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Virgin Red just launched a new buy-points promotion, allowing members to buy Virgin Points with up to a 70% bonus. When maximized, you can grab points for as little as 1.47¢ each, or perhaps even cheaper if you're based in the United Kingdom. This promotion will expire on December 31, 2025. You can use these points for all kinds of things, including flights booked through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
Here's a look at when it makes sense to buy Virgin Points.
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Buy Virgin Points Key Terms
- This Virgin Red 70% bonus offer is available through 11:59 p.m. GMT on December 31, 2025.
- Virgin Red/Flying Club members can buy up to 200,000 points per year with this promotion (before the bonus).
- Virgin Red sells points in increments of 1,000.
- You must purchase at least 5,000 points to receive the minimum bonus (20%).
- Purchase at least 125,000 points to unlock the maximum bonus (70%).
- For the first 14 days after purchasing, you may request a refund if you haven't redeemed any of the purchased points. After the initial 14 days (or after redeeming any of the purchased points), the transaction is non-refundable.
- All transactions for buying Virgin Points incur a $22 handling fee.
- Virgin Red deposits purchased points within 24 hours of completing the purchase.
- You can find all the terms and conditions here.
Data points from AwardWallet users show that points purchases arrive within a day, so transfers meet the terms and conditions, but aren't necessarily instant.
And you should keep in mind that you can link your Virgin Red and Flying Club accounts by adding your Flying Club number in the “Link accounts” section of your Virgin Red account.
Cost to buy Virgin Points
This is a tiered promotion, so you'll receive different bonus amounts depending on the number of points you decide to buy:
- 1,000–4,000 points: No bonus (as low as 3.05¢ each)
- 5,000–24,000 points: 20% bonus (as low as 2.16¢ each)
- 25,000–69,000 points: 40% bonus (as low as 1.81¢ each)
- 70,000–124,000 points: 60% bonus (as low as 1.57¢ each)
- 125,000–300,000 points: 70% bonus (as low as 1.47¢ each)
Members can purchase a maximum of 300,000 points before the bonus, up from the usual 200,000 maximum Virgin typically allows. Even better, Virgin is resetting the annual cap for any members who have already bought Virgin Points. That means you can buy another 510k Virgin Points during this promotion, even if you bought points earlier in 2025.
Purchasing 200,000 points with this 70% bonus will yield a total of 510,000 Virgin Points for $5,000. Factoring in the $22 handling fee puts the total at $5,022. That equates to a value of 1.48¢ per point.
To get the optimal purchase rate, you'll need to buy 300k points + 70% bonus for $7,500 plus the $22 handling fee. That's a total of 510,000 points for $7,522 — which barely rounds down to 1.47¢ per point.
Also, note that Virgin Atlantic will base your pricing on where your account is registered. Pricing for U.K.-based customers tends to be much cheaper (even after factoring in the exchange rate) than those paying in other currencies.
Why can't I buy Virgin Points?
One quirk members have run into is the inability to buy Virgin Points without any prior account history. That means that if you haven't earned or redeemed a single point, you will most likely run into this notice:
Thankfully, there's a quick fix for this. Simply make a small points transfer to your account, and voilà! Virgin is a transfer partner of several of the major transferable points currencies. So, that means you can make a minimum transfer from one of the following currencies and gain the ability to buy Virgin Points:
A Note on Buying Points and Miles
At AwardWallet, our primary goal is to show people how to get the best value for their hard-earned points and miles. Likewise, we evangelize the power of using the right card for every purchase. This maximizes your earning potential and builds your stash of points organically through everyday purchases. This means we're not typically proponents of buying points or miles — we prefer to earn them for free!
However, like any good rule, there are exceptions. If you're just short of your next Virgin Atlantic award redemption, buying the last few Virgin Points could be cheaper than paying cash for the flight. Moreover, if you (or an employer) plan to pay cash for an expensive ticket, buying enough Virgin Points for an equivalent reward redemption could mean saving a lot.
Situations Where Buying Virgin Points Makes Sense
Before 2021, we could have filled this section with dozens of fun business-class sweet spots, often featuring Delta flights. Unfortunately, in early 2021, Virgin Atlantic quashed many of our favorite Delta premium-class partner redemptions. Virgin further devalued more Delta flights in December 2023 and then took the axe to one of the best Delta One sweet spots in July 2024.
Don't despair, though. Virgin Points can still offer outsized value in several situations. But, as noted in the above-linked devaluation posts, you may have to fly economy with Delta to find good value when redeeming Virgin Points.
Short-haul domestic U.S. flights in Delta economy
One of the best deals for Flying Club members is booking short-haul domestic Delta flights for just 7,500 Virgin Points. That might seem like a niche use, but AwardWallet recently dug into this and found 450+ Delta routes you can book for 7,500 points!
- Mileage rate: 7,500 points + $5.60 taxes/fees each way
- Cost of buying 8,400 Virgin Points (with 20% bonus): $197 one-way
- Cost of buying 7,500 Virgin Points at 1.47¢ per point: $111 one-way
New York–Manchester in Virgin ‘Upper Class' (business class)
Thanks to Virgin Atlantic's new dynamic award pricing, you can now fly across the Atlantic for as few as 6,000 points in economy or 29,000 points in Virgin Atlantic Upper Class. If you buy Virgin points at the optimal 1.47¢ per point, a 29k business class award only costs $428 of purchased points. Add in taxes from $583 one-way, and you can pay as little as ~$1,010 all-in for a business-class award to England!
