Virgin flying club points....

[alibeau]

I am at the point where I am thinking of 'cashing in' my flying club points and exchanging them for virgin holiday vouchers in order to pay for our Flextickets for Feb.......

I have approx 60,000 and DH has 20,000 so he could purchase his own flexticket and pay the difference and I could do the same for me and our girls.....

Do you think I am being hasty in cashing them in?? I just can't see a time when I will be able to 'bag a bargain flight' as we have (unfortunately) become accustomed to flying UC and I believe we would have to pay full fare in order to use the miles (never going to happen in a month of sundays....) and also I am unsure of when our next trip will be as DH would like to extend our family

Anyhoo, in brief I could save approx £400 off our flextickets which seems like a pretty good idea at the moment.......

Any thoughts??

Ali

 

[Pegasus928]

It sounds to me as though you may already have made your mind up.
If you can't see a point where you may be able to use them for a flight then I would do what you suggest and save yourself some money on tickets.
When do they run out - and is it unlikely that you will be returning to Florida before they do?

 

[wilma-bride]

The only thing I was going to add is that you wouldn't need to purchase them separately - you could just cash in your points and get the vouchers then use all the vouchers against one booking (as far as I'm aware).

TBH, I don't blame you - we are in the same boat at the moment, I have about 80,000 and DH has just over 20,000. Our flights are already booked for next October and we won't be going again (probably) until 2011 so I really can't see how else to use them. The saving off our VH booking for 2009 would be significant. A sensible way forward, if you ask me.

 

[alibeau]

The only thing I was going to add is that you wouldn't need to purchase them separately - you could just cash in your points and get the vouchers then use all the vouchers against one booking (as far as I'm aware).

TBH, I don't blame you - we are in the same boat at the moment, I have about 80,000 and DH has just over 20,000. Our flights are already booked for next October and we won't be going again (probably) until 2011 so I really can't see how else to use them. The saving off our VH booking for 2009 would be significant. A sensible way forward, if you ask me.

Ah yes you are right. I would need to 'cash in' our miles on each of our accounts individually but could make my purchase for our flextickets as one purchase......

DH needs 104 points to get him to 20k, can I buy such a small quantity? I know I could enroll him in a some type of 'scheme' to claim a few more points just wondering which would be the quickest and most straight forward

Ali

 

[alibeau]

It sounds to me as though you may already have made your mind up.
If you can't see a point where you may be able to use them for a flight then I would do what you suggest and save yourself some money on tickets.
When do they run out - and is it unlikely that you will be returing to Florida before they do?

Hi,

We joined the flying club in Jan this year so I guess those points will expire in Jan 2011........ Seems a long way off....... Like I say I guess I am just unsure that if/when the time comes that I will be able to get a good deal using them??!

Ali

 

[CustardTart]

Are you flying VA UC in Feb? If so, those miles will move you nearer to a UC return flight. However, I've never seen a 'miles only' UC flight to Orlando and I check regularly. So if you're thinking of saving your points for that, I don't think too many are available and it might be worth exchanging for VH vouchers. Same is true of Las Vegas, Dubai and many of the Caribbean destinations. On the other hand there are UC 'miles only' flights regularly available to other destinations.

We used miles for two UC return flights to LA in the summer - 200,000 miles saved us more than £4k! TBH I guard our miles jealously and am hoping to book a couple of return UC flights to China next year...

We joined the flying club in Jan this year so I guess those points will expire in Jan 2011........ Seems a long way off....... Like I say I guess I am just unsure that if/when the time comes that I will be able to get a good deal using them??!

In that case, Ali I definitely wouldn't exchange them. You've earned a reasonable amount of miles in a short time and they won't expire for ages - I'd hoard them!

 

[Claire L]

If you are flying in Feb and claiming FC miles then the three years is from the last transaction on the account, so that would be Feb 2012.

Claire

 

[Claire L]

Just a quick question of you have only flown once on FC how is there such as variation in points between you and your DH?

Claire

 

[alibeau]

If you are flying in Feb and claiming FC miles then the three years is from the last transaction on the account, so that would be Feb 2012.

Claire

Ah haaa.... I thought that youhad 3 years to use the miles from the date you earned them and if you didn't use them, I would lose them......

I suppose it sheds a bit of a differnt light on it if they would be valid for another 3 years from feb 09......

Oh how did I get onto this topic, I was supposed to be sorting our the car hire today

Ali

 

[Claire L]

To keep the FC account active just get an AMEX VA credit card and spend a bit every now and then on it, plus I think you get 3000 miles juct for opening the credit card account.

Claire

 

[alibeau]

Just a quick question of you have only flown once on FC how is there such as variation in points between you and your DH?

Claire

Because I normally go on holiday with my fancy man

Only kidding

I recommended that my Mum, Dad and DH joined and so earned miles for that as well as earning my own miles....... and I also signed up for a virgin credit card to pay for feb 09 flights......

Ali

 

[CustardTart]

Just a quick question of you have only flown once on FC how is there such as variation in points between you and your DH?

Claire

I was wondering that - aren't we nosy..? Tho' TBH my DH has a gazillion more than me as he travels on business and converts our Amex points to VA miles...

 

[PaulaSB12]

How do you go about buying tickets with virgin airmiles?

 

[CustardTart]

Ah yes you are right. I would need to 'cash in' our miles on each of our accounts individually but could make my purchase for our flextickets as one purchase......

DH needs 104 points to get him to 20k, can I buy such a small quantity? I know I could enroll him in a some type of 'scheme' to claim a few more points just wondering which would be the quickest and most straight forward

Ali

Yes you can buy them. And I earn additional points doing online research questionnaires...

 

[Claire L]

Because I normally go on holiday with my fancy man

Only kidding

I recommended that my Mum, Dad and DH joined and so earned miles for that as well as earning my own miles....... and I also signed up for a virgin credit card to pay for feb 09 flights......

Ali

Ah thats good, looking at ways to increase your miles

Claire

 

[CustardTart]

How do you go about buying tickets with virgin airmiles?

Just go on the VA website, log in and search for 'miles only' fares...

 

[Claire L]

Yes you can buy them. And I earn additional points doing online research questionnaires...

I do the same and have about 1500 miles from that! Plus I may convert my Hyatt points.

Claire

 

[CustardTart]

I do the same and have about 1500 miles from that! Plus I may convert my Hyatt points.

Claire

Me too! They all add up...

 

[alibeau]

To keep the FC account active just get an AMEX VA credit card and spend a bit every now and then on it, plus I think you get 3000 miles juct for opening the credit card account.

Claire

So if I just make the odd purchase on my Virgin AMEX card that will keep my account active and I won't ever lose my points?! If so I guess this might possibly sway me to hang on??!!

BUT, still unsure as to whether we would bag a bargain flight as if we are still lucky enough to fly UC after our Feb 09 trip, we fly from Manchester and so there are only a handful of seats on each flight and can't see them being 'on offer' at any point

Ali

 

[CustardTart]

So if I just make the odd purchase on my Virgin AMEX card that will keep my account active and I won't ever lose my points?! If so I guess this might possibly sway me to hang on??!!

BUT, still unsure as to whether we would bag a bargain flight as if we are still lucky enough to fly UC after our Feb 09 trip, we fly from Manchester and so there are only a handful of seats on each flight and can't see them being 'on offer' at any point

Ali

I just did a very quick search on the VA website and there are UC "miles only" flights to Orlando from Manchester available in December! I'm amazed. Like I say, I've never found any from Gatwick...