News: Changes to Flying Club

So put another way, the Gold status now costs 50 old TP, not 40 like it used to. (50x25= 1000 'new' TP)

So that's going to reduce the number of AUs a good bit, I'd imagine.

So put another way, the Gold status now costs 50 old TP, not 40 like it used to. (50x25= 1000 'new' TP)

So that's going to reduce the number of AUs a good bit, I'd imagine.

50 x 25 = 1250....

No change in the earning thresholds, just how you earn them

I suppose it was just a matter of time before Virgin followed BA in the miles needed for award flight bookings.

Of course at the last conversion bonus I cashed all our Tesco points into VS miles, so now it may come down to a flight very other year, as i split the spending between the Prem Plus card, at least that still has the the valuable 2-4-1 which for 175,000 Avios got us two First class to Denver

It is a shame Virgin do not offer something similar, I guess they are just not big enough in capacity to offer anything like BA do. As there is only the two of us on a fixed retirement income we just do not do the spending to generate anything like the miles needed anymore. very sad. Linda

So that's going to reduce the number of AUs a good bit, I'd imagine.

Not necessarily - but if it does, the ones who drop off will be the ones of least value to VS. The system's now going to be weighted in favour of regular business travellers who buy the expensive flexible fares.

At the moment, to earn Gold you need to fly 4 UC returns a year in Z or I buckets or 3.5 in J, C or D buckets).

Under the new system you'll only need to fly 2.5 UC returns a year in J, C, D or I buckets but 5 in Z, so if you only fly UC it'll actually become easier to earn Au UNLESS you book Z fares.

Those hoping to earn Gold purely by flying economy are really being clobbered though. You currently need 10 round trips in the cheapest fare buckets; that's going up to 20.

hmmm, just got the email but the website VS set up to 'explain' was tedious, so hopped over here for the down to earth version

depends when my current TP expire, if the 25x kicks in beforehand it'd give me the 900 needed to renew AU, but i think i'll miss it by a couple of weeks - i'd expected to do a UC flight a few weeks ago to get me to 40 but had to postpone - a new and brutal company travel policy doesn't help either, the last business trip cost me money, now i'm wary of getting caught like that again, there are limits!

i've enough points saved up for some reward flights, but i guess it could be time for a new cc that earns avios instead of FC miles

the new and far more flexible miles+money looked interesting, but the redemption rate seems poor at 3,000 miles = £18, buying miles it'd be £45, a pretty wide spread

I thought I’d compare my 2016 mileage spend / earning with 2017. This is slightly pointless for most but seen as I’d worked it out for myself, I thought I’d post.

JAN
LHR -> BOS, JFK -> LHR
Upper Return (Cash low)
2016: 16,846
2017: 21,555

MAR
LHR -> JFK, IAD -> LHR
Upper Return (M/K FlyingCo Upgrade*)
2016: -24,822
2017: -64,109

MAY
LHR -> DXB
Upper Return (M/M Upgrade**)
2016: -26,388
2017: -45,360

JULY
DUB -> LHR -> SFO, LAS -> LGW***
Upper Return (Cash low)
2016: 26,503
2017: 33,881

SEPT
LGW -> MCO -> LGW
Upper Return (Cash low)
2016: 21,724
2017: 27,782

OCT
LHR -> MIA -> LHR
Upper Return (Full Reward)
2016: -100,000
2017: -95,000

* - I’ve had to ignore the FlyingCo aspect, worked out as an M return
** - booked before the mileage hike in April
*** - ignored the summer TP & miles bonus

In 2016 this earned 42 Tier Points, or 1,050. In 2017, this would be 800. A difference of -250.

On the mileage front, 2016 will finish at -86,137. In 2017, I’d be at -121,251. A difference of -35,114.

Considering I've done all of the above for around £6,000, I can't really complain about the changes but retaining Gold might become problematic.

Just got off the phone with a Flying Club rep to ask about earnings for DL flights credited to VS. She said that TPs earned from DL are not changing. So post-Nov 13th you'll still get 5/2 TPs for >3000miles and 3/1TPs for <3000 in Business/Economy. If this is the case this is absurd as with the new values partner earnings become virtually worthless. I'm sorely hoping that this is just an oversight as for a joint venture there is almost zero incentive now to fly on Delta flights.

Edit: Just called again and spoke to another rep who said that they haven't set the DL earning rates in stone yet. If anything it'll likely be 25x what the earning rate was before. Watch this space I suppose.

I fly a lot of S bucket on Virgin - deliberately as it was always better than H for TP for not much more cash. Now its much better than H for TP.

I'll get hit as like others I used miles for the very cheap S- G upgrade. That will be more expensive

I fly Singapore business class a lot - so the partner TP is critical.

