When Delta acquired a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic, lots of change was expected — such as reciprocal lounge benefits, and reciprocal mileage earn and burn.
Not a whole lot has been implemented yet, but Virgin has a page dedicated to the changes (HT: Head for Points).
Virgin Atlantic’s silver status isn’t the most rewarding, but it will provide some priority benefits when flying Delta in the very near future.
And though I don’t expect this offer to last, you can sign up for Virgin Atlantic’s program at the silver level.
Generally this should provide priority airport services, and I have to imagine that Delta will wind up waiving checked baggage fees for Virgin silvers.
Of course this will usually require entering your Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer number into your reservation. I suppose my strategy — assuming I didn’t want to collect Virgin miles — would be to leave the number in the reservation until check-in (and until bags are checked, if applicable) and then have the number changed to the frequent flyer account I preferred to accumulate miles with such as Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan.
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Very useful tip, thank you. Finally all those Virgin miles can go towards the only NYC-Athens, Greece direct route I’m aware of. And I can finally get back up to silver.
@William – Delta rarely releases award space so it’ll be tough to use Virgin miles for that.
Gary, any clue when we may be able to use DL miles to book VS? I sure hope it is pre-devaluation.
Thanks Gary! My pile of orphaned Virgin miles (earned from hotel and car rental partners) seems to have become exponentially more valuable this week with first the fuel surcharge change and then this.
@William, I believe Qatar Airways will start NYC-ATH route sometime this year.
Thanks for letting me know about this – looking at using Virgin Atlantic for a redemption with my SPG points.
Any chance that this could be status matched to other airlines?
At the very least, this might be helpful for NYC-LHR 13k + $98 award flights – using the Premium Economy check-in line.
i cannot use the link you provided..it says “We are unable to process your request.Please contact your local flying club office”
The link’s good, worked for me but now the system is down (per call center) and DH can’t get his status. Try again in a bit.
@Joey Another great tip. The idea of flying in something other than Delta on my regular Athens trip would be a dream. Thank you.
Are there any requirements to maintain Silver Status with Virgin – such as flying +25K miles per year?
@ASW, I believe its just 15 tier points in a year, and you can get 2 tier points a month with Virgin amex spend
@Joey, or not—http://www.thenationalherald.com/article/58947
Instant Silver !! Thanks Gary.
can you match this with united or delta?
it worked after trying 3 times,got instant Silver status but my membership number was changed..
You need to earn 15 TPs (Tier Points) per membership year (not calendar year). Read all about it here – http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/frequentflyer/membershipbenefits/tier_points/index.jsp
If this is the link I think it is (you didn’t include the source page) then it was meant to expire on May 31st – and of course was targetted at a specific group with a hefty membership fee. No guarantee sign ups after May 31st will stick.
I got the “Sorry, this account has already been registered.” error.. but log into my account and still only see Red status.
Worked. Thanks
Hello, and thank you for this great tip.
Virgin Atlantic Silver will equal what status level on Delta?
Thank you so much!
Thanks Gary. Just signed up and got silver.
Thanx Gary, well done.
So far, so good. I am now silver. Time will tell if it “sticks,” per Raffles observation. The upgrade on Heathrow Express as a silver would be timely. I have been contemplating going for the card anyway, so William’s note about the tier points I could earn per month is a bit of added incentive.
Thanks! Worked for me…instant Silver upgrade!
Gary – seems I recall you saying there was one transaction (specific hotel or car rental) you always credited to VS. Which one was it, and is it still true? Thanks.
I am a bit confused….when does the status expire?
Gary –
This also worked for me – thanks! I went into an existing Delta award reservation I have and wasn’t able to give the number though, there was no option for Virgin Atlantic. There was V Australia and Virgin Australia, but nothing else.
Any thoughts? Is this because it’s an award booking?
Worked for me as well!
Thanks Gary.
Worked for me! When does status expire? Do we need 15 or 40 points to hit gold now(eyes on the clubhouse)
Thanks Gary! This also worked for me. However, I am a bit confused as to how to change an existing Delta reservation so that I can use this Silver status..
Clicking the “at the silver level” did nothing for me (took me to a page asking for my membership number). But I clicked on the “a page dedicated to the changes” link, then “flying club” then “join” and after my registration was complete it showed me as Silver status! (although my confirmation email says “Red”, when I click through to my account, it again says “Silver”). Thanks Gary!
@Colleen Avis for 1k miles per rental even 1 day
Worked for me. Thank you. Please comment on whether we can use our new status for a status challenge or match on other airlines.
I have the same question as a few others- how do I apply this with Delta since they seem to only acknowledge Virgin Australia?
(It should also be noted that I went through the “long route” above bc after clicking the “join” link from the landing page of “at the silver level” I thought the page looked messed up. Might just be my browser)
Worked for me too. Many thanks Gary!
Thanks for the link and info, Gary!
I just did it and it worked says I have silver status till2014 I actually had an old virgin flyer account but i let it die as the benefits are minimal. Wonder if they will send out new card?!
good catch…hope it sticks, just got my VA amex so this is right on time.
The links just go to a page that asks to register your membership online…there is a link to sign up at the bottom, is that usable for the Silver status or is there supposed to be a special page?
Thanks, Gary! I’ll ask it again since no one seems to know the answer: Can we use this for a status match with DL?
Thanks,
@Ryan Yes, that is usable. I just used it, and my account reads “silver.”
@Gary Thanks a lot for the advice and free Virgin status! Signed up my whole family. I will try to match elsewhere and get temporary Gold on an AA Challenge as well.
@avidtraveler – I do not expect so. First, they don’t match Virgin as part of their status match program (http://viewfromthewing.com/2013/01/07/getting-another-airline-to-give-you-status-based-on-the-status-you-hold-with-your-current-carrier/) and no reciprocal status matching arangement has been announced. Second, they don’t status match other carriers in joint ventures or that they have investments in. This could be different but I see no reason to expect it to be.
Thanks mcdullhk88!
Thanks! Worked a treat.
I had no Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer number so I signed up for a new one, and I was given silver right off the bat as well. thanks!
Thanks, Gary! That makes sense. Thanks again for this awesome tip.
Link worked perfectly for me, thanks!