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Guide on redeeming Virgin Voyages and maximising your benefits
(Thanks to @Luca for providing me with the photos!)
The Virgin Group welcomed a new member to its family, Virgin Voyages, which in my opinion is a game-changer to collectors of Virgin points. For as low as 80,000 points you can treat yourself (and one companion) to a 7-day all-inclusive cruise in the Mediterranean or the Caribbean, which is probably more fun and valuable than ten hours in the sky.
I have finally decided to jump onboard, and booked myself a Mediterranean (departing from Barcelona) trip this August. I did my fair share of research and hopefully this post will help you understand the booking process and maximise your benefits.
The redemption is still live on Virgin Red but is “ending soon”. Coincidentally, Virgin has a points sale and you can buy just over 80,000 points for £945, which is enough to cover the cost.
[Redeem your voyage]
Once you’ve made the redemption on Virgin Red, an access key (code) should arrive at your mailbox within three days. With the access key you can pick your voyage on Virgin Voyages’ website and book. Virgin Voyages is still quite new to the market so availability tends to be pretty good. I strongly encourage you to redeem an access key as soon as possible and then you can chill and plan.
Due to airfare and other factors I opted for the Barcelona route. The Greek one is considerably more expensive, and is possibly more interesting due to it being a new route. With your access key you can book any of the three Sea Terrace cabins:
Value-wise you are getting ~5p per Virgin point which is incredible!
[Link Accounts]
Once you’ve booked you’ll be given a referral link, and if your family and friends book with it your accounts will be linked. You’ll both receive some “celebration perks” on board, which is anecdotally a bottle of bubbly.
You can also ask their customer service to link existing bookings. Note that it only works on the same cruise. If you are travelling on the August 13th Mediterranean route, feel free to use my referral link.
[Solo Sailor Promotion]
If you are travelling solo there’s a special promotion if you book by June 30th, which entitles you to a whopping $600 bonus credit!
It is an all-inclusive cruise but you can pay extra for things such as cocktails, specialty coffee and specialty menu. According to my friends though you don’t have to as the inclusive meals and drinks are already very good.
According to its terms and conditions free access key bookings are excluded from this offer. However a friend of mine was told by customer service that his redemption booking is eligible for the bonus credit. Well you never know…
[Sailing Club]
Most importantly, don’t forget to join the Sailing Club before your trip. If you qualify as a Sea Rover you are entitled to the following perks:
- Priority boarding
- $100 bonus credit
- $10 daily specialty coffee credit
- Free premium wifi
- Free laundry and pressing service
- $100 bonus credit if you top up $300
Becoming a Sea Rover is easier than you think through their status match initiative. If you already have Virgin Atlantic’s Gold status you can submit your application right away. Otherwise you need to status match to MSC Cruises first.
1. Make sure you have a qualifying membership from an airline or a hotel program. I used my Hilton Diamond card but there are many other options including Hyatt, Accor, Marriott and IHG.
2. Submit your application to MSC. I tried MSC’s UK site first but it wouldn’t let me enter the correct postcode, so eventually I had to use their US site instead.
3. Wait for the approval email to arrive in a couple of days. With the provided membership number you can log on and obtain a snapshot of your Diamond membership card.
4. Submit a status match request on Virgin Voyages’ website with your booking reference and MSC membership.
You’ll soon be notified of the outcome. My request passed very quickly and I could immediately see the perks added to my booking.
I hope you find this post useful, and I’ll report back once I’ve completed my trip!
Balance Booster: new cheap way of buying Avios
British Airways introduced Avios subscription last year which offered a new way of buying Avios at a relatively low cost. A new service has just emerged, which might be even sweeter.
It is called Balance Boost, and you can find it on BA’s shopping portal.
If you’ve been paying attention to IHG news, Balance Boost is very similar to what they introduced quite recently. Based on the amount of Avios you earned in the last 30 days, you can purchase 1x, 2x or 3x at a discounted price.
Avios that were bought, transferred from another member account or combined from your IB / QR account are excluded. Otherwise virtually all transactions are qualifying, including BA or partner flights, credit cards, hotel point transfers etc.
You get the best rate if boosting 3x – at 0.92p it is almost as good as you’ll ever get from BA’s official offers. Even better, all boosts in June and July earn an additional 10% bonus, reducing the cost further to just below 0.84p.
Your account address needs to be in the UK to see GBP rates. Otherwise you’ll be charged in USD or EUR at a slightly worse rate. You can buy a maximum of 300,000 Avios per year, after which the rate gets much higher.
Balance Boost is a solid new feature to purchase Avios, and if you can get some Avios flow into your account within the next one month and a half, e.g. through credit card sign-on bonus you may benefit a lot. The Economist offer is still ongoing, and you may earn a total of 60K Avios with Balance Boost.
