Virgin Atlantic to launch a Chinese joint venture with China Eastern

Virgin Atlantic announced yesterday that its Heathrow to Shanghai service is to be folded into the revenue-sharing joint venture arrangement between Air France KLM and China Eastern.

In practical terms, this means:

The Virgin Atlantic Shanghai service will continue as usual (it has just celebrated its 20th anniversary)

Virgin Atlantic will codeshare on the daily China Eastern services to Shanghai (one departure from Heathrow and one departure from Gatwick)

Virgin Atlantic will codeshare with China Eastern on domestic Chinese routes, allowing passengers to through-ticket to destinations beyond Shanghai

China Eastern will become a Virgin Flying Club earn and spend partner

Subject to regulatory approvals, the joint venture will launch in Spring 2020.  It is not clear if China Eastern will move from Heathrow Terminal 4 to Heathrow Terminal 3 as part of the deal, which would allow its customers to access the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse and other facilities.

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.)