Published: 29 August 2026
This page is part of our Flying Blue Hub which pulls together all our articles on the loyalty programme of Air France & KLM
How to Book Virgin Atlantic Flights with Flying Blue Miles
For UK residents, one of the more attractive uses of Flying Blue miles is to redeem them for flights on fellow Skyteam member Virgin Atlantic.
This enables members to take direct long-haul flights from the UK, avoiding connecting in Amsterdam or Paris. As well as from Heathrow, Virgin also operates services out of Manchester and Edinburgh, making it even more attractive for those who live in Northern England and Scotland.
We analysed the scheme to see if using redeeming for Virgin Atlantic is a good use of your Flying Blue miles.
What Destinations does Virgin Atlantic serve?
Virgin’s route network is entirely long-haul and is focused around key US cities, the Caribbean, South Africa and India.
Destinations served by Virgin Atlantic from London Heathrow are:
- Africa: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lagos
- Asia: Bangalore, Malé (Maldives), Mumbai, New Delhi, Phuket (Thailand), Seoul
- Caribbean: Antigua, Bridgetown (Barbados), Montego Bay (Jamaica)
- North America: Atlanta, Boston, Cancun, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Toronto, Washington
In addition, Virgin serves Saint Vincent and Grenada – plus some seasonal flights to Antigua – as a tag-on to the Barbados flight.
Virgin Atlantic route map – London Heathrow
Destinations served by Virgin Atlantic from Manchester are:
- Caribbean: Bridgetown (Barbados)
- United States: Atlanta, Las Vegas, New York, Orlando
Destinations served by Virgin Atlantic from Edinburgh are:
- United States: Orlando
Virgin Atlantic route map – Manchester & Edinburgh
How many Flying Blue Miles do I need to redeem on Virgin Atlantic?
Whilst Flying Blue redemptions on Air France and KLM are dynamic and any seat is available as long as you have enough miles, this is not the case with booking Virgin Atlantic flights. The number of points needed for each route is not fixed and some flights may require more miles than others, depending on demand – although I have never seen excessively priced Virgin flights with Flying Blue.
The fewest number of Flying Blue miles required for a one-way redemption on Virgin Atlantic from the UK we could find are:
- Economy: 23,000
- Premium: 33,010
- Upper Class (Business): 67,500
These are all based on London to New York. Longer flights require more miles (although not excessively so).
How Much are the Taxes & Charges?
Taxes and charges vary according to the destination, distance and cabin flown. On a long-haul London – New York, taxes & charges for a return flight are as follows:
- Economy: £317
- Premium: £576
- Upper Class (Business): £728
Remember, a significant proportion of taxes & charges are for the UK departure (Air Passenger Duty) & US entry. Taxes & charges on one-way flights from the US to the UK are actually pretty reasonable:
- Economy: £68
- Premium: £120
- Upper Class (Business): £180
If you can use some other airmiles to get a one way flight to the US, using Flying Blue miles for a flight on Virgin Atlantic can be an extremely attractive way of using your miles.
What is the availability like?
The BIG challenge with using Flying Blue miles for Virgin Atlantic flights is finding availability. The KLM and Air France websites are slow to use, you cannot only search for direct flights so every day has a significant number of indirect options – plus the calendar only shows 7 days at a time.
I spent a few hours looking at availability and believe that reward flights on Virgin Atlantic using Flying Blue miles are only potentially available if there are “saver” points flights on offer to Virgin’s own Flying Club customers. However, this does not necessarily mean that you can book the seats with Flying Blue points – just read it as if there are no saver flights available to Virgin’s own customers, you are probably not going to be able to find availability with your Flying Blue miles.
Virgin’s own Reward Flight Finder can be one place to start (saver seats are shown with red tags) but I would recommend also checking out vseats.io – this site shows all Virgin Atlantic’s own award availability for the next 12 months, all you need to do is find your route and sort it by the number of Virgin points required for your preferred cabin – saver seats should be the lowest values. Then go to the KLM or Air France website or app (I prefer the app as it is less “buggy”) and search for reward availability there. Note that a different amount of Flying Blue miles will be required, just use the lowest number of Virgin Points to ind availability.
