British Airways Avios or Virgin Atlantic Flying Club?

theonlywayisup

neilio wrote: »

How would the two airlines know?

Gate 365 and VS Shops Away work the same way as each other and it's a cookie (I believe) that marks the purchase and credits it to the account. You therefore only get one credit, it won't credit twice.

With the in-store offers, they work from the credit card end, so the credit card will only credit one loyalty scheme, not both. Be careful in what you register to where because it can stop all the in-store purchases on one type of card. I had an issue with my Waitrose Amex crediting and it was because I had the same card registered with Avios on a Cafe Nero offer (or it was the other way around, I can't recall now).

shaun_from_Africa

blindman wrote: »

I have flown both

Virgin Upper class is way better than BA Club World :rotfl:

As they are two different classes (VS upper class is their top cabin and equivalent to BA first class) and Virgin upper class is far more expensive than BA Club world, I would hope that it would be way better.


Just for a price example.
LGW to MCO on the 1st Nov returning 14 days later
BA club world £2318
VS upper class £3835

theonlywayisup

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

As they are two different classes (VS upper class is their top cabin and equivalent to BA first class) and Virgin upper class is far more expensive than BA Club world, I would hope that it would be way better.


Just for a price example.
LGW to MCO on the 1st Nov returning 14 days later
BA club world £2318
VS upper class £3835

Shaun, I'm sorry but UC is nothing like F in BA. The fact it is Virgin's top class doesn't mean it is first class. It is a business class product, AKA Club World.

Virgin don't have an F product.

As for your pricing examples. You cannot compare "prices" you need to compare "buckets".

Nick_C

If you are not using a 241 or a upgrade voucher, you can use Avios on other One World carriers. AA business class is far better than BA CW or V UC.

theonlywayisup

Nick_C wrote: »

If you are not using a 241 or a upgrade voucher, you can use Avios on other One World carriers. AA business class is far better than BA CW or V UC.

This is a very big bonus with BA being part of Oneworld, not only do you get a huge choice of destinations but also you can chose the company you fly with and then the aircraft they offer. We recently went to Tallinn and because we chose carefully, we had flat bed seats in Finnair's flagship aircraft rather than the standard BA CE seats out to Helsinki.

shaun_from_Africa

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Shaun, I'm sorry but UC is nothing like F in BA. The fact it is Virgin's top class doesn't mean it is first class. It is a business class product, AKA Club World.
.

My opinion of flying long haul with both airlines on a very regular basis is that Virgin UC is superior in every way to BA 1st class.
Virgin might not refer to UC as a 1st class but IMO, the service provided is as good as anything I've ever received from BA.


BA used to be my airline of choice but in the past few years both their service and their aircraft have suffered a major drop in quality and although I still fly long haul with them 14 or 15 times a year, this is out of necessity and not choice.

blindman

dickydonkin wrote: »

Only on the inbound sector into the UK.

Oops, I missed that detail out

blindman

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

As they are two different classes (VS upper class is their top cabin and equivalent to BA first class) and Virgin upper class is far more expensive than BA Club world, I would hope that it would be way better.

I only use Virgin FF miles so I get the superior product for (at times ) less miles than BA Avios

blindman

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Virgin UC is superior in every way to BA 1st class.

The TV screen in BA First is biggerr :cool:

Virgin might not refer to UC as a 1st class but IMO, the service provided is as good as anything I've ever received from BA.

Agree whole heartedly

BA used to be my airline of choice but in the past few years both their service and their aircraft have suffered a major drop in quality and although I still fly long haul with them 14 or 15 times a year, this is out of necessity and not choice.

BA were never and will never be my first choice.:eek:

I collect Avios via credit cards to fly with other airlines.:rotfl:

If I have to fly BA It is either RFS or First class using Avios.

theonlywayisup

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

My opinion of flying long haul with both airlines on a very regular basis is that Virgin UC is superior in every way to BA 1st class.
Virgin might not refer to UC as a 1st class but IMO, the service provided is as good as anything I've ever received from BA.


BA used to be my airline of choice but in the past few years both their service and their aircraft have suffered a major drop in quality and although I still fly long haul with them 14 or 15 times a year, this is out of necessity and not choice.

Service you receive doesn't dictate the fare/class of travel.

J is J and F is F. UC is J, CW is J. First class is F. Virgin Atlantic do not have F.

What you or I perceive as better is subjective, but the fact remains, VS do not offer an F product.

Sorry OP, I don't want to divert your thread but you will see a huge benefit in changing your loyalty, based on your opening post. That's not to say you can't pick and chose - and spending more than 30K a year through a series of credit cards can get you several freebies (bar the taxes of course). The 2-4-1 will give you that little bit more.