British Airways or Virgin Atlantic?
Updated September 2020
When it comes to airmiles rewards the question we are asked most often is whether to join Virgin Atlantic Flying Club or British Airways Executive Club (Avios). After extensive research into the airmiles rewards loyalty programs offered, here’s what we found.
What we’ll cover:
- What are points worth?
- Reward seats
- Cabin upgrades
- BA tier points
- Virgin tier points
- Airline credit cards
- Accessibility
- Opinion
Airmiles Rewards – Who Gives The Most Value?
That depends on how you use them. If you want to get more bang for your buck then airmiles rewards are best used for their original intended purpose. Flights. Whichever loyalty program you choose you’ll get poor value using your points for accommodation and car hire etc. Save them for booking your flights. You can use your airmiles rewards points to book a reward seat or to simply upgrade your seat for added comfort and luxury. However you will have to pay the taxes and fuel surcharge on your flights.
What Are BA Points Worth?
Here’s roughly how it stacks up:
When you join the British Airways Executive Club you’ll earn airmiles rewards called Avios points and will earn BA tier points every time you fly. The more points you earn and save the closer you’ll get to that first class flight you’ve always dreamed of. For our part we’ll always save for that little bit longer to enable us to travel in style. (Unless the flight is very short then economy will suffice). This is a personal preference rather than using our points on cheaper flight classes more frequently. But of course we’re all different so here’s the lowdown. 1,000 avios are worth around £12 (so 1.2p each)
Not forgetting you’ll have to pay taxes on top you need to be sure that the cost of your flight isn’t cheaper paid for in cash than in avios points. With 5,000 avios worth around £60 and 10,000 points worth £120 etc it’s easy enough to work out. Always try and get a reward seat or upgrade that gives you value for money in excess of the 1.2 pence. Whenever you use any loyalty program it’s always a good idea to check if your travel insurance covers your points and if the Covid 19 pandemic has changed any of the terms and conditions. Click here for more guidance.
What Are Flying Club Points Worth?
If Virgin Atlantic is your preferred airline then their loyalty scheme Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is definitely worth joining. There are so many ways you can earn Virgin points whilst going about your everyday business and several ways of spending those points. I don’t think we’ve ever flown Virgin without getting a free upgrade on our seats.
One Virgin Point is worth around 1.2p – the same as BA avios points. This means that 5,000 Virgin Points are worth about £60 and 10,000 Virgin Points are worth £120 and so on. Making it easy to equate to a cash value and make sure you’re getting the most out of your membership.
Taxes and fuel surcharges can be horrendous on Virgin so it’s even more important to weigh up whether or not you’re getting value for money. Having said that We’ve been using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club for our upgrades successfully for years. But you can use your Virgin Points for Reward Seats and Companion Seats as well. Again I wouldn’t recommend using your points for anything but flights if you want to get the best from them.
Avios Reward Seats
If you decide to go straight for the BA reward seats then the best destination for this is Europe. Mainly because British Airways cap the taxes on European return flights at £35 in economy and £50 in business. A Reward flight from London Gatwick Airport to Malaga, Spain per person will cost you 20,000 avios plus £1 and £35 in taxes. If you prefer to travel in business class then it’s 35,500 avios plus £1 and £50 in taxes.
Virgin Reward Flights
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points will get you a reward seat for around 20,000 miles upwards depending on the destination and time of year. The peak season varies from year to year to allow for Christmas and Easter etc. however Virgin’s standard season operates during many Winter destinations Peak season of January, February and March. Standard season is usually around the following dates:
- Early September to early December
- Early January to early April*
- Late April to mid June
- *around 10 days before and 10 days after Easter
During standard season 20,000 points will get you an Economy round trip, 35,000 a Premium Economy round trip and 115,000 miles for an Upper Class round trip. Peak season round trips are as follows:
- 40,000 Points for Economy
- 55,000 Points for Premium Economy
- 135,000 Points for Upper Class
Upgrading With Avios
British Airways Executive Club allows you to upgrade your seat to the next class using your avios points. Whichever class you book with cash you can then upgrade one class. For instance buy:
- Economy seat and upgrade to Premium Economy
- Premium Economy and upgrade to Business Class
- Business Class and upgrade to First Class
For instance if you want to upgrade from a Premium Economy seat (World Traveller Plus) to Business Class (Club World) it should cost you around 20,000 avios per person.
Upgrades from Economy to First or Business aren’t allowed unlike Virgin Atlantic who will let you upgrade from Classic and Delight Economy to Upper Class.
Virgin Atlantic Upgrade
This is the point where you really must weigh up the pro’s and cons of Virgin’s taxes and surcharges. For best value we try to upgrade from Economy to Upper Class. Something you can’t do with BA’s avios points.
Another tip for you Virgin frequent flyers is rather than book through the Virgin Atlantic website to use your Virgin Points ring the flying club. They’ll try to get you a better deal and if you fall short of points they can tell you if it’s worth buying just that few more to get the offer they’re looking at. The Virgin Atlantic Flying Club number is 0344 4 12 2414 or customer services 0344 874 7747.
British Airways Tier Points
Every time you fly you’ll earn Executive Club Tier Points. There are four tiers starting with the most basic which is Blue, then Bronze, Silver and Gold. Each level offering you more benefit as you work your way up.
Blue
With some airlines you can only buy reward seats at certain times. British Airways have a minimum of four economy and 2 business class seats on every flight as standard meaning there are no black out dates. Blue is the entry level tier and gives you access to member only offers and priority waiting lists.
Bronze
When you reach the bronze tier you automatically get 25% extra avios points for each flight you take with British Airways. You also get to use business class check in and have priority boarding on every flight. If you prefer to board as late as possible like us then you can use the priority lane to board when you’re ready. There’s also free seat selection seven days before your flight.
Silver
Getting better all the time. On this tier you’ll get a massive 50% more avios when you fly. This is where it starts to get really good. Silver members get access to the airport lounges usually reserved for business class. No more horrendous airport prices for a cup of coffee. All food and drink in the lounges is complimentary and you take one guest in with you.
There is of course priority seat selection and an increased baggage allowance of two bags in economy each weighing up to 32kg. All this along with the business class class check in and priority boarding. This really does take your journey to the next level in the pleasure stakes.
Gold
The ultimate. It doesn’t get any better than this tier. with a whopping 100% avios bonus on every flight you’ll double your points meaning the sky really is the limit. If you want a quieter, more gentle lounge experience then you have full access to British Airways First Lounge along with access to the Arrivals Lounge at London Heathrows Terminal 5.
Again at London Heathrow and New York’s JFK airports you can relax and rejuvenate with complimentary treatments and skin therapies at Elemis Travel Spas. Worldwide you’ll now have First Class check in, priority seat selection and one extra bag weighing up to 32kg whichever class you’re travelling in.
How Many BA Tier Points?
- Blue 0
- Bronze 300 tier points – Fly BA at least twice in one year or take 25 British Airways flights in total
- Silver 600 tier points – Fly BA at least four times or take 50 British Airways flights in total
- Gold 1500 – Fly with British Airways four times
Your tier points total will be set to zero each year but your points won’t be lost. So don’t worry if you only take one flight a year and keeping getting stuck on the lower tiers. They’ll be added to lifetime tier points and once you achieve 35,000 lifetime tier points you’ll be awarded Gold membership for life. This has to be one of the best airmiles rewards going.
Virgin Atlantic Tier Points
There are three tier levels with Virgin. Entry level is Red, moving up to Silver and then Gold. Once you join Virgin Atlantic Flying Club you automatically become a Red member.
Red
At this level you can start to collect your Virgin Points, get access to Reward Flights and use Miles Plus Money to pay for your flights. Also included is a 7% discount when booking with Virgin Holidays and discounts with No1 Lounges.
Silver
When you move up to Silver membership you retain all the benefits you had as a Red member. In addition to these benefits you get 30% bonus miles on every flight you book and free standard seat selection even in Economy Light.
The Premium Economy check in is available to you even if you are flying in Economy and you get a Tier Renewal Bonus. Again there’s a 7% discount when booking with Virgin Holidays but you’ll also get double Virgin Points on your booking. If you manage to stay in Silver membership for another year Virgin Atlantic will give you a further 2,000 points.
Gold
The top tier. Without doubt the level to aspire to. As a Gold member you get the full Virgin Atlantic works. Again you’ll retain the benefits of the previous level. Plus you can link your household account with up to nine family members and Virgin will gift you 2,000 points on your birthday. You can give supplementary Silver membership to a friend and the guarantee of an Economy seat on any flight. Always useful if you have to be somewhere in a hurry.
Virgin Holidays will give you a 10% discount, double points on any holiday booking and you’ll get discounted access at No1 Lounges. You’ll also get access to airline partner airport extras.
