Straight To The Points

Your quick reference to the deal. Scroll down for additional details!

DEPARTURE AIRPORTS
Atlanta (ATL)
Boston (BOS)
New York (JFK)
ARRIVAL AIRPORTS
London (LHR)
OPERATING AIRLINE
Virgin Atlantic
CLASS OF TRAVEL
Business
CABIN LAYOUT
1-2-1 (A350, A330-900neo)
1-1-1 (A333, B789)
SEATS AVAILABLE
4
DATE RANGE
January - May 2024

Book With

Premium only

Choose from one of the following award programs if you need to transfer points.

PROGRAM POINTS TRANSFER PARTNERS
Air France-KLM Flying Club
BOS: 71,000 miles
JFK: 75,000 miles
ATL: 91,500 miles
MIA/TPA: 96,500 miles
LAX: 112,000 miles
SFO: 117,000 miles
Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
Delta SkyMiles
One-way: 195,000 miles
Round-trip: 250,000 miles
Amex, Marriott
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Standard: 47,500 points
Peak: 57,500 points
Standard (LAX/SFO): 67,500 points
Peak (LAX/SFO): 77,500 points
Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
*These programs do not pass on surcharges

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Taxes & Fees

Premium only

Approximate taxes, fees and any surcharges applied to your award ticket.

DEPARTING TAXES & FEES
Delta SkyMiles (From US) $5.60
Delta SkyMiles (From LHR) ~$934
Air France-KLM Flying Blue (From US) ~$210-305
Air France-KLM Flying Blue (From LHR) ~$548
Virgin (From US) ~$877
Virgin (From LHR) ~$804

Flight Experience

Virgin Atlantic has a reputation for being a fun airline with friendly crews and an amazing lounge at London Heathrow. For the best inflight experience, try to find a date with award space on Virgin's A350-1000 or A330-900neo.

The A350 has a 1-2-1 cabin layout but, unlike reverse herringbone cabin arrangement, the 2 middle seats face away from each other and toward the window seats. Their A330-900neo has a staggered 1-2-1 layout.

The A330neo will also have two Retreat Suites which have a bit more space, including an ottoman that allows your traveling companion to dine with you. You can book one of the two Retreat Suites for £200 one-way.

The A330-300 and Boeing 787-9 cabins are arranged in a 1-1-1 layout. Row A will provide the most privacy as Rows G and K are angled toward each other.

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Available Dates

Premium only

A comprehensive list of dates with award space availability when this alert was sent.

Always check for available award space before transferring points.

ATL LHR
Jan 1-10, 12, 18-22, 28
Feb 2-6, 10-17, 22, 27
Mar 4, 12, 18, 25
Apr 1, 9-14, 17, 23
LHR ATL
Jan 1, 2, 8, 14-16, 21-23, 28-31
Feb 5, 6, 11-13, 18, 19, 27
Mar 6-10, 12-18, 22, 26
Apr 1, 8-11, 15, 18, 21
BOS LHR
Jan 4,7, 12-17, 22, 26
Feb 1, 4, 12-28
Mar 6-10, 12-18, 22, 26
Apr 1, 8-11, 15, 18, 21
May 4-7, 16, 18, 24-26
LHR BOS
Jan 4, 5, 7-31
Feb 1, 2, 4-24, 27-29
Mar 1, 5-8, 12-15, 19-21
Apr 4, 10-16, 19-22, 27-29
May 16, 22-28
JFK LHR
Jan 12-18, 22, 27
Feb 1-5, 7, 10, 12-18, 25
Mar 5, 8-11, 15-21, 27
Apr 2-29
May 2-10, 13-21, 25, 28
LHR JFK
Jan 1-25, 28, 30
Feb 4-7, 12-19, 22-27
Mar 6, 10-19, 24, 29
Apr 1-12, 18, 22, 25-28
May 5, 12-19, 25, 28

Best Ways To Book

Premium only

Most of the time, there are multiple options to book an award ticket. We have ranked the best options to optimize your points and miles.

Delta: Terrible Award Rate, Reasonable Taxes/Fees

Delta is the counter to Virgin. They have an awful award rate at 195,000 miles one-way but they don't pass on surcharges. If you're flying from LAX and have SkyMiles, you might prefer this to using Flying Blue.

Keep in mind that transferring Amex points to Delta will require you to pay the small excise fee of $0.0006 per point with a max of $99 per transfer.

Flying Blue: Best Award Rate + Cash Combo

Flying Blue presents the best option for booking for a few reasons: Award rates, Reduced carrier-imposed surcharges, Capital One 20% transfer bonus

Virgin Atlantic: Best Award Rate, Insane Surcharges Ruin It

Personally, I wouldn't bother with this one since the surcharges are so steep. If you need to be in Europe on a specific date and have Virgin points lying around, it might be worth it. But, I would look into booking a premium economy cash ticket and then upgrading with points first.

Ready to get started?

How To Book

Follow these simple steps to search for available dates and book your award ticket!

The fastest way to search is on Virgin's site.

  • Select origin/destination
  • Select one-way or round-trip
  • Select date(s)
  • Select number of passengers
  • Select Advanced search
  • Show Price in Points
  • Show Fares For: Upper Class
  • Click the arrow to search
  • To expand 7-day view to 30 days, select Price Calendar
  • To find Delta flights, Filter for Direct
  • Select a flight
  • Click Continue
  • Choose seats
  • Select review and pay
  • Log into your account to complete booking

Once you find space, you can run a search with Air France (or KLM) or Delta to confirm they see the space and book from there.

Final Thoughts

I've enjoyed my Upper Class flights on the A350 and A330neo but I'd give the edge to the A350 unless you pay extra for the front row of the A330neo.

Whether you visit London or jump off from their, this is a fun way to fly.

Happy booking!

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