Virgin Air Miles -

[Oakmark]

Hi All

We are looking to use our air miles for our trip in August 2020, there are 5 of us traveling.

Last time we went it was a simple matter of ringing the Flying Club and they would advise what they could do, reading a few posts suggests some things have changed over the years with what's on offer and people booking oneway etc.

Could someone give me a rundown of how things work now and the best way to do things?

Cheers
Mark

[tinkerella123]

Originally Posted by Oakmark

Hi All

We are looking to use our air miles for our trip in August 2020, there are 5 of us traveling.

Last time we went it was a simple matter of ringing the Flying Club and they would advise what they could do, reading a few posts suggests some things have changed over the years with what's on offer and people booking oneway etc.

Could someone give me a rundown of how things work now and the best way to do things?

Cheers
Mark

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You can still ring virgin flying club, if you have a complicated booking then ringing flying club is a good idea, ie if you have upgrade vouchers to use etc, best advise is to download the Virgin app, you can see whats available and how many miles needed for that particular route, if you view on an iPad you can see what’s available within a 5 week window. As August is very popular I always book separate as to when they are released.

[suehen]

I texted the flying club with our prefer date, time and airport as I wanted to try and get 7 flights they text me back within 10 minutes to say they had 7 seats available and did I want to book them text back yes with all the names, booked 7 flights with airmiles and they sent a link for the payment of the taxes was done within 30 minutes by all by text. Our DD could not believe I had managed it get all 7 seats. Disney was booked 30 minutes later happy DD and very happy 2 Granddaughters. They sent confirmation about 2 minute later via email and the flights were already on there system so could book the seats straightaway.

[Oakmark]

Originally Posted by tinkerella123

You can still ring virgin flying club, if you have a complicated booking then ringing flying club is a good idea, ie if you have upgrade vouchers to use etc, best advise is to download the Virgin app, you can see whats available and how many miles needed for that particular route, if you view on an iPad you can see what’s available within a 5 week window. As August is very popular I always book separate as to when they are released.

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I didn't know you could do that, what happens if they not have a miles seat for the return? Does it cost more in taxes and costs?

[Oakmark]

Originally Posted by suehen

I texted the flying club with our prefer date, time and airport as I wanted to try and get 7 flights they text me back within 10 minutes to say they had 7 seats available and did I want to book them text back yes with all the names, booked 7 flights with airmiles and they sent a link for the payment of the taxes was done within 30 minutes by all by text. Our DD could not believe I had managed it get all 7 seats. Disney was booked 30 minutes later happy DD and very happy 2 Granddaughters. They sent confirmation about 2 minute later via email and the flights were already on there system so could book the seats straightaway.

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Wow!

If you could book mine that would be great.

[tinkerella123]

Originally Posted by Oakmark

I didn't know you could do that, what happens if they not have a miles seat for the return? Does it cost more in taxes and costs?

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It is possible that your return flight is not available, I have always succeeded, good thing about booking with miles is that you can amend or cancel for £35, with all your miles being returned, There is no different cost in taxes by booking separately. ( I believe there used to be a tax difference if booked separately but not anymore)

[Softy]

Originally Posted by tinkerella123

It is possible that your return flight is not available, I have always succeeded, good thing about booking with miles is that you can amend or cancel for £35, with all your miles being returned, There is no different cost in taxes by booking separately. ( I believe there used to be a tax difference if booked separately but not anymore)

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If you book 2 one ways there is still a difference in taxes/fees. Roughly £50 for Economy, £80 for premium and £250 for Upper. If you call to book the second flight you can get them to combine it with other and you shouldn’t have to pay the extra.

[Elise79]

My advice is still call them! They are usually very helpful.

They don't do combi fares anymore where you could book one way miles and one cash at a discounted rate as if you were booking a return which is a shame.

Miles bookings are really flexible - I changed ours several times for last summer

[tinkerella123]

Originally Posted by Softy

If you book 2 one ways there is still a difference in taxes/fees. Roughly £50 for Economy, £80 for premium and £250 for Upper. If you call to book the second flight you can get them to combine it with other and you shouldn’t have to pay the extra.

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It’s the combo fair that I was getting confused with then, still I would rather pay extra in taxes to get the reward flight I need.

[Oakmark]

Thanks guys some good advice.

I think I'll give them a call and do a dummy run, I know we have some companion tickets as well which might add more complexity.