How to use Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles even if Virgin Atlantic goes bust?

Discussion in 'Virgin Atlantic | Flying Club' started by ScottW, Apr 24, 2020.

  1. ScottW

    ScottW New Member

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    I have some Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles I'd really not like to lose if the airline goes bust. Can I use those miles today to book a future flight on Delta, Air France, and/or KLM? Online and/or by phone?

    Suppose I use Flying Club miles now to book a Delta flight for December, 8 months from now, and Virgin Atlantic goes bust in June. Do I still have my booking on that Delta flight?

    Any other good strategies for not losing the value of those miles?
     
  2. JoeD

    JoeD Well-Known Member

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    Great question and something I think Craig will be writing more fully about soon.

    In more normal times, I would be fairly confident that Flying Club Miles (and certainly future flights booked using them now) would be pretty safe regardless of what happens to Virgin Atlantic itself. The loyalty programme is technically a separate business, partner airlines like Delta would probably want to play nicely, etc.

    Unfortunately, we don't live in normal times and I'm therefore much more cautious about how things will develop.

    If you really really want/need to use them for a future flight, I would suggest that Delta is probably your safest bet, but it could still get cancelled.

    If they were my miles, at this stage I would be very seriously thinking about transferring them to Hilton Honors Points. Given my 'normal' valuations of 1p per Virgin Mile and 0.4p per Hilton Point (and the 1:1.5 transfer rate), you're looking at at a theoretical haircut of 40% of value by doing so. But, given the uncertainty with Flying Club, it's not reasonable to value FC Miles at 1p anymore.
     
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  3. cinereus

    cinereus Member

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    Just spend them all on wines. 0.5% redemption and assume a profit margin of 10% greater than a standard wine merchant and you're getting a decent rate.

    Much better than hotels or flights these days anyway.
     
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2020
  4. JoeD

    JoeD Well-Known Member

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    Yeah wine is certainly an option as well. I normally find that by stocking up when supermarkets run double discounts that Virgin (etc) can't really compete, and I do expect to use Hilton Hotels ate some point in the future (even if not for a long time).

    For immediate use though, wine is a good option.
     
  5. Damize

    Damize New Member

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    I currently have about ~47k Virgin Airline miles from converting all my saved Tesco coupons over the years.

    I too am worried that these may be wasted. In truth, I’ve never flown virgin before and don’t drink (so wine is out of the question)... I’m hoping they won’t go bust!
     
  6. cinereus

    cinereus Member

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    Even with the changes today I'd still cash them out. Give wine to people who enjoy a tipple.
     

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