Rocketmiles promotion: earn 5,000 United miles after the first stay
If you haven’t heard of Rocketmiles, they are an online travel agency for hotel bookings. Unlike its rivals they don’t really have a membership program, instead you earn miles or other reward currencies with airlines and loyalty programs that they’ve partnered with.
They also run lucrative promotions from time to time, especially to new customers. If you are a collector of United miles, here’s an opportunity for you: book your first stay by June 30 and earn 5,000 bonus United miles. This is in addition to the standard miles you earn, starting from 500.
The cheapest night you can find in London is just under £50, for 5,500 United miles:
Whereas it’s closer to the £20 mark in many Asian countries:
It is a brilliant way to purchase cheap United miles, although valid once only. I wouldn’t recommend booking via Rocketmiles in general, as they tend to be more expensive and you are not entitled to elite benefits or points as they are a travel agency.
United miles are very powerful and hard to come by for UK residents, so the deal is worth considering if you are already a collector.
Good offer: Virgin Atlantic selling points at 89p
Virgin Atlantic is selling their points at a historically low price, which may be worth visiting. You need to be a Silver or Gold member to get the best deal though.
Until November 18, you get a staggered bonus when purchasing Virgin points:
- 5,000 – 24,000 points: 15% / 20% bonus
- 25,000 – 69,000 points: 20% / 30% bonus
- 70,000 – 119,000 points: 40% / 50% bonus
- 120,000 points or more: 60% / 70% bonus
The second number is for Silver and Gold members, whereas the first is for everyone else. They’ve also increased the cap, so you can buy up to 200K points every year.
Virgin charges a flat £15 rate for every 1,000 points, and there’s a £15 handling fee per transaction. On the very top end you’ll be paying £3,015 for 340K points, which amounts to 0.887 per point.
Barring the occasional Miles Booster promotions (which isn’t on this time), this is the cheapest you can get for Virgin point. If you earn in a non-Sterling currency, for example USD, the deal is even more attractive given the recent GBP slump.
Virgin Atlantic is set to join Skyteam in the upcoming months so their point will potentially be worth more. However I wouldn’t take a punt right now, and will only purchase any points if I know where to spend them.
British Airways launching Avios subscription service
We are used to airlines and hotels selling miles and points, and it’s no secret that they generate a very respectable revenue stream. However, British Airways is the one to renovate here for going further and offering a subscription-based service.
You can access the offer page here. Basically you pay a fee monthly or yearly, and then you receive some Avios every month. You can choose from subscribing:
- Monthly with a three-month minimum term, or
- Yearly with a 12-month minimum term, and two-month free
Pricewise the annual plan makes more sense:
Obviously the unit price drops the more you buy, but the difference is negligible so just pick whatever amount that suits you best. You pay between 0.895 and 0.925p per Avios, which isn’t a bad deal.
Note that however, the Avios is deposited monthly instead of all at once immediately. This could be a major issue, as I definitely don’t commit to paying a big lumpsum right now for a slow payback in the next 12 months.
Hyatt selling points at 30% off
Hyatt has brought back its best-ever promotion for buying points. Until September 30th, you can enjoy 30% off when buying at least 3,000 points, and the annual cap is 55,000 points.
The promotion used to come in the forms of 25% off or 30% / 40% bonus in the past, so 30% off is as best as it gets.
However, GBP and EUR are extremely weak at the moment, which means buying points in USD may not be ideal. With the discount 10K Hyatt points cost $168, or £145.5.
Marriott selling points with a mystery bonus
Marriott is having another bonus offer if you are interested in buying some points.
You need to check your targeted offer here. The promotion ends July 15th, and you’ll earn a mystery bonus when buying at least 2,000 points.
From what I’ve gathered so far there are three possible offers:
- 35% bonus (26% discount), the effective price is $92.6 / £72.4 per 10K points
- 45% bonus (31% discount), the effective price is $86.2 / £69.1 per 10K points
- 55% bonus (35% discount), the effective price is $80.6 / £64.6 per 10K points
60% bonus is as far as Marriott has ever gone to, so it’s worth considering if you are targeted for the 55% bonus.
IHG Diamond card available in app, and 100% bonus for buying points
IHG has launched a new round of 100% bonus for buying points, which ends in April 14.
You can access the offer page here. The promotion may vary by account, and what I see is 100% bonus if I buy at least 15,000 points. Note that you should buy at least 26,000 points to get the best price, which is 0.5c per point.
Also IHG-related, their new program was delayed and rumours are the new launch date is April 11, or the coming Monday. It looks like some changes are already made to the IHG app – visit the Earning Summary page and rotate your phone, and you may see the updated member card showing Diamond status:
My friend is also seeing his status extended to December 31, 2023, but I’m not sure if it’s a bug. Hopefully it gets rolled out on Monday and we can learn more about the new benefits soon!