Tier points & Miles - more return leg than outbound - why?!

I recently did a round trip, UC from NYC to LHR and back, not in my account:

Outbound UC I got 100TP + 11,000 miles,
On the return UC I got 200TP and 22,125 miles.

why the big difference?! It was 1 single ticket, and I am GC holder.
(I was rebooked onto a different return flight due to snow, not sure if that's relevant)

Did I somehow come back in a different class?

you may have come back in a different fare bucket?

Looks like you booked into Z class on the outbound and due to the rebooking you probably ended up in one of I, D, C or J on the return which offers double miles and TPs.

As above, all it can be is that the ticket VS rebooked you onto due to snow was in a different fare bucket (i.e. a higher miles / TP earning one). It does seem that the fare buckets go out of the window a bit when rebooking due to weather issues.

Last September I was in Orlando when Hurricane Irma was due to hit & MCO was due to close. I was booked on a G ticket (UC reward) and could see a revenue UC fare on the Saturday - two days earlier than my intended return, but just before MCO was due to close. I called Flying Club to ask to be rebooked onto this flight to escape Irma and it was no problem, the agent took the revenue fare & converted it to a G fare there and then.

Of course, prior to this Virgin had sent out the email / text messages saying "your inbound flight could be affected, please call us to discuss your options" messages, so my booking was already flagged as an "at risk" one, hence why the restrictions were doubtless dropped.

To the OP - if you got more miles & TP's than you expected, keep quiet! As I was on a G fare my BP had "No FF Credit" clearly printed on it & the fare class still showed as G.

yes it's a fare bucket difference. TPs for Z = 100 and J/C/D/I = 200.

Was once rebooked on to VS by AA due to a cancellation and was please to see when the miles hit my account is was full fat J fare bucket.

Less pleased when I realised I could have had a CDC on arrival at JFK!

[mitchja]

Z fares come with an advance purchase rule (I think it's still 42 days), so if VS ever need to re-book you at the last minute, a Z fare will no longer be available to book, hence why you are always rebooked in the higher fare buckets.