atlantic joining SkyTeam, Amex Membership Rewards users in Australia finally have a direct SkyTeam points transfer partner.

www.pointhacks.com.au

The award charts for redemptions on SkyTeam airlines as shown here:

Airline partners | Virgin Atlantic

There are a whole host partners to earn Virgin Points with.

flywith.virginatlantic.com

Looks like you'll need to book many awards over the phone for the time being. Still, if you have Amex points and can be bothered calling VS to check for availability etc. before transferring points over, this opens up many potential new redemption options for people with Amex Membership Rewards points.

 

[HS-TQE]

VS could now potentially re-establish a codeshare presence into Australia through KE and CI via ICN and TPE respectively, especially considering VS may enter LHR-ICN to connect to KE (replacing their former LHR-HKG service).

VS could also sneakily add a codeshare on the fifth freedom BNE-AKL service (connections through both KE and CI).

 

[dajop]

Fun fact : looks like those flying VA and/or SQ can now earn SkyTeam elite then.

In fact those travelling in SQ business a lot can earn PPS dollars to generate star gold, whilst accruing miles/tier credits in Flying Club to earn SkyTeam status, and when done there switch too earning on AS to move towards OneWorld status (although the latter has a minimum sector requirement on AS )

Wonder how long this will last though.

 

[seritonin]

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Selling Points With 70% Bonus

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is offering a 70% bonus on purchased points. Is this an offer you should take advantage of?

onemileatatime.com

Been doing a little research to find sweet spots to use VS miles on Skyteam. I think there is potential for cheap GA J to Bali (ex SYD or MEL) ~AUD750 each way.

If you take advantage of the current buy miles promo (70% bonus if max), which works out to be ~0.016 AUD a mile (if you have UK address). MEL/SYD- DPS falls under 3k miles according to gcmap which requires 40k VS miles. With this promo, works out to be $640 + taxes(~AUD90). Garuda often releases up to 5 seats on Delta.

Another potential (not so) sweet spot is VN to Europe (LHR, CDG & FRA). 140k miles are required each way, which works out to be AUD2240 + taxes(~AUD90). On par with Aeroplan (110K)
VN often releases 2 seats according to Delta.
(Also work for CI to LHR,FCO,VIE,CDG & FRA)

All would work as long as VS doesn't do stupid taxes.

 

[MG1]

Fun fact : looks like those flying VA and/or SQ can now earn SkyTeam elite then.

In fact those travelling in SQ business a lot can earn PPS dollars to generate star gold, whilst accruing miles/tier credits in Flying Club to earn SkyTeam status, and when done there switch too earning on AS to move towards OneWorld status (although the latter has a minimum sector requirement on AS )

Wonder how long this will last though.

dajop, I'm still new to this and would like to confirm how this would work. Would you need to book your domestic VA flight on the VS website, using your Flying Club number?
Would there be a minimum number of sectors to progress through the Flying Club tiers (I couldn't see it listed on their website)?

 

[Mattg]

Another potential (not so) sweet spot is VN to Europe (LHR, CDG & FRA). 140k miles are required each way, which works out to be AUD2240 + taxes(~AUD90). On par with Aeroplan (110K)
VN often releases 2 seats according to Delta.
(Also work for CI to LHR,FCO,VIE,CDG & FRA)

All would work as long as VS doesn't do stupid taxes.

Unfortunately, this redemption isn't quite 140,000 Virgin Points because Virgin Atlantic prices awards as the sum of all individual sectors flown. So it would be (for example) 160,000 points one-way for SYD-HAN-FRA as it's 75,000 points for SYD-HAN, plus 85,000 points for HAN-FRA.

This guide explains all of this:

Buy & Redeem Virgin Atlantic Points for SkyTeam Flights

This guide explains how to buy Virgin Points from Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and redeem them for award travel across Virgin Atlantic's network of partner airlines, including the SkyTeam alliance.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

In any case, yes, redemptions on many routes including Garuda to Bali would be quite good value if buying points with a 70% bonus

 

[jase05]

In any case, yes, redemptions on many routes including Garuda to Bali would be quite good value if buying points with a 70% bonus

Anyone know what the carrier charges are like with VS on GA?

 

[dajop]

dajop, I'm still new to this and would like to confirm how this would work. Would you need to book your domestic VA flight on the VS website, using your Flying Club number?
Would there be a minimum number of sectors to progress through the Flying Club tiers (I couldn't see it listed on their website)?

I don't see a minimum sector requirement listed on their website either. All you would have to do is make sure your VS Flying Club number is in your VA booking - you could book directly with VA or via a travel agent. However there is a huge rider, that most VA economy sectors earn no tier points, as you only earn them for flights >2000 miles, so that limits it to business class flights (any) or economy on PER-SYD/BNE, DPS-BNE/ADL/MEL/SYD, MEL-NAN, CNS-HND, APW--SYD/BNE

 

[MG1]

I don't see a minimum sector requirement listed on their website either. All you would have to do is make sure your VS Flying Club number is in your VA booking - you could book directly with VA or via a travel agent. However there is a huge rider, that most VA economy sectors earn no tier points, as you only earn them for flights >2000 miles, so that limits it to business class flights (any) or economy on PER-SYD/BNE, DPS-BNE/ADL/MEL/SYD, MEL-NAN, CNS-HND, APW--SYD/BNE

Thank you for your response.

 

[AIRwin]

VS has launched codeshare with KE:

Virgin Atlantic to launch codeshare with Korean Air

corporate.virginatlantic.com