Virgin Airmiles

Hello everyone

I was a silver flying club member about 4 years ago and used to fly virgin alot and ammased about 19,000 airmiles.Im flying to Orlando in june club orlando from manchester and when I rang flying club up to ask if membership was still valid and my airmiles they said no the account was inactive for three years and I would lose all my miles and silver status and start again from red.Im not moaning about this but wondered if this is common practice when an account is inactive,yes its my fault as I have not been abroad fying with virgin for 3 years but wondered whether this is in the small print anywhere as 19,000 miles would of helped me and my girlfriend a bit.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Great site,and thankyou

Joel

[Pete]

Yup, pretty standard practice with many airlines since I think it comes down to accounting.

In my understanding (and I think the bean counters on the board may be able to help with this), because your miles can be traded in for goods/services, they have to have a nominal value on the books. Since there's an awful lot of people who earn points but never use them (ie, they don't have enough for a reward, or they simply forget they have them), it gets to a point where airlines would have to allocate huge amounts on their books in unused miles as a liability (for miles that would never get used). The expiry at least allows them to clear out inactive accounts.

The answer (although unfortunately too late to help you now), is to do a least one earning/spending transaction every three years. That could be as simple as a partner hotel, or credit card transfer, or blowing a few on a cheapo MpM fare.

Pix

Hey thanks for your reply ,ok i I understand things a little better now!.Would they of notified me that my account was innactive say after 6 months? because I never got any mail or phone calls leading up to it being innactive? Im kicking myself now!

Not to worry!

of heand does anyone know how many miles/tier points I will get flying club orlando from manchester?

Thanks

Joel

[quote
of heand does anyone know how many miles/tier points I will get flying club orlando from manchester?

Thanks

Joel
[/quote]

8,548?

[Pete]

Club Orlando is 4 tier points each way, so 8 round trip. Not sure what the miles are off the top of my head, or what the % bonus is for flying in the pointy bit.

This is when we need the expertise of The_Banking_Scot, who's flown that route more times than Dicky Branson.

Pix

quote:Originally posted by pixuk
Club Orlando is 4 tier points each way, so 8 round trip. Not sure what the miles are off the top of my head, or what the % bonus is for flying in the pointy bit.

This is when we need the expertise of The_Banking_Scot, who's flown that route more times than Dicky Branson.

Pix

Pix,
has that changed? I was just looking at my summary whan we flew CO in 1999 and I got 10 tier points!

[Pete]

Was it Club Orlando in 1999? I can't remember

Probably has changed though, it's listed in the current flying club T&Cs as 4 TP (as opposed to full Upper, which is 5 TP)

Pix

quote:Originally posted by pixuk
Was it Club Orlando in 1999? I can't remember

Probably has changed though, it's listed in the current flying club T&Cs as 4 TP (as opposed to full Upper, which is 5 TP)

Pix

pix,
yes, but not all year round.
my details tell me
Date Activity description Mileage Tier points
11 Dec 1999 Virgin Atlantic, MCO-MAN Upper Class 8,548 10

Unless they boobed

Hi,

Hmm, I do not know the miles/tp for Club MCO. Will need to look for it.

Regards

TBS

Hi j0el (& welcome! )

quote:Would they of notified me that my account was innactive say after 6 months? because I never got any mail or phone calls leading up to it being innactive?

Unfortunately, I doubt it - the numbers involved probably wouldn't make it practical to contact all those people and like Pix says, there's probably some revenue issues at stake too.

BTW, for the official view, here's a quote from the Flying Club Ts&Cs (go to Membership Guides and click on flying club Terms & Conditions):

2.7 Your initial membership is for three years and provided there is any Virgin Atlantic or partner earning or spending activity in your account, both your miles and membership will remain active. If not, we have the right to close your account and terminate your membership without further notice to you. Any mileage in your account at this date will expire and cannot be transferred to any other account at the point of expiry or in the future.

Regarding the earning period, here's another quote, this time from the Flying Club FAQs:

Q How long will my miles last?
A Forever, as long as you carry out one earning or spending activity during a three year period. Bonus miles from special offers may last for a shorter period; we'll tell you if this is the case at the time of the offer.

HTH

Cheers

Michael

Ok

Thanks for the input guys you have been realy helpful!


Joel

The best way to safeguard miles now if you do not travel much is to have the VS credit card you then have miles credited every month so there is always activity on the FC account so miles stay valid.