Virgin Atlantic Upper Class, Up To 9 Seats

Since Amex launched a 20% transfer bonus to Flying Blue, this is a great time to book Virgin Atlantic Upper Class - and there’s award space on a bunch of routes. This transfer bonus is especially useful on west coast routes!


Just keep in mind that Virgin’s newer Upper Class products are only on the Airbus A350-900 and A330-900neo. I’ll flag the routes that h ave flights on these aircraft.


Now, let’s get into it!

Straight To The Points


Routes:

  • ATL, BOS, JFK, IAD, LAS, LAX, MCO, MIA, TPA, SEA, SFO, YYZ  - LHR

  • ATL, JFK, LAS, MCO - MAN


Operating airline: Virgin Atlantic

Class of service: Upper Class (business class)

Dates: November 2024 - September 2025

Seats available: 2 (up to 9)

Cabin layout: 1-2-1 (A350, A330-900neo); 1-1-1 (A333, B789)

Book with (per person, one-way):

  • Air France-KLM Flying Blue:

    • BOS: 65,000 miles

    • JFK: 69,000 miles

    • YYZ: 71,000 miles

    • IAD: 73,000 miles

    • ATL: 84,000 miles

    • MCO: 87,000 miles

    • TPA: 88,000 miles

    • MIA: 88,000 miles

    • SEA: 96,000 miles

    • LAS: 104,000 miles

    • SFO: 107,000 miles

    • LAX: 109,000 miles

    • JFK-MAN: 67,000 miles

    • LAS-MAN: 71,000 miles

    • MCO-MAN: 85,000 miles

    • ATL-MAN: 91,000 miles

  • Delta SkyMiles: 195,000 miles

  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club:

    • Off-Peak:

      • ATL, BOS, JFK, IAD, MCO, MIA, TPA, YYZ: 47,500 points

      • LAX, LAS, SEA, SFO: 67,500 points

    • Standard:

      • ATL, BOS, JFK, IAD, MCO, MIA, TPA, YYZ: 57,500 points

      • LAX, LAS, SEA, SFO: 77,500 points


Taxes/fees to/from LHR (per person, one-way):


Air France-KLM Flying Blue:

  • From US: ~$228

  • From LHR: ~$587


Delta SkyMiles

  • From US: $5.60

  • From LHR: ~$560


Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

  • From US: ~$1,028

  • From LHR: ~$839


From LHR/MAN, you will be on the hook for the Air Passenger Duty (APD) fee of £202. It doesn't matter which program you use to book, this fee will be included.


Bank transfer partners:

  • Air France-KLM: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott

    • 20% Amex transfer bonus

  • Delta: Amex, Marriott

  • Virgin: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott

    • 40% Chase transfer bonus

    • 30% Citi transfer bonus


Current Airline Transfer Bonuses

Best Card Offers


Let me know if you book!

Available Dates

Flight Experience


Virgin Atlantic has a reputation for being a fun airline with friendly crews and an amazing lounge at London Heathrow. For the best inflight experience, try to find a date with award space on Virgin's A350-1000 or A330-900neo.

The A350 has a 1-2-1 cabin layout but, unlike reverse herringbone cabin arrangement, the 2 middle seats face away from each other and toward the window seats. Their A330-900neo has a staggered 1-2-1 layout.

The A330neo will also have two Retreat Suites which have a bit more space, including an ottoman that allows your traveling companion to dine with you. You can pay extra to book these seats.


The A330-300 and Boeing 787-9 cabins are arranged in a 1-1-1 layout. Row A will provide the most privacy as Rows G and K are angled toward each other.

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*Bookable with points

Best Ways To Book


Flying Blue: Great Rates, Free Stopover, More Award Space

Flying Blue's award rates for Virgin Atlantic Upper Class vary by route and start at 65,000 miles from Boston. Given the surcharges, Flying Blue is often a better option than using Virgin points.


Here’s how many Amex points you’ll need for each route.

The fact that you can transfer points from Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, and Citi make it easy to earn the miles necessary.

You can include a stopover on a one-way but you'll need to call to book. Connections on partners will generally increase the award rate.


Virgin Atlantic: Great Rate, But Steep Surcharges


If you have Chase points and would prefer to use fewer points and pay higher carrier-imposed surcharges, a 40% transfer bonus will keep the points cost to a minimum.


On off-peak dates, you’ll only need to transfer 34,000 Chase points for most routes. From the west coast, you’ll only need to transfer 49,000 Chase points.


Just keep in mind that the total taxes/fees when booking with Virgin points will be ~$800 more from the US and ~$250 more from London.

An example of Delta wishing it didn’t have a loyalty program.

How To Search


The fastest way to search is on Virgin's site.

  1. Select one-way or round-trip

  2. Select Upper Class

  3. Select Pay with points

  4. Select Flying From and Flying To cities

  5. Select date(s)

  6. Select number of passengers

  7. Run search


Virgin Atlantic Flying Club will put award space on hold for up to 24 hours, but you'll need to call to do so (800-862-8621).

Flying Blue will allow you to hold award space over the phone (800-375-8723) and you can include a stopover if you want to see two cities on one award.


Happy booking!