Virgin Atlantic is offering 20% off economy and premium economy award redemptions on bookings made by September 23 (there are no restrictions on travel dates as long as award space is available).

That makes East Coast – London economy awards just 28,000 miles round trip but taxes and fees do total ~ $500.

At the beginning of the year they offered 25% off something they also offered at this time last year. (Three years ago they even offered 50% off via a 2-for-1 sale.)

There are fuel surcharges added to award tickets. But those have been reduced for economy awards.

For the economy passenger that has a lot of Virgin miles, considering there aren’t a ton of Great Uses of Virgin Atlantic miles, there is some value (offset by taxes and fees).

Virgin Atlantic is a points transfer partner of both American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. However even with this discount I wouldn’t consider trading those points currencies for this redemption given the taxes and fees on the award.

Terms and conditions:

Offer valid September 9, 2015 through September 23, 2015.

1. Flying Club Reward flights are subject to the payment of applicable taxes, charges, fees and surcharges. The exact amount will be advised at the time of booking online or via our Contact Centres.
2. Offer valid for travel in Economy Class and Premium Economy Class only. Any existing promotion based on membership tier is excluded from the discount.
3. This offer is for full mileage reward seats only, and cannot be combined with Miles Plus Money fares.
4. CombiFares are permitted.
5. The 20% reduction in mileage offer can be booked on different routes as long as both routes are included in the promotion e.g. London – JFK and Boston to London.
6. Once the booking has been ticketed, amending the route is not permitted.
7. Date changes can be made (normal charges apply).
8. Credit card upgrades can be applied to this offer.
9. All Virgin Atlantic Reward seat travel is strictly subject to availability. Some flights may have no availability on certain routes, or on popular dates e.g. Weekends, school and public holidays.
10. Passengers are not entitled to earn Flying Club miles or tier points.

Flying Club Reward flights are subject to the payment of applicable taxes, charges, fees and surcharges. The exact amount will be advised at the time of booking either via our website or contact centre.

(HT: PointsCentric)