If anyone hears, please post!

Re partner TP

Also been told by FC that partner TP staying the same - but they did not mean the same in absolute values (i.e 2, 3 or 5) but "the same" after being multiplied by 25

Re partner TP

Also been told by FC that partner TP staying the same - but they did not mean the same in absolute values (i.e 2, 3 or 5) but "the same" after being multiplied by 25

Thanks - that's reassuring.

Ok, trying to make sense of this...

I currently need 20tp by 31st November, to renew Gold. If I book these flights now, and fly after the 13th, will I still renew gold?

Stevieboy solved this one earlier in the thread. Read FAQ #16.

16. I already have a flight booked for after 13 November 2016. Will I receive miles at the old or new earning levels?

If you are flying after the 13 November 2016 and booked your ticket before this date, you will earn the maximum miles and tier points of either the old or new scheme based on the cabin and booking class of your ticket. This ensures that if you have an existing booking, you are not worse off because of these changes. If you are flying after the 13 November and book your ticket after 13 November, you'll earn based miles and tier points based off the new earning rates.

TL/DR: You will re-qualify for gold.

Hi,

Quick question in response. I'm due to fly Monday and come back on 13th although land 14th so normally everything's credited then (on red eye). 8' due to earn 16TPs - 10 on a Z fare plus 6 from two delta first flights.

This will re qualify me for Gold under the old system, however I don't know whether they will be credited under the new system or old?

I just spoke to a lovely rep (as usual), Sarah at FC who said since I leave on the 13th I'm before the cut off and I earn under the old syste. Just thought I would post for anyone who may be travelling on that date.

They also mentioned in the FAQs that red members will now get they're card online or through the app. Didn't think the app provided you a card, this could be good news a new functional app!

.The the htings I've picked up that could be useful for some people

- 3k miles = £18 off the price and if you have enough miles can be used to pay for the fuel surcharge and taxes too.

- now explicit that you can earn FC miles on M+M fares

- under 12's can now have an FC account of their own

Re Red cards - no longer any physical card for Red members. Likely a cost saving. Looks like to be same as BA app where there is a coloured banner depending on your status/

If anyone is on the phone to Flying Club, could you ask what the "Reward Flights" benefit for Gold means. It's listed on the mini site and only appears for Gold and no other tier. Sadly there's no explanation with it.

Is it some kind of way to force reward flight inventory akin to a BA 'joker' or is it something else?

Its probably just the companion voucher you get on a gold renewal (which is almost useless).

With the rewards flights in economy at only 20000 I cannot see any reward seat sales from here on in either

With the rewards flights in economy at only 20000 I cannot see any reward seat sales from here on in either

For the once a year / every other year flyer who collects the majority of their miles from other sources ie Tesco. C/Cards etc, this might not be too bad an overall change

David

Saw this update yesterday, we are planning a trip to NYC next August as we have tickets to see Coldplay at the Metlife stadium
Was planning on using my EC-PE vouchers for PE outbound (there are 3 passengers and I understand you can split them) and then just use straight miles to fly back in UC.
My OH is FC Gold so we get access to the CH and he has plenty of miles.
Question is should we do the transactions before the 13th or after ? Seems to be plenty of availability at the moment for our dates.
Confused

When do the mileage costs change? Ie: If I book a reward flight today, will I get it at the old rate or the new rate.

In a way, the 35K more it will cost peak for me, will be part of the 100 odd K i'd previously left to expire... Not flying VS much anymore, and all the points are going BA for the real 2 for 1.

Now if they are going to match BA like they think they are, then make theirs a real 2 for 1 voucher. Not this fake one like they currently have.

When do the mileage costs change? Ie: If I book a reward flight today, will I get it at the old rate or the new rate.

In a way, the 35K more it will cost peak for me, will be part of the 100 odd K i'd previously left to expire... Not flying VS much anymore, and all the points are going BA for the real 2 for 1.

Now if they are going to match BA like they think they are, then make theirs a real 2 for 1 voucher. Not this fake one like they currently have.

If you book today you will pay today's rates. The new scheme comes in 13th November.

If they don't change the FC mileage redemption amounts for Delta flights, that makes flying Delta One (includes CH access) for 90,000 a more attractive proposition especially at peak times, although the 40,000 required for Delta economy is less attractive than most Virgin economy rewards, particularly off-peak.

I've just booked return Delta One flights to Salt Lake City next August (outbound had to be via Philadelphia due to availability) for 90,000 miles each. Going to, for example, Seattle on Virgin UC under this new system would be 155,000 each. Quite a difference. There's also a good way to check for Delta reward availability via searching on AirFrance's US website.