Virgin Atlantic Flying Club just sent out an email announcing a new feature: allowing members to establish a family account and pool miles for faster redemption opportunities.
Family accounts have been a permanent program feature of many other competitors including British Airways Executive Club for a long time so this comes quite late and has always been a major drawback of Virgin Flying Club.
You can find more information about Virgin Atlantic Household Accounts on their website.
Being able to combine points from multiple accounts allows a member to redeem awards much faster which is especially useful if the members only take occasional flights.
This is the content of the email:
Adventures are always better shared. So why shouldn’t the same go for Virgin Points?
Great news – Household accounts are here. You can now pool your points with any other Flying Club member in your household, to fast-track your way to reward seats, upgrades, or money off your next flight.
And because Virgin Points never expire, you can carry on clubbing your points together ‘til you’re ready for your next adventure.
I have used household accounts with a few airlines before, usually enrolling friends and family members who rarely travel and don’t collect miles on their own. It adds up over time and at least I can use it for some short haul awards.
Here is how it works with Virgin Flying Club.
First, you set up the Household Account following the login into your account:
Only the primary member of the household account will be able to spend the points and the address of the up to 9 added, individual accounts must be identical (can be changed at will):
Once added, the link will be retained for at least 12 months, after which you can untie the accounts again.
Miles can be redeemed either online or via the callcenter by the household account member. Balances are also visible so that you know when a sufficient mileage balance has been reached.
Conclusion
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club members can now set up a family account in their online profile and add up to 9 members who share the same address. The miles will then be pooled under the primary member’s account and able to be withdrawn/used.
I have used quite a few such accounts over the years, most notably with British Airways and BMI, where it worked quite well.
If you have family or friends to set up an account for, you can certainly do so if they agree. The address on file can be adjusted at will. Nobody really cares if the member really lives there.
