NEWS & OFFERS: Up to 10,000 Virgin Points bonus and upgrades, Virgin’s new codeshare and Hilton adds two new iconic UK hotels

Extra perks and 10k bonus on trips to Vegas, NYC and Miami

Virgin’s latest travel offer brings together Virgin Red, Virgin Atlantic Holidays, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Hotels and Virgin Voyages to offer customers exclusive perks and the opportunity to earn 10k bonus Virgin Points at the same time. 

Members can choose from three holiday packages to New York, Miami or Las Vegas, with exclusive perks. The Miami package includes a cruise with Virgin Voyages. You can read my review here.

Highlights include: 

• Bonus Virgin Points:  Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club are rewarding holiday makers with a bonus 10,000 Virgin Points for every booking. On top of this, you’ll earn Virgin Points on flights with Virgin Atlantic and holiday packages at the usual rate of four points per £1 spent with Virgin Atlantic Holidays. 
• Dedicated Holiday Hotline: travellers can book their holiday with a dedicated concierge service.
• Waived Resort Fees: Daily resort fees at Virgin Hotels are waived with Virgin Red.  This is a perk well worth having as resort fees have become rife in the US and can add a considerable amount to your accommodation costs. 
   
• Additional perks include free room upgrades (subject to availability), daily food and beverage credit to spend at Virgin Hotels, free seat assignment on Virgin Atlantic flights seven days before travel and up to $500 bonus sailor loot* on board Virgin Voyages. 

Virgin’s exclusive travel perks are available for holidays booked by 7 April 2024 for travel on any date.  

Andrea Burchett, Chief Loyalty Officer and Managing Director for Virgin Red, says: “Virgin Red is the place where travel companies come together, so we’re delighted to partner with companies across the Virgin Group to offer our members the very best of Virgin travel. Whether you want to jet off to New York or Las Vegas, or relax onboard a Voyage in true Virgin style, book with Virgin Red for exclusive perks and earn Virgin Points at the same time – which can get you one step closer to your next holiday!” 

Here are the holiday packages you can chose from:

5-night Virgin Hotels New York   

• Fly: Virgin Atlantic from London Heathrow or Manchester to JFK. Virgin Points for the lead booker and free seat assignment seven days before departure. 
• Stay: Virgin Hotels New York City, NoMad. Free room upgrade to Chamber King (subject to availability), waived daily resort fee ($35 value per night), daily food and beverage credit ($25 per night). Total value for 5-night trip $300.   
• Plus: Pay with points plus money. Dedicated concierge line.   

5-night Virgin Hotels Las Vegas    

• Fly: Virgin Atlantic from London Heathrow or Manchester to LAS. Virgin Points for the lead booker and free seat assignment seven days before departure.  
• Stay: Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Free room upgrade to Chamber King (subject to availability), waived daily resort fee ($45 value per night).  
• Plus: Pay with points plus money. Dedicated concierge line.   

2-night hotel and 5-night Virgin Voyage Riviera Maya  

Miami • Cozumel – Playa del Carmen • Beach Club at Bimini • Miami  

• Fly: Virgin Atlantic London Heathrow to Miami, Virgin Points for the lead booker and free seat assignment 7 days before departure. 
• Stay: W South Beach (2 nights) – Fabulous Studio. 
• Sail: Virgin Voyages Mayan (5 nights) – Brilliant Suite Pretty Big Terrace, up to $500 bonus sailor loot on top of existing offers. 
• Travel window: All Carribean sailings until November 2025.
• Plus: Pay with points plus money. Dedicated concierge line.   

Find out more here.  

Virgin’s new codeshare

Virgin Atlantic and Kenya Airways have announced a new codeshare partnership agreement, providing greater access to Nairobi and beyond into East Africa.

The first phase of the agreement, which launched today, will allow customers booking through Virgin Atlantic to directly purchase flights on Kenya Airways’ Heathrow to Nairobi service. 

In turn, Kenya Airways customers will soon have the opportunity to connect via London Heathrow onto a number of Virgin Atlantic’s Caribbean destinations, including Barbados, The Bahamas, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Access to Kenya from the UK is now more accessible than ever before. From January this year, visitors from outside of Africa, including the United Kingdom, will only require an online authorisation to travel to Kenya, instead of a full visa. 

Hilton adds two new iconic UK hotels

Hilton has announced that it is to acquire the Graduate Hotels® brand, a small lifestyle brand based mainly in the US but also with two UK hotels. Graduate Hotels are expected to be available for booking via Hilton later this year and will participate in Hilton Honors. The hotels are situated in university towns, and each hotel is individual. In the UK, the famous Randolf Hotel in Oxford is part of the brand. 

Hilton will pay $210 million to acquire all rights to the Graduate brand worldwide, enter into franchise agreements for all existing and signed future Graduate Hotels. 

Each Graduate hotel is designed to reflect the unique character of its local university, offering the perfect setting for sporting events, reunions, graduations, campus visits and more. Since its inception in 2014, the brand has grown to span the United States and the United Kingdom, including locations in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Knoxville, Tennessee; Palo Alto, California; State College, Pennsylvania; and Oxford and Cambridge, United Kingdom, with new hotels opening soon in Austin and Dallas, Texas; Auburn, Alabama; and Princeton, New Jersey.