Virgin Atlantic Flying Club dynamic pricing is now live: Major takeaways from the program changes

30.10.2024 - 13:33 / thepointsguy.com / John F.Kennedy

The Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program reinvention is now live. The biggest change in the program's history is a new concept of dynamically priced redemptions for Virgin Atlantic-operated flights.

Every seat on every Virgin Atlantic flight is now bookable with Virgin points, a significant departure from the previous model of strictly limited and capacity-controlled award seats.

While some award seats are now much cheaper, others are significantly more expensive; plus, there are changes to those pesky surcharges, too.

Here's what you need to know about the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program changes.

Related: Is Virgin Atlantic premium economy worth it on the A330-900neo?

With all seats bookable with Virgin points, look out for new Saver seats marked with a red tag when searching. These are now the cheapest options, though they will not be offered on every flight.

On dates with low demand, such as transatlantic flights on certain days over the northern winter period, these flights will now start from as low as 6,000 Virgin points from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Heathrow Airport (LHR) in economy, 10,500 Virgin points in premium economy and just 29,000 Virgin points in business class.

If you're lucky enough to snag this redemption you'll be booking the lowest redemption rate for business-class flights to Europe of any major airline loyalty program.

While the Flying Club program has previously discounted the points required during periods of low demand through its regular network-wide redemption sales, the fees, taxes and surcharges have not been reduced.

However, great news for Flying Club members: Carrier-imposed surcharges will be reduced for low-demand flights, starting from just $45 in economy, $78 in Premium and $227 in Upper Class on a flight from New York to London. Minor additional government taxes and airport fees are also payable, which differ from route to route. Remember that the taxes for flights departing London will be more expensive than those to London because of the U.K. APD Tax.

If you travel on dates or flights with the lowest demand, the new pricing system means you will need far fewer Virgin points and cash under the new system, an undeniable program improvement.

According to a press release from the carrier, Flying Club estimates that 75% of Virgin Atlantic-operated flights will have Saver seats available — and we have seen plenty in our initial searches.

Related: Virgin Atlantic to fly to Canada for first time in 10 years in broader 3-route expansion

While Flying Club previously guaranteed a minimum number of award seats at fixed award chart rates in each cabin on every flight (two in business class, two in premium economy and eight economy class seats),