Virgin Atlantic launches their status match campaign

The status match wars are heating up, this time with Virgin Atlantic joining the fray – with a chance to win 1 million points.

Virgin Atlantic is launching a limited-time status match offer giving five lucky UK-based customers the opportunity to win 1,000,000 Virgin Points and become a points ‘million air.’

Customers who status match to Virgin Atlantic Silver or Gold between 15th January and 14 February 2025 will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win 1 million points.

The promises of the match – Image, Virgin Atlantic 

Virgin Atlantic’s status match programme allows customers in the top tier of 11 airlines – British Airways, Air Canada, Air India, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Hawaiian, Iberia, Lufthansa, South African Airways, United Airlines – the opportunity to receive the equivalent status on Virgin Atlantic.

Silver Card holders are recognised as SkyTeam Elite Members, whilst the airline’s Gold Card members can become SkyTeam Elite Plus.

To become Flying Club Gold, customers need to have a future revenue or redemption flight booked with Virgin Atlantic or one of our codeshare partners in either Premium or Upper Class while those matching to Silver will need to have a future revenue or redemption flight booked with Virgin Atlantic or one of our codeshare partners in any cabin.

Customers must not have held Flying Club status in the last five years using status match.

The full list of what matches to what is:

In Quotes

Anthony Woodman, Vice President, Flying Club & CRM, Virgin Atlantic, commented;

“Our Flying Club status match makes it easy for customers who are not feeling the love from their existing airline to experience the award-winning hospitality of Virgin Atlantic. We’re delighted to go one step further by making five lucky winners points ‘million airs’ – a flying start into the world of Flying Club.”

Worth considering?

Again, flying patterns are important here, whilst Virgin Atlantic has a strong transatlantic route network, not all points are covered (a big hole in the US is Chicago, whilst Asia is considerably thinner than other carriers).

However, the status does confirm SkyTeam Elite or Elite Plus – depending if you’re Silver or Gold. Depending on your need, that could work.

The one fly in the ointment is that a future revenue or redemption booking needs to be in place before the status is confirmed upon you.

If you have nothing in the booking pipeline, it might be better to go for the Flying Blue match and pay (least of all, the match for British Airways Flyers is slightly better in terms of the status offered).

But it’s worth considering if Virgin Atlantic’s route map matches your needs.

Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond. Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, in-depth coverage, unique research, as well as the humour and madness I only know how to deliver.

Our Social Media pool has expanded. You can find us across most networks as @economybeyond on BlueSky, Threads, Mastodon and Instagram!

Also, remember that we are part of the BoardingArea community, bringing you the latest frequent flyer news from around the world.