Virgin's improved 'Miles Booster' – now worth a look

Back in November, I mentioned the launch of ‘Miles Booster’ by Virgin Atlantic.

It was an odd little deal.  When you bought a Virgin Atlantic flight for cash, you would be offered the chance to buy additional Flying Club miles – up to 200% of the miles you would earn from the flight itself.

If you booked an Upper Class flight to the US which would earn 5,000 Flying Club base miles, for example, Virgin would offer to sell you another 10,000 miles at the time of booking.

What was odd about the scheme was that it was a very poor deal.  Virgin wanted 1.5p per mile, which is exceptionally weak and pretty close to what they sell them for normally.  There was also a £15 administration fee to pay.

Now, I am not suggesting, of course, that ‘Miles Booster’ has been a flop!  However, Virgin is currently running a special offer – although notably without a stated closing date – offering a 33% discount on the usual ‘Miles Booster‘ price.

Now it has become interesting ….

Under this special offer, you are buying Virgin Flying Club miles for 1p each.  This is not a bad deal at all.

It is not a steal, either, and of course you can pick up Flying Club miles via Tesco promotions for a lot less than 1p each.  However, if you are short of miles then this is an easy way to top up your balance at a reasonable rate.

Virgin is also offering to retrospectively sell you miles based on the cash flights you have taken over the last 6 months.

The £15 administration fee is still there, unfortunately.  You do get a flat rate bonus of 1,000 miles per transaction, though, which fundamentally means you are paying 1.5p per mile for those.

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, one has a bonus of 15,000 points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

The UK’s most generous free Visa or Mastercard at 0.75 points / £1 Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 points bonus and the most generous non-Amex for day to day spending Read our full review

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 30,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 30,000 Virgin Points:

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points. 

(Want to earn more Virgin Points?  Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)