Virgin flying points
- Thread starter agnes
- Start date
My Google Fu is weak.
Seems it's not that many then. 42,000 needed for a single to San Fran. I'll speak to virgin to see if I can use the points and pay the rest.
Thanks
If it's anything like BA you'll pay tax on it too. So I have 150k avios points but it only makes sense to use their reward saver fares (X,XXX points + £35 return). You can almost always find a flight for the same price as the tax when flying long haul.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
The tax is the same if you're in economy or First, though. We managed to fly First to Rio last year for about 150k Avios + Companion voucher.
No it's not. Premium economy or above are the same but economy is less.
It cost me 150,000 miles to get 2 x return upper class seats to Boston from Heathrow, plus £880 as an example and this was booked 3 days before I flew and only came open as the aircraft wasn't full. You have to use a lot of miles to get a seat upgrade and really it's the tier points and gold status when you start to get somewhere, before that you are just a line on a spreadsheet.
Thanks chap, if it doesn't cost him much to transfer them, I might do that. Help with stocking up on points. Moving to San Francisco so will be flying back and forth a lot.
I do that flight 3 or 4 times a year and it's always one of the hard ones due to time on flight (11 hours) and the change in time zone (8 hours) so I always struggle to acclimatise. Great place to live though. I have the option to live out there should I wish but I guess at 49 I am now of the age where I like the life I have built in England.
Oh really? Awesome! I'm heading out with my partner, her company is sending her to start up a new development team (she's a senior software engineer) in their Alameda office. So that's where we'll be situated. We're both in our 20's (just! haha) so it's perfect timing. I'll be getting a L2 visa off of her L-1B. She's moving over in January, I'll follow suit several months after once I've got rid of the cars and closed off a few loose ends.
We're toying with getting a GC at some point, but we'll see how it goes.
As for the flight, that sounds like hell, we're both over 6' so sruggle with cattle class. So buying business class is going to be essential I think.
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Virgin I seem to recall use a 340-600 and 747 on that route. I would do anything you can to ensure you are at worst Premium Economy and ideally Upper Class if you are with Virgin. It is a long flight as said and 11 hours in Virgin Economy is my idea of hell (I've done it!) and Premium makes it a little better but for me Upper Class is where I'd aim if you can afford it. I am 6'1 tall so appreciate the need for space. I actually find Club World with BA better than Virgin Upper class too, I just find the bed comfier.
[TW]Fox;30218629 said:
It's ghastly on a long haul flight. It has poor leg room, poor seat recline angles , uncomfy seats after 2 hours (numb bum = fidget factor 10), narrowish seats and it's full of smelly people who fart lots (to be fair I do far lots but I have less people around me). You are wedged in and it feels horrible, even more so on the 747 up top unless you can get the front row of seats just behind the Upper Class snooze zone, but then those seats are narrow as they have screens the arms of a normal economy seat.
Row 75 upper deck on the 747 is the best economy seat on the Virgin plane from Heathrow as you have, I kid you not, 8 feet of leg room.
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Good to know, I've got a bunch of points with BA, might stick to BA then.
I flew 1st class with Virgin to Barbados to and from, the beds were JUST big enough for me, 6'2". Had a couple of inches spare, if that. Wasn't incredibly comfortable, but I was able to stretch out which is the important thing. However, it's spoilt me and any flight for more than 5 hours, economy simply isn't going to cut it.
I flew 1st class with Virgin to Barbados to and from, the beds were JUST big enough for me, 6'2". Had a couple of inches spare, if that. Wasn't incredibly comfortable, but I was able to stretch out which is the important thing. However, it's spoilt me and any flight for more than 5 hours, economy simply isn't going to cut it.
That's Upper Class in Virgin speak, so it compares with Club World on BA. I don't find I can sleep on a Virgin plane even with a bed. They are a little bit banana like and not that comfy either and also I find many Virgin aircraft a bit, well, scutty and old. The new Dreamliners are nice, but their 340/747 fleet feels tired unless it's been updated. I flew Club World 2 weeks back from Africa on the new (and superb) 380 on the top deck. What a plane, quiet, smooth compared to anything else Ive been on and comfy. Fairly new but I preferred the Club World bed as it is straighter and comfier.
