virgin atlantic travel voucher extension

Virgin Atlantic adds ability to earn Tier Points on award flights, extends elite status by additional 6 months

Virgin Atlantic is making it easier to earn and maintain elite status in the coronavirus era and beyond. While travelers largely haven't yet returned to the skies for long-haul travel because of safety concerns and government travel restrictions, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is extending members' status even further.

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When the coronavirus first made its presence known in the U.K. and around the world entered lockdowns and experienced a downturn in travel, Virgin Atlantic announced that it was extending elite status for all members. At the time, Virgin gave members an extra six months of status , as well as extending voucher expiry.

As of Thursday, the airline has extended that by an additional six months — one year in total. Additionally, it's unveiled a permanent positive change to the Flying Club program that now allows members to earn elite-qualifying miles on award flights — a first of its kind in the U.K. Let's dive into Thursday's announcement.

Earn Tier Points on award flights

As part of its announcement on Thursday, Virgin Atlantic detailed that it's adding a new way for elite members to requalify for status on flights they are taking. For the first time for a U.K. airline, Virgin is allowing members to earn Tier Points on award flights. In other words, you'll now earn elite-qualifying Tier Points on flights where you used Flying Club miles to redeem for travel.

Typically, award flights don't earn Tier Points — only those purchased with cash or those booked using Miles Plus Money. As of Sept. 1, however, members will earn elite-qualifying Tier Points on all bookings with Virgin, regardless of how they were booked. The Tier Points earned can be used towards qualifying for the 1,000 and 400 Tier Point thresholds for Gold and Silver status, respectively.

It's worth noting that this change doesn't take effect until Sept. 1. As of that date, all new award bookings, as well as any existing award bookings, will be eligible for the member to earn Tier Points on the flight.

Additionally, a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson confirmed to TPG U.K. that at launch, Tier Points can only be earned on Virgin Atlantic redemptions. In other words, if you use your Flying Club miles to redