The Virgin Atlantic Companion Voucher Is Worth A Closer Look

The Virgin Atlantic companion voucher works a little differently to its equivalent from British Airways. Which could make it an interesting choice for anyone that uses a credit card regularly but who isn’t a very frequent flier.

Virgin Atlantic promotes two Mastercard credit cards, which can be linked to a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account and are issued by Virgin Money:

• The Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card has no annual fee
• The Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card has a £160 annual fee (at the time this article was written)

Unsurprisingly, you earn Virgin Points at a higher rate with the paid card across all purchases. More notably, when you spend money with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Holidays, you receive 3 Virgin Points per £1 of spend using the Reward+ card, versus just 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 spent, if you pay with the free card. However, things get interesting when you factor in one of the main benefits offered with both these cards, the ability to earn a Virgin Atlantic companion voucher.

Like similar voucher schemes, this is essentially a 2–4–1 offer, letting you book a Virgin Atlantic companion ticket, alongside your own, for the same number of points as you’d normally have to redeem for one person’s reward flight. But unlike most other airlines, Virgin Atlantic’s voucher also lets you book a Virgin Atlantic Companion ticket when you pay cash for your own fare, or choose an upgrade instead. This means the voucher is incredibly flexible and can still have value for someone who doesn’t have enough points for the tickets they want to buy.

How It works:

You receive a voucher when you spend £20,000 in your card membership year, using the free Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card, or £10,000 using the Reward+ card. You are bound to have also built up some Virgin Points, using these cards, as you will earn them whenever you spend on your card.

You can then redeem your voucher, to get two reward flight tickets, in the same cabin, for the same number of Virgin Points as you would normally have to redeem for one.

However, if you don’t have enough points for a 2–4–1 Virgin Atlantic companion flight reward flight redemption you have three other choices:

• Buy an Economy Classic or Economy Delight ticket on Virgin Atlantic for cash, and then use your voucher to get an upgrade to Premium Economy.
• Or, buy a Premium Economy ticket on Virgin Atlantic, using cash and get an upgrade to Upper Class. (Note that this is likely to deliver a bigger saving versus the full fare than an economy upgrade).
• Or, buy a ticket, in any cabin, on Virgin Atlantic using cash, and get your companion’s ticket, in the same cabin, for free (though any taxes and surcharges will still need to be paid).

On upgrades, additional taxes and charges may be due and with companion tickets, taxes and charges will still be payable on the second ticket.

It’s worth noting that, even if you use cash, the upgrade or companion seat will come from the limited number of seats on each flight which are allocated for Virgin Atlantic Flying Club reward flights. So if there is not a reward seat available, you can’t use your voucher.

Searching for available reward seats on the Virgin Atlantic website can be an arduous task, especially if you aren’t sure when and where you want to go. So, an easier alternative is to use a reward flight tracker website to check out Virgin Atlantic companion flight availability for the dates you are interested in.

A Bonus If You Shop At Tesco

Things get particularly interesting, with the Virgin credit cards, if you shop regularly at Tesco. Tesco Clubcard loyalty points can also be exchanged for Virgin points, allowing you to “double-dip” on points earnings, when you use your Clubcard and pay with your Virgin Atlantic Mastercard. If you put your weekly grocery shop through on the card and frequently fuel your car at a Tesco service station, not only will the spend threshold for a companion voucher be reached more quickly, you’ll earn Virgin Points faster too.

In Summary

If you use a credit card for most of your purchases, you could build up a nice stash of Virgin points by using a Virgin Atlantic credit card, particularly if you shop at Tesco. Plus, you could earn a companion voucher and save a significant amount of money on flights for two people. Or, you could use the voucher for a cut-price upgrade on your next flight.

Unlike competitor programmes, a Virgin Atlantic companion voucher is still valuable, even if you don’t have enough points to book your tickets as a reward flight redemption.

Virgin Atlantic credit cards and vouchers are often overlooked, in comparison to their BA equivalents. However for anyone that’s interested in a trip to a destination which Virgin Atlantic flies to, or who are planning a special trip for two, such as a honeymoon or anniversary, it’s well worth looking into whether this scheme could be an easier way to bag a pair of fancy flights at bargain prices, even if you aren’t a frequent flyer.

Airlines Featured: British Airways Virgin Atlantic