Be warned that it can take some time to find Virgin Atlantic flights using Flying Blue miles but if you do, you can get some good value out of them, plus you can also fly directly from the UK.
Our Tip
Don’t start by endlessly searching Flying Blue. First use Virgin Atlantic’s Reward Flight Finder or vseats.io to identify dates with low-priced Virgin reward seats. Then search those specific dates through Flying Blue.
What benefits do you get when flying on Virgin Atlantic using Flying Blue miles?
| Feature | Economy | Premium | Upper Class (Business) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checked Baggage | 1 × 23kg | 2 × 23kg each | 2 × 32kg each |
| Hand Luggage | 1 × personal bag + 1 × hand bag | 1 × personal bag + 2 × hand bags | 1 × personal bag + 2 × hand bags |
| Seat Selection | Free at check-in | Free at check-in | Free at check-in |
| Sky Priority | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Lounge Access | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Do Flying Blue Status Benefits Apply on Virgin Atlantic?
Yes. As Virgin Atlantic is a SkyTeam member, Flying Blue Elite members can receive SkyTeam benefits when flying with Virgin Atlantic.
In particular, Flying Blue Gold and Platinum members benefit from free seat selection from booking and lounge access with a guest, even when travelling in Economy or Premium. This includes access to Virgin’s fantastic Heathrow Clubhouse, below.
Is it better to use Flying Blue miles on Virgin instead of Air France or KLM?
On a comparison of London Heathrow to New York JFK, we found that, assuming the lowest mileage reward flights were available, Virgin Atlantic required fewer Flying Blue miles in Economy and Premium, although Air France/KLM required fewer miles in Business Class.
In addition, taxes and charges were lower on Virgin Atlantic in all three cabins. Crucially, the Virgin Atlantic flight was also direct from Heathrow, whereas Air France and KLM require a connection in Paris or Amsterdam.
| Virgin Atlantic | Air France / KLM | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabin | Lowest FB Miles | Taxes & Fees | Lowest FB Miles | Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 46,000 | £317 | 50,000 | £388 |
| Premium | 66,020 | £576 | 80,000 | £674 |
| Upper Class (Business) | 135,000 | £728 | 120,000 | £866 |
How to book
You can book reward flights on Virgin Atlantic using Flying Blue miles online via either the KLM or Air France websites. Log into your account, go to the flight booking page and move the slider over to “Book with my xx,xxx Miles”
Our Take
For UK-based Flying Blue members, Virgin Atlantic reward flights are definitely worth considering before automatically booking with Air France or KLM.
The biggest advantage is convenience. Instead of flying from the UK to Amsterdam or Paris before starting your long-haul journey, Virgin Atlantic allows you to fly directly from Heathrow – and on selected routes from Manchester and Edinburgh.
Our London to New York comparison also found that Virgin Atlantic required fewer Flying Blue miles in Economy and Premium when the lowest-priced reward seats were available, while taxes and charges were lower across all three cabins.
The catch of course, is availability.
Finding Virgin Atlantic reward seats through Flying Blue can be frustrating and requires considerably more flexibility than booking an Air France or KLM reward flight. We found that identifying Virgin’s lowest-priced saver reward dates first and then checking those dates through Flying Blue was much more efficient than searching blindly through the Air France or KLM websites.
There is potentially particularly good value when flying one way from the US to the UK. Taxes and charges are much lower than on a return journey originating in Britain, and Flying Blue redemptions can provide a direct Virgin Atlantic flight home without the need to connect in Amsterdam or Paris.
So we would not recommend transferring points into Flying Blue specifically for a Virgin Atlantic flight until you’ve confirmed availability. But if you already have Flying Blue miles and can find a Virgin reward seat at the lower mileage levels, it can be an excellent way to use them.
