In this post:
25% off Aspire Lounge access
Aspire lounges are offering 25% off lounge visits this month when you use promo code MARCH24.
Book before midnight on Tuesday 5th March for visits between 1st and 31st March at any participating Aspire Lounge in the UK & Ireland.
Buy Virgin points with up to 70% bonus
Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club are offering a bonus of up to 70% to members buying or gifting Virgin Points between 7 and 31 March 2024 when you buy at least 5000 Virgin Points. We do occasionally see an 80% bonus, but I would be happy to buy at the 70% rate. With the lower amounts, I would be tempted to wait unless you need the points immediately, as we have seen better offers before.
I like Virgin Points due to the number of partners you can now redeem on, such as all the Skyteam members, Singapore Airlines, ANA, and Hawaiin, to name but a few. With Virgin Red, there are all sorts of interesting options, such as tickets to the Virgin Red Room at the AO Manchester Arena (I’ve used my points to watch Peter Kay there this weekend) or a week-long cruise on Virgin Voyages.
Here are the bonus tiers:
- 5,000 – 24,000 points: 20% Bonus
- 25,000 – 69,000 points: 40% Bonus
- 70,000 – 124,000 points: 60% Bonus
- 125,000 – 200,000 points: 70% Bonus
Virgin Points can be bought in increments of 1,000. The points purchase cap has been raised during this offer period to 200,000 points – if purchasing 200,000 points, with the bonus, you’d receive 340,000 Virgin Points.
You can find the relevant page here for Virgin Atlantic Flying Club purchases.
APD increases revealed
After it was announced yesterday that APD would rise, the actual rates have been revealed. The tax on business and first seats were already due to rise on 1 April 2024, ranging from £13 to £14 for domestic flights, and up to £200 to £202 on ultra-long international flights (over 5,500 miles).
From 1 April 2025, APD on premium seats (business and first) on short-haul flights will rise from £26 to £28; on mid-range flights (2,001 to 5,500 miles) it will go up from £194 to £216, and on the longest flights it will rise from £202 to £224.
These mean that the prices for taxes and charges on miles redemptions are also likely to rise by at least the same amount or more.
4 comments
As a Virgin Points points buyer virgin, it does rather look very similar to just using cash to buy say Virgin Australia flights. Bonus included. Am I missing somthing in my calculations.
I can see they would be useful to top up, but I have none.
Any advice welcome.
Obviously you need to look at the price of what you plan to buy and whether it is cheaper to buy flights with cash or points with the bonus. With Virgin you earn tier points on reward flights as well which can make it slightly more beneficial to take advantage of a small saving.
Thanks Michele looks like cash is king for us!
Is the date right for the Aspire lounge offer? The article was published on the 7th for an offer it says ended on the 5th…
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