Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is free to join, and it runs on two separate currencies. Virgin Points are what you earn and spend. Tier Points decide your status, which moves you from Red to Silver to Gold. The two are easy to confuse, so it's worth getting the split straight before anything else.
Here's how Flying Club works: how you earn Virgin Points, what you can spend them on, how status is earned and kept, and what matters most if you mostly arrive with transferred points. Everything below comes from Virgin Atlantic's own Flying Club pages, read on October 26, 2026.
Two Currencies, One Program
Virgin describes Flying Club as a way to turn flights, holidays and everyday spending into Virgin Points. Joining costs nothing, and Virgin says points never expire.
Tier Points are separate. They come from flying Virgin Atlantic, SkyTeam and other partner airlines, and from Virgin Holidays and some Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard spend, and they move you up the membership levels.
How to Earn Virgin Points
You can earn Virgin Points when you fly, when you spend and shop, or when you move over points from other programs.
Flying. You earn Virgin Points when you fly Virgin Atlantic, and Virgin says they're only awarded for flights paid for in money. You can also earn on SkyTeam and other partner airlines. Points Booster adds single, double or triple points on top of what a flight earns.
Transfers. Virgin's earning page lists American Express Membership Rewards at 1 point to 1 Virgin Point, and it names Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards as well. Our guide to redeeming Virgin Atlantic miles covers the transfer partners and the airlines you can book, and our post on the Capital One transfer bonus covers that route.
Everything else. Virgin lists hotel, car rental, train and lounge partners, a Shops Away portal with more than 1,000 retailers, and the Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard. You can also buy points, and claim missing points up to six months after a flight. Fly with Virgin Atlantic in five different years and High Five pays 12,000 Virgin Points.
How to Spend Virgin Points
Virgin calls its award flights reward seats. They're paid for with points, plus money for taxes, fees and carrier charges, which Virgin shows before you book.
If a seat is available to buy on a Virgin Atlantic flight, Virgin says it's also available with points. Prices change with demand, and Virgin's lowest-priced Saver reward seats start from 6,000 points plus $93.10 in taxes, fees and charges one way. Virgin calculated the $93.10 on October 15, 2026 for one Economy seat from New York-JFK to London-Heathrow, and says the taxes, fees and charges vary by cabin, departure airport, destination and travel date. Virgin's Reward Seat Checker shows Saver prices month by month.
Virgin says you can earn and spend Virgin Points with all its airline partners. Points can upgrade a booking to Premium or Upper Class, subject to availability and the rules of your booking, and Points Plus Money lets you pay less for Virgin Atlantic flights and holidays. Reward seats earn Tier Points too.
If you paid fully with points, you can call to change a booking. Virgin charges £70 per person for each change on flights starting in the UK and $100 per person on flights from elsewhere. Gold members get reward seat changes free of charge.
How Status Works
Red is where everyone starts. Silver takes 400 Tier Points and Gold takes 1,000, earned within a 12-month period.
Virgin awards Tier Points by booking class on each Virgin Atlantic flight. Upper Class earns 200 or 100, depending on the booking class. Premium earns 100 or 50, Economy Delight earns 50, Economy Classic earns 50 or 25, and Economy Light earns 25. On a trip with more than one flight, you collect Tier Points for each one.
Virgin gives an example for Silver: a return Upper Class flight on Virgin Atlantic, or the equivalent on Delta, Air France or KLM. The Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard earns 25 Tier Points for every $2,500 you spend, up to 50 a month.
Once you reach Silver or Gold, your status lasts 12 months. If you don't requalify in that time, you move down one tier and your Tier Points reset. Virgin also lets you match status from another airline.
On top of what Red gets, Silver adds Premium check-in and priority boarding, one extra checked bag, a 30% bonus on Virgin Points when you fly Virgin Atlantic or its SkyTeam partners, and 2,000 Virgin Points when you renew. Gold gets Upper Class check-in and priority boarding, Clubhouse and shared lounge access with a guest, a 60% bonus on Virgin Points on Virgin Atlantic and SkyTeam partner flights, and 2,000 Virgin Points on your birthday.
What to Do First
Join for free, then check award space before you move any points. If you're mainly a transfer member, status is the smaller question. The bigger one is whether the reward seat you want is available on your dates, so start with Virgin's Reward Seat Checker. If you fly Delta, Air France or KLM a lot, check whether those flights could count toward Silver before you decide where to credit them.
