Virgin Miles + Money

[Sam1]

This seems too good to be true, so I just want to check I've got it right. We've used Virgin for the last two years, so I've just been having a look to see if using miles could save us much. Our possible dates have not been released yet, so I'm looking at the week before and it looks like we can save about £100 per person for a return flight. That seems a lot considering you only use 2000 per person to do it. Does this sound about right, or have I got it wrong?

Also, if that is the case, are they available all the time with this saving, or do I have to snap them up if I see them? I was waiting until the sale in January to see if we can get a good price for flights before even deciding if we were going again next year, we shouldn't but if I see a good price I know I'll be pressing the book now button and thinking about it later. If I can make a saving like that I'm tempted to book just after the flights have been released and evened out price wise, then think about accommodation later. I haven't got a clue about all this, or the best way to do it - do the miles plus money reduce at all in the sale along with normal priced flights, so would I be better waiting?

 

[Chilly]

I hope to this as well next year so i'm no expect as i've not done it yet but from what I know how much you save varies and there are not always seats available to book as M&M.

 

[flortlebap]

Difficult call. We fly PE so M&M is a pretty rubbish deal for our dates - a grand total saving of £84 for two people combined whilst losing 12,000 miles!

It's worth using comparison sites to see if the flights are any cheaper than direct through VA too.

 

[Sam1]

Thanks.

I was shocked when I saw the savings earlier, but they're not for our exact dates so things could change by the time our dates do come out in just over a week. They're coming in less than we paid this year, which I thought was a good price, so I got a bit excited!

We phoned up to see what the best way of using the points were and the lady did a couple of quotes based on the week before. At the moment we'd save even more by buying enough points to get reward seats one way and full price seats the other way. She did say that the reward seats usually go within the first two weeks of being released, so you have to be quick. She's given her extension number to call back when the return flight is released, so we're just going to have to wait and see. If we can save a bit more than we paid for this year, I'll be really happy.

 

[Chilly]

Thanks.

I was shocked when I saw the savings earlier, but they're not for our exact dates so things could change by the time our dates do come out in just over a week. They're coming in less than we paid this year, which I thought was a good price, so I got a bit excited!

We phoned up to see what the best way of using the points were and the lady did a couple of quotes based on the week before. At the moment we'd save even more by buying enough points to get reward seats one way and full price seats the other way. She did say that the reward seats usually go within the first two weeks of being released, so you have to be quick. She's given her extension number to call back when the return flight is released, so we're just going to have to wait and see. If we can save a bit more than we paid for this year, I'll be really happy.

Thanks for that tip, I might ring myself as I've got tons of points to use, my flights aren't out till Christmas though.

 

[maclondon]

like all things airline - it varys - by no particularly reasoned method.

but miles + money can be one of the best ways to use miles
as 'free' flights seems almost impossible to get
and upgrades only work on the flight codes that mean you are paying almost as much as the next class anyway.

i looked at using mine to pay part of my virgin holiday off
as i cant use them to upgrade

100,000 miles = £500 saving. which seems a bit lame

 

[Sam1]

Yeah it does look like the best way to use them if you're flying economy and you're not bothered about an upgrade. I'd rather save on the flight and have better accommodation, so economy is fine for me.

I can get reward flights, or miles plus money, at the moment for the week before we want to go, so we'll see what happens in a week or so. I think I might be hitting the UK school holidays, so I might struggle a bit to find a good price though. If not, I'll wait for the sales in January and see what the prices are like then. I'm not even supposed to be going, so we'll only be going if we can get a good price for flights. I'll report back in a week or two, hopefully the proud owner of e-tickets for a set of cheap flights!

Thanks for that tip, I might ring myself as I've got tons of points to use, my flights aren't out till Christmas though.

It's worth being prepared so you don't miss out. She suggested we use the miles booster to buy more miles with us having only just got back. I don't have a clue about how anything works, I'm just interested in the price at the end of it all.

 

[california37]

We have used miles plus money for our flight next august. Looked when flights are released and we could have saved £450 approx. looked on sun night and return flight was cheaper anyway by £60 per adult. Checked miles plus money and we saved £1000 altogether!!!! And it only used 6200 miles total!

We're travelling economy but have been told it is possible to upgrade ?which we normally do on return if there are seats available)

This means we have significantly cheaper flights and loads of miles left to use again. There is 2 adults, I child and 1 infant in our party. Means an adult fare has cost £600

M+M is not always available but the price does fluctuate along with discount so as long as you're happy to pay what they offer then book