Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Goes Dynamic: Hoping For The Best, Fearing For The Worst

Virgin Atlantic will go dynamic and “reinvent” Flying Club starting later this month. While some of the changes sound promising, I’m very much in the “leave well enough alone” camp and not optimistic about the net effect of these changes.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Goes Dynamic

On October 30, 2024, Virgin Atlantic will retool its Flying Club program on both the earnings and redemption side. Among the changes Virgin hints at:

Capacity-restricted “saver” awards will remain available at lower prices than before, starting at 6,000 miles one-way between London and New York
Every seat in every cabin will be accessible with points at “dynamic” pricing, including the ablity to upgrade using points and combine vouchers and points
Carrier-imposed charges (which can run over $800 each way between the USA and London) were not mentioned
Partner award pricing, like on ANA, were also not mentioned
On the earnings side, Premium (premium economy) and Upper Class (business) tickets will earn more miles than before

Virgin repeatedly emphasizes that prices will go down in some markets:

To make flying with points even more accessible, Virgin Atlantic is launching new Saver reward seats at our lowest possible prices. Flying Club members will benefit from the best value we’ve ever offered, with Saver reward seats available across thousands of flights. 

Ben from One Mile At A Time says, “I’m certainly not feeling great about this…I have to imagine that this will be bad news, at least for those willing to put a bit of effort into using their points.” Meanwhile, Gib from God Save The Points strikes a much more optimistic tone, arguing, “Virgin’s changes seem to only create winners…It certainly feels like there will be more fun games to play with Virgin’s rewards program in the months to come!”

I am certainly more in Ben’s camp on this…Virgin Atlantic has a (recent) history of devaluations (see Delta award pricing and general award pricing outside Europe) and that has lessened the value of the program, not increased it.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Moves Toward Air France-KLM Flying Blue

In a sense, Virgin will adopt a program closer to Air France-KLM Flying Blue, which is a solid program overall that I frequently use for myself, my family, and my clients. And yes, when you can get off-peak pricing, the Flying Blue program is very hard to beat…this summer I paid 60,000 Flying Blue miles for four tickets from Basel – Paris – Los Angeles.

But look at Virgin versus Flying Blue for close-in tickets. Virgin has been great about opening up last-minute space in all cabins based on availability and finding last-minute 10-15K one-way awards to London is already relatively easy. With fuel surcharges limited on economy class awards, I find those redemptions the most valuable right now. Indeed, my latest family trip to Europe included four tickets from Los Angeles to London for 15,000 points each plus $150 booked the day before travel.

Sure, it will be nice to pay even less on certain dates if I can plan far in advance, but my prediction with dynamic pricing is that those last-minute trips that currently cost 15K will suddenly cost 60-70K each…just like on Flying Blue…or perhaps even 95K each like when booking via Delta SkyMiles.

There is a benefit to last-seat availability and if it were simply keeping the existing “saver” pricing scheme and availably but adding dynamic pricing for those who needed a seat on a particular flight, then I’d be good with these changes. But if the result…and I’d imagine this will be the case…is a dynamic model that will eliminate outsized value close-in to travel (15K +$150 versus $900 for a last-minute ticket to London), these changes will be a net negative.

Nevertheless, I’ll reserve final judgment until we see the new program rolled out. There again, though, is a warning sign: we are left in the dark, wondering exactly what pricing will look like. Transparency is always best.

Never forget folks, even now, that miles and points are a depreciating asset. I’m not telling you to burn all your Virign points before October 30, 2024, but I would certainly consider booking now if you 1.) know you are traveling and 2.) the award space is available.

What are your predictions for the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program?