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Virgin Atlantic announced today that it’s making every seat available with points. Starting on October 30th, any seat Virgin flies will be available to book as an award. But, the dynamic pricing that’s involved might make some of these Flying Club redemptions rather high.
Full details around pricing have not been released, but Virgin describes it as: “the price of seats will vary in line with demand, in a similar way to standard tickets.” The revenue cost of a ticket will factor into how many points need to be redeemed for an award flight. Currently, Flying Club offers only a certain number of seats on each flight as awards. Once those are booked, no additional inventory was available. Virgin is introducing Saver reward seats for much lower redemption costs. It touts that a seat to New York could cost as little as 6,000 points.
I’m a bit skeptical of how this dynamic pricing will play out in reality. I’ve seen what this can do when not handled well (hello, Delta). One cool feature that I do support is the ability to upgrade both paid and award tickets with points. Flying Club members will be able to use their points to upgrade to any available Premium or Upper Class seat. In addition, members will be able to use their Companion or Upgrade vouchers on any seat (removing constraints of availability from even more products within Flying Club). Flying Club members will also earn more points on paid Upper Class and Premium tickets. The number of Virgin Points earned on Upper Class tickets will increase by up to 50% and Premium tickets will increase by up to 75%.
No word has been released on partner awards and if these will also shift to a dynamic model. Hopefully, Delta’s 49% ownership of Virgin Atlantic will not have too much influence here.
Shai Weiss, CEO, Virgin Atlantic, said:
Our customers mean the world to us. We are flying because of them and for forty years we have existed to make their journeys safe and special. Our aim is always to do right by them and to make them smile. In our special Ruby anniversary year, we are making every single seat available for purchase with points, becoming even more rewarding for our millions of loyal Flying Club members.”
Siobhan Fitzpatrick, CXO, Virgin Atlantic, added:
Our promise to our customers is to deliver a brilliantly different experience, providing thoughtful touches across their journey. Our loyal Flying Club members are so important to us, and today’s announcement is not only a first for the UK, but a significant step further in offering them as much choice, value and flexibility as possible.”
Anthony’s Take: We’ll have to wait and see what these redemptions actually look like once they’re live. Many found Virgin as an alternative way to snag seats on other carriers as well as a reasonable way to get to the UK and beyond. I’m hoping this stays true in the future.
(Image Credits: Virgin Atlantic.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