If you manage to achieve Gold membership then it pays to make the most of that membership year to retain your status. Whilst in your ‘Gold Year’ if you earn 2,000 points you get a Cabin Upgrade Reward and earning 1,500 points will get you Clubhouse passes to keep or share.
Each time you make it to another year of Gold membership with Virgin Atlantic they’ll give you a complementary Companion Ticket.
How Many VA Tier Points?
The only way to earn those coveted Tier Points is by taking flights. To find out how many points are earned per flight click here. To move through the Tiers you’ll need the following points:
- Red to Silver 400 Tier Points
- Silver to Gold 1,000 Tier Points
But for me, this is where it gets disappointing. There isn’t any long term loyalty reward that I can see. No benefit to giving Virgin Atlantic your custom year in year out as your tier points expire after one year and you move down a level if you don’t earn the requisite points.
British Airways Amex
A super easy way to earn some extra avios points is by signing up to British Airways Credit Card offer. BA have teamed up with American Express with a competitive market rate of 22.9% APR and you’ll earn one mile for every pound you spend. Along with this if you manage to spend £20,000 in one year (please,please remember to clear your balance every month!) you’ll get a free Companion Voucher when you next book a Reward Seat.
Before our British readers start to groan American Express is now more widely accepted over in the UK as big name brands such as Tesco and over 800 others get on board. These include M&S and John Lewis so make sure all your online shopping is done through this link to maximise your points collection. You can also convert your Tesco Clubcard points into avios at the rate of 600 avios per £2.50 Clubcard Voucher.
Virgin Credit Card
As with most airmiles rewards a good way of earning those wonderful benefits is by taking out an airline credit card. Virgin Atlantic is no different and if you use your card to pay for Virgin Atlantic flights or a Virgin Holiday you’ll earn double points. And a good everyday way to boost your miles is by shopping online at your favourite major stores using Virgin’s ‘Shops Away‘. Tesco Clubcard also allows you to convert points to Flying Club points at the rate of £2.50 for 625 miles.
The basic Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card has an APR of 22.9% which is competitive and on a par with BA’s Amex card. There’s a 5000 points rewards bonus for signing up but you’ll only get 0.75 of a mile per pound you spend. I have to say offering less than one point per pound feels more than a bit stingy.
But if you’re one of these lucky peeps who can afford to spend £20,000 in one year on your virgin credit card (remembering to pay it off in full each month folks!) then you unlock benefits such as Companion Tickets or Upgrades.
Accessibility
If health reasons make long haul flights so uncomfortable they become almost impossible then the most effective seat upgrade on British Airways is from Premium Economy to Business Class aka Club World. This will give you a lie flat bed and space to get comfortable. If you’re travelling with Virgin Atlantic then you’ll need to travel Upper Class for the same benefits but you can upgrade from Economy all the way up to Upper Class if you have enough points. Take a look at our posts in the section Top Tips For Travelling With Arthritis and Travelling With Fibromyalgia for more information on travel assistance.
Opinion:
We’ve used both airmiles rewards points from both British Airways Executive Club (Avios) and Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club to subsidise our travel over the years. And however carefully I try to work out how many Virgin Flying Club Points I need along with taxes and surcharges to arrive at an overall cost I can never get it quite right. But I do love that we can upgrade from Economy to Upper Class. A further bonus is that Virgin have now removed the expiry date of three years for flying club points making them lifetime points that neve expire.
British Airways seem to be much more transparent and have capped fees for taxes on European flights. They also fly both long and short haul flights eliminating the need to use partner airlines. Virgin are mostly long haul flights (which you could argue is when you really need that upgrade!) so partner airlines must be used for short haul flights. The simplicity of British Airways Executive Club Avios points nudges them ahead of the competition for me.
The ability to earn extra points is super easy with both airlines and can be given a healthy boost by signing up to their respective credit cards. Both airmiles rewards loyalty schemes can earn points via Tesco Clubcard and shopping with hundreds of partner brands. Because of Virgin Atlantic’s 0.75 miles per one pound spent against British Airways one point per spent spent then there’s no doubt that again you’re better off on the British Airways loyalty programme.
Both of these programmes give excellent value but I have to declare British Airways the winner over Virgin Atlantic. But only by a narrow margin. The ability to upgrade from Economy to Upper Class negate the 0.75 miles per pound so British Airways win on ease of use and lifetime tier points. We’re now going to work our way towards that milestone of 35,000 lifetime tier points.
Happy Travels!