Virgin Atlantic were first out of the starting blocks when it came to announcing their post-Christmas sale 6 days before Christmas! They’ve posted offers in all three cabins they operate: Economy, Premium, and Upper Class, with most destinations included. Deals are comparable to those being offer in BA’s winter sale. Virgin operate a modern fleet of 787, A330, and A350 aircraft, as well as small number of ageing 747s that they’re phasing out. Read about our trip to Los Angeles on a Virgin Atlantic 787 in Upper Class. Virgin also operates its renowned Clubhouse lounge facilities at Heathrow and Gatwick.
Destinations
We found these Upper Class return fares from London:
- Tel Aviv £1,141
- Washington DC £1,407
- New York £1,506
- Seattle £1,554
- São Paulo £1,992
We also found these Premium Economy fares:
- Tel Aviv £526
- New York £645
- Washington DC £693
- San Francisco £756
- Seattle £764
- Johannesburg £777
The Catch
Not all the flights are operated by Virgin Atlantic. Flights with VS flight codes can be operated by Delta, and now also KLM, so be sure to check the itinerary very carefully before booking. It would be a crying shame to leave the Virgin Clubhouse to find a Delta 767 waiting for you at the gate, or worse, find that you’re boarding a KLM 737 to fly to Amsterdam first!! We don’t rate Delta’s business class product.
Once you’ve made sure all your flights will be operated by Virgin, you can look forward to non-stop direct flights, an award winning Premium cabin service and, if you’re traveling in Upper Class, the excellent Clubhouse lounge.
Travel Dates
A lot of availability is showing between the advertised dates, although expect blackout periods around all the major UK holidays.
For Economy and Premium Economy, the sale fares are available on select dates between 24 Dec 2019 and 04 Jan 2021.
For Upper Class, the promotional fares are available from 4 February 2020 until 04 January 2021. BUT, the fares are only available when booked a minimum of 50 days ahead of travel.
Small Print
- Departure points: London
- Book by: 3 February 2020
- Travel until: 04 January 2021
- Minimum stay: 3 nights
- Weekend departures: Yes.
- Sectors: 1 each way
- Booking class: Z
- Stopovers: Permitted (2 free)
- Frequent flyer points accrual: Yes, 200% miles flown.
- Tier points accrual: Yes, 100%.
- Refundable: No
- Changes after booking: Yes, for a whopping £300 fee.
How to Book
The cheap fares do appear on Virgin’s website, although we find the Google Flights calendar feature easier to find the cheapest travel dates. Google provide direct links to complete the booking on Virgin’s site.
BG1 Tip
Virgin is never the cheapest of the transatlantic fares. Routes are quite limited and it’s slim pickings under £2k. Saying that, the date ranges for this offer are enormous, with itineraries extending all the way to 04 January 2020. If you’re a fan of the Virgin product, this Virgin Atlantic sale could be a good time to book, especially if you want to throw in a discounted hotel as part of a Virgin Holiday. We tend to wait for bargains that hit our price per hour flown threshold. A hefty £100 per flying hour means we won’t yet be sampling the Clubhouse or new Upper Class A350s. New year is when a lot of travel plans are made, so it’s unsurprising the airlines aren’t going rock bottom with their fares just yet. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for bigger discounts later in Q1 2020.
Also, consider paying for the flight using an American Express Membership Rewards or Virgin Atlantic card, so you can earn miles for the cash you spend too.
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