Great Deal for Early Summer Trip to Europe: 50% Off Award Sale on Virgin Atlantic

As first flagged by OMAAT blog, Virgin Atlantic is currently having a 50% off sale on all awards for routes between the United States and UK. Only Virgin Atlantic flights (not the ones operated by partners) qualify, and the sale is valid through June 30th 2024. You have to book your flights by March 20th. Keep in mind that you will still pay the same fuel surcharges and taxes.

For those of you planning a summer trip to Europe, this can be a terrific opportunity. Yes, it’s unpleasant to have to pay fuel surcharges, but award prices are so dirt cheap, it actually makes sense in this particular case. I’m talking of course about economy seats, it’s a bit less of a no-brainer if you want to fly upfront.

Let’s look at my neck of the woods, aka flying from London to Tampa one-way:

That’s a pretty good deal, despite $300 in taxes, especially if you want to visit London anyway. Tampa doesn’t have that many direct routes to Europe, so this certainly is a promo worth considering. We paid 35k Avios+$150 per person, and I would argue that this is a  better deal despite higher fees. Of course, we are flying in the middle of July, so this sale wouldn’t be an option for us anyway. But if it was, I would be tempted to save almost 24K Avios per person in exchange for paying $150.

If you are flying from US to London, taxes will be considerably lower. Here is the price for 4 people on Tampa-London flight:

That’s 11,250 miles+ $153 per person, which is pretty good for a summer flight. The award rate will vary depending on what airport you are flying from. Here is JFK-London example:

Not bad, but not quite the smoking deal that Tampa route is.

Speaking of, if you have some wiggle room in your budget, it could make sense to splurge on premium economy, since it’s an overnight flight. Here is the price for four people:

 

This would be a hard pass for me, but everyone has different needs and priorities. There are many low-cost airline options in Europe, and you can see various combinations on Flightconnections.com  I’ve just booked a Wizzair flight from Krakow to London, and price for basic economy was only $65 per person. Very often you can do even better on some high-competition routes, like London-Paris etc.

I do feel this sale is worthwhile for economy flyers, and it highlights the fact that Virgin Atlantic program is not total garbage despite many reports to the contrary. That said, the best way to accumulate Virgin Atlantic miles is by collecting flexible points and transferring as necessary.

If you are just starting out, we recommend Capital One Venture Rewards card (our affiliate link). The offer is 75,000 Capital One miles after you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months, $95 fee  is not waved. Capital One points transfer to Virgin Red 1:1, and occasionally there are bonuses to be had.