While Virgin America will continue to operate flights until April, passengers will earn Alaska Airlines miles instead of
Elevate points for flight activity.
Keep in mind that you can redeem
your Elevate points for flights or upgrades on Virgin America as well as partners like Hawaiian Airlines (to Hawaii or Asia), Singapore Airlines or Virgin Atlantic.
Not exact matches
For example, flying from Singapore to either Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, or Denpasar (Bali) requires just 6,000 Elevate points for round - trip flights, or 3,600 points for one - way fligh
For example, flying from Singapore to either Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, or Denpasar (Bali) requires just 6,000
Elevate points for round - trip flights, or 3,600 points for one - way fligh
for round - trip
flights, or 3,600
points for one - way fligh
for one - way
flights.
For one - way
flights, you'll need 12,500
Elevate reward
points in economy and 27,000 in business class.
Using
Elevate program
points to redeem
for flights on Hawaiian Airlines - operated
flights presents an opportunity to use a set number of
points instead: 20,000
Elevate points in economy and 50,000 in business
for a round - trip ticket between San Francisco and Honolulu,
for example.
Redeeming
Elevate points on Virgin America - operated
flights in not the only option
for your
points, however.
Exchange
points between
Elevate and other loyalty programs at
Points.com, and before you know it you'll have enough
for a free
flight on Virgin America.
However, you can redeem
Elevate points for Hawaiian Airlines
flights.
Hot Tip: Transfer your Virgin America
Elevate points to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan at a 1:3 ratio to redeem
for flights on Alaska's partners.
Virgin provided the following example in its news release: ``... a flyer booking a roundtrip ticket from New York to L.A. with Virgin America at a cost of about $ 320, could redeem that
flight for 15,399
Elevate points, equivalent to 30,798 Membership Rewards
points, which is comparable to other airline programs that would require up to 50,000 miles.»
Currently, members earn five
Elevate points for every dollar spent on Virgin
flights.
Virgin is offering sale fares between Hawaii and LAX
for as little as $ 338 round trip — today (Tuesday) only — and is offering
Elevate members an award
flight price starting at 8,278
points.
My suggestion
for Virgin America
Elevate members: Go ahead and link your accounts, but hold on to your
points until you have a specific
flight to redeem them on.
To promote the new Los Angeles routes, Virgin has launched a Hawaiiscape sweepstakes
for Elevate members, offering free
flights, hotel stays and 50,000
Elevate points.
There is also a note in today's announcement that reward
flights will count towards status — but they aren't clear if that is
flight segments or
points earned on the real fare of the ticket you are using
Elevate points for.
The typical earn
for Elevate members is 5
points per $ 1 spent on the base fare
for Virgin America
flights — in this offer, you will receive a one - time bonus of 500
Elevate reward
points.
«There will likely be no significant changes to your flying experience
for as many as 18 months or more... Until the transaction is officially approved — typically a process that can take upwards of six months — both airlines will continue to operate independently and there will be no changes to our
flight schedules, the Virgin America product and guest experience,
Elevate Status levels or your ability to earn and redeem
points... there will be no disruption to your earnings or redemptions.
Good value on inter-island
flights: 5,000
Elevate points, or 8,000 Membership Rewards
points for a roundtrip ticket within the islands.
Flights within Australia are also reasonable: Sydney to Gold Coast,
for example, are 6,000
elevate or 9,000 Membership Rewards
points (plus $ 36 in fees)
for a roundtrip ticket (the same as it'd cost you
for Avios.
Virgin America has a fare - based award program, meaning the cost of the ticket determines how many
Elevate points you need to redeem
for a
flight.