- Mileage rate: 29,000 points + $583 taxes/fees each way
- Typical cash price: $4,480 round-trip
- Redemption rate: 5.71¢ per point
- Cost of buying 32,500 Virgin Points (with 40% bonus): $647 one-way
- Cost of buying 29,000 Virgin Points at 1.47¢ per point: $428 one-way
London–Mumbai in Virgin ‘Upper Class' (business class)
- Mileage rate: 23,000 points + $606 taxes/fees each way
- Typical cash price: $9,924 round-trip
- Redemption rate: 10.1¢ per point
- Cost of buying 24,000 Virgin Points (with 20% bonus): $522 one-way
- Cost of buying 23,000 Virgin Points at 1.47¢ per point: $339 one-way
London–Seoul in Virgin & Air France business class
- Mileage rate: 112,000 points + $624 taxes/fees ($269 taxes/fees from Seoul to London) each way
- Typical cash price: $8,466 round-trip
- Redemption rate: 3.4¢ per point
- Cost of buying 112,000 Virgin Points (with 50% bonus): $1,750 one-way
- Cost of buying 112,000 Virgin Points at 1.47¢ per point: $1,652 one-way
New York–Tokyo in ANA first class
This has often been touted as the greatest sweet spot in all of award travel. Period. Unfortunately, Virgin recently devalued its ANA first-class award flights. It still stands as a good deal, but with a devaluation of up to 42% in some cases, the label as the greatest sweet spot in all of award travel has taken quite a hit.
But it's still worth booking. One of the highlights of ANA's first class is the Suntory Hibiki 21 whiskey served on the London, Frankfurt, and JFK routes. For 170,000 points, Flying Club members can book themselves from the East Coast to Japan in ANA first class round-trip. That's still one heck of a deal.
Plus, Virgin Atlantic allows members to book one-way awards on ANA for half the round-trip price. That means first-class awards from the U.S. East Coast to Japan will cost only 85,000 points!
- Mileage rate: 85,000 points + $454.41 taxes/fees each way (170,000 points round-trip)
- Typical cash price: $21,931 round-trip
- Redemption rate: 12.6¢ per point
- Cost of buying 171,000 Virgin Points (with 60% bonus): $2,697 round-trip
- Cost of buying 170,000 Virgin Points at 1.47¢ per point: $2,507 round-trip
To book ANA awards with Virgin Points, follow these steps:
- Search United.com, Seats.aero, or ExpertFlyer for ANA award availability.
- Once you've found availability, note the dates and flight numbers.
- Call Virgin Atlantic (800-365-9500) and provide them with the dates and flight numbers.
- Once the agent has confirmed award space, transfer points to your Flying Club account. (This excludes Marriott since Bonvoy–Virgin transfers can take up to two days).
- Pay for the award ticket plus the taxes and fees.
Virgin Red Buy Points History
We have compiled a list of former Virgin Red promotions for buying points. As you can see, this promotion has been alternating between 1.57¢ and 1.48¢ apiece over the last few bonuses. That makes this current bonus a hair better thanks to the higher 300,000-point purchase limit:
| Promotion Ended | Max Bonus/Discount | Min Cents per Point |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 70% Bonus | 1.47 |
| 2025-10-12 | 70% Bonus | 1.48 |
| 2025-07-18 | 60% Bonus | 1.57 |
| 2025-06-23 | 70% Bonus | 1.48 |
| 2025-03-07 | 70% Bonus | 1.48 |
| 2024-11-06 | 70% Bonus | 1.48 |
| 2024-08-04 | 60% Bonus | 1.57 |
| 2024-07-07 | 70% Bonus | 1.48 |
| 2024-03-31 | 70% Bonus | 1.48 |
| 2023-12-31 | 70% Bonus | 1.48 |
| 2023-10-24 | 60% Bonus | 1.57 |
| 2023-10-03 | 70% Bonus | 1.48 |
| 2023-09-18 | 50% Bonus | 1.68 |
| 2023-07-31 | 60% Bonus | 1.57 |
| 2023-03-31 | 70% Bonus | 1.48 |
| 2022-12-31 | 70% Bonus | 1.48 |
| 2022-11-18 | 60% Bonus | 1.57 |
| 2022-03-11 | 70% Bonus | 1.6 |
| 2021-12-21 | 70% Bonus | 1.6 |
| 2021-08-14 | 70% Bonus | 1.6 |
| 2021-04-30 | 50% Bonus | 1.81 |
Maximize Your Purchase
If you decide to buy Virgin Points, you want to use the right credit card to increase your earnings. Unfortunately, this won't count as an airfare or travel purchase on your credit card. That's because the sale is processed by Points.com. Thus, you should use one of these credit cards:
- Any credit card where you're working on a sign-up bonus right now. These are the best welcome offers available right now.
- Any credit card with perks you can unlock through spending, such as hotel free night awards, hotel elite status, or airline elite status.
- Your best credit card for everyday spending, such as the Citi Double Cash® Card or Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.
- Earn 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
- 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles on all other purchase
- Fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® (up to $120)
- No foreign transaction fees
- $95 annual fee
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment
- 5X miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per dollar on all other purchases
Related: Which Credit Card Should You Use to Buy Points and Miles?
Bottom Line
Virgin Red is offering up to a 70% bonus when you buy points through December 31, 2025. If maximized, you can grab up to 510,000 Virgin Points for as little as 1.47¢ each — or maybe even cheaper if you purchase in GBP.
One of the best ways to unlock top value for your points is on award redemptions through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Virgin Atlantic offers many excellent sweet spots. And when Virgin Atlantic joined SkyTeam in March 2023, it added more than a dozen new partners. Then, Virgin Atlantic adopted dynamic award pricing, decreasing the lowest rates on its own flights. For several of these flight options, buying points for 1.47¢ provides a significant discount compared to paying the cash rates.
If you see yourself booking a high-value Virgin Atlantic award soon, you may want to consider buying now to lock in this price.
Would you buy Virgin Points for 1.47¢ each?
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