I decided to book myself a trip to New York (from the UK) in August next year. I had 60,000 Virgin points so I decided to see if I could get a flight just with points.
To my surprise all flights appear to cost the same: 55,000 points for Premium (plus about £500) and 115,000 points for Upper (plus about £1,000). Great! I booked Premium.
I then thought about taking a friend with me. So I looked up the cash prices. The results were . . . surprising.
First off: Premium costs more than Upper? And regular Economy is cheaper than Economy Light?
Also: it costs OVER TWO THOUSAND POUNDS to travel to New York in August, even in Economy?
But here's my main point. If you choose to pay with miles and money, Virgin values your points at £16.50 per 3,000. So for my 60,000 points that's a discount of £330. But if you pay wholly with miles (plus the surcharge) then my Premium tickets were discounted by £1,800 for only 55,000 points. Meaning that they are worth £100 per 3,000.
To my surprise all flights appear to cost the same: 55,000 points for Premium (plus about £500) and 115,000 points for Upper (plus about £1,000). Great! I booked Premium.
I then thought about taking a friend with me. So I looked up the cash prices. The results were . . . surprising.
First off: Premium costs more than Upper? And regular Economy is cheaper than Economy Light?
Also: it costs OVER TWO THOUSAND POUNDS to travel to New York in August, even in Economy?
But here's my main point. If you choose to pay with miles and money, Virgin values your points at £16.50 per 3,000. So for my 60,000 points that's a discount of £330. But if you pay wholly with miles (plus the surcharge) then my Premium tickets were discounted by £1,800 for only 55,000 points. Meaning that they are worth £100 per 3,000.
Last edited by profmatt on 09 Nov 2023, 13:52, edited 1 time in total.