OFFERS: Collect Double Avios with Avios Hotels, Virgin Buy Points Bonus & Vietnam Airlines Status Match

Collect Double Avios with Avios Hotels

Currently, if you book a hotel through Avios Hotels you can collect 10 Avios per £1 spent. This is being boosted to 20 Avios per £1 spent on stays booked by 24th February 2025.

This has some very good Avios earning potential and Avios Hotels has more than 300,000 properties available to book. Say you spend £5000 on a hotel booking you will earn 100,000 Avios. Which is enough for a Return in Premium Economy to New York.

To be eligible for the offer, you obviously cannot pay using Avios and must use a card, so you can’t earn the extra Avios if you are booking a redemption stay. It isn’t clear what the stay by date is, but from the wording on the title of the promotion, it appears to run throughout 2025.

To take a look at the offer, visit the Avios website here, or through the app.

Virgin Red and Virgin Flying Club up to 70% Point Bonus

Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club have launched a promotion for customers to boost their points balance with a bonus offer of up to 70% when buying or gifting Virgin Points. The promotion runs from 5 February to 7 March 2025

The bonus structure is as follows:

• 5,000 – 24,000 points → 20% Bonus
• 25,000 – 69,000 points → 40% Bonus
• 70,000 – 124,000 points → 60% Bonus
• 125,000 – 200,000 points → 70% Bonus

Virgin Points can be purchased in increments of 1,000, and Virgin Red has now doubled the annual purchase limit to 200,000 points. With the bonus applied, buying the maximum 200,000 points would net 340,000 Virgin Points which is enough for a three-night stay at Sir Richard Branson’s Swiss mountain retreat, The Lodge, with points left over.

This will cost you a cool £3,000, but that does work out at 0.88p per point which is a good deal, not exceptional though. We would really only recommend buying the points if you have a specific redemption in mind where you can compare the cash price versus points price in real time. 

Buy your Virgin Points here.

Vietnam Airlines Status Match

In a time when all we can talk about is our British Airways heartbreak and the ongoing search for status matches, we have another interesting opportunity to discuss. Vietnam Airlines, a member of SkyTeam, is currently offering a status match to elite members of British Airways and many other airlines.

If you’ve been considering a shift to SkyTeam, this could be an excellent opportunity to secure elite perks without the usual flying requirements. We’ve extensively covered the Flying Blue status match, which is still running (for now), but it’s unclear how long it will last. So, here’s why a Vietnam Airlines status match with their Lotusmiles program might actually be the better option for you.

Easier to Qualify for Elite Status

A status match with Vietnam Airlines’ Lotusmiles can give you instant SkyTeam Elite or Elite Plus benefits without needing to complete the full qualification requirements.

Superior Lounge Access for SkyTeam Elite Plus

Matching to Lotusmiles Platinum (SkyTeam Elite Plus) grants you access to all SkyTeam lounges, even when flying economy. A major perk is that Delta Sky Clubs in the US—which Flying Blue Silver or Gold members do not get access to—are included.

Cheaper and Easier Award Redemptions

Lotusmiles typically offers lower redemption rates for premium cabins than Flying Blue, particularly for long-haul routes. Since Flying Blue uses dynamic pricing, award flights can be very expensive at peak times, whereas Vietnam Airlines’ pricing tends to be more predictable.

Lower Thresholds for Requalification

Once you’ve secured status, requalifying with Lotusmiles is generally easier than with Flying Blue, which requires higher spending or more flights to retain status.

Enhanced Upgrade & Bonus Mile Benefits on Vietnam Airlines

If you plan to fly Vietnam Airlines regularly, Lotusmiles members tend to receive better upgrade priority and higher mileage bonuses compared to Flying Blue elite members.

Final Thoughts

This opportunity is most valuable if you frequently travel to Asia or plan to increase your flights with Vietnam Airlines or other SkyTeam carriers. However, if you primarily fly within Europe or the US, Flying Blue may be a more practical choice, given its strong partnership with Air France, KLM, and Delta.

It’s also worth noting that you may be able to match to both Vietnam Airlines and Flying Blue—but airlines can reject status match applications if you have recently matched elsewhere.

Vietnam Airlines does charge a fee for processing the status match. You can see the exact fees below.

For more information and to apply, visit the official Vietnam Airlines status match page here.