An odd quirk when earning Virgin Flying Club miles from Virgin Trains

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When you travel with Virgin Trains West Coast, you can choose to earn either Nectar points or Virgin Flying Club miles, assuming you book directly on the Virgin Trains website.

Following changes last year, the rate is now:

2 Nectar points per £1 spent, or
1 Virgin Flying Club mile per £1 spent

Nectar Virgin Trains

Since you should be able to get more than 1p from your miles, I was generally keener on crediting to Virgin Flying Club.

A reader has pointed out a quirk in the system, however.

If you take Nectar points, you get points for the entire value of the ticket you book, even if some of the travel is on another train operator

If you take Virgin Flying Club miles, you earn NOTHING if any part of your journey is on another train operator

The first point is well known and publicised on the Virgin Trains website. The second point is not. Our reader had been trying to retroclaim points from Virgin Flying Club when they came clean about this rule.

Make sure that you choose Nectar points as your reward if you are booking Virgin Trains West Coast and using a mix of train operators.

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.)

Category

Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

jo says:

5 Feb5 February 10:48

thanks so much for heads up re marriott promo. nearly missed this with 10 mins remaining!
Cate says:

5 Feb5 February 12:15

OT as bits, I have an offer on my SPG’s dashboard of stay twice and pick up two nights at a 1-5 Category hotel free. It’s the same one Marriott held in November. I’m planning on doing two nights at the Sheraton Heathrow when I’m up there next.
- Rob says:
  
  5 Feb5 February 13:03
  
  Very nice. And SPG gives you credits for up to 3 rooms per night, so if you were mattress running you could book 2 rooms for the same night.
  - Cate says:
    
    5 Feb5 February 14:42
    
    Yes indeed! On this occasion though we have weekend flights out of Heathrow and they will come in handy as is. Shame the certificate’s only valid till end of June though, but being resourceful and adaptable is part and parcel of this hobby 🙂
  - Jeremy says:
    
    5 Feb5 February 18:22
    
    Very nice offer indeed.
    
    Anyone know how SPG targets people for its offers? I’m Platinum off 50 nights last year but no such luck on my dashboard 🙁
    - Nick says:
      
      5 Feb5 February 18:25
      
      You’ve answered your own question!! If you’re platinum because you stay a lot, you don’t need a nice offer such as a free night or two to convince you to spend more with them!
    - Jeremy says:
      
      5 Feb5 February 18:33
      
      Well that was just luck for work! This year I’ll need some persuasion… maybe I’ll let them know…
    - Cate says:
      
      5 Feb5 February 18:54
      
      Both MrCate and I signed up for the previous Marriott offer. He triggered his bonus night but I couldn’t trigger mine. Perhaps it’s picking people who didn’t receive the previous offer? I think having separate accounts helps sometimes – but it’s just an opinion. Alas he hasn’t been targeted for this SPG offer.
- Peter K says:
  
  5 Feb5 February 19:09
  
  Where is the SPG dashboard? Is it only on the app?
  I only use the website and have never dated at a Starwood hotel but use the points for Marriott stays. This might sway me however.
  - Jeremy says:
    
    5 Feb5 February 20:11
    
    I forgot how I find it earlier. Easier just to google ‘SPG Dashboard’ and sign in!
    - Jeremy says:
      
      5 Feb5 February 20:12
      
      found*
Lloyd says:

5 Feb5 February 18:46

Somewhat ironic timing of this article!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42945709
- James says:
  
  5 Feb5 February 18:52
  
  I was just about to make the same comment! Where is Save East Coast Rewards when you need him (or her)?!
- Rob says:
  
  5 Feb5 February 19:33
  
  It is a total bailout despite that article. The structure allowed them to make a lot of money in the early years but pay more back in later years. What a surprise …. they bail out before the big premium payments turn up.
  - Billy says:
    
    11 Feb11 February 04:52
    
    It’s actually not.
    
    DfT promised various upgrades when granting the franchise.
    
    When Stagecoach/Virgin won, DfT advised Network Rail of their promises.
    
    Network Rail advised that the upgrades weren’t possible.
    
    Stagecoach/Virgin remind DfT that their franchise committments were based on these upgrades, and er, we need to talk.
    
    Chris Grayling attempts to deflect DfTs incompetence with bluster.
    
    I’m no fan of privitisation but like it or not, the DfT have fked up. And VTEC, with the highest customer satisfaction scores (excluding open access) are taking the flack.
Paul says:

8 Feb8 February 15:44

OT: For those eligible for the Membership Rewards > Hilton 50% bonus, how long did the bonus element take to be awarded after the base points had been received?
Billy says:

11 Feb11 February 04:46

I definitely knew about the Virgin rule. So either they’ve hidden the T&C or people haven’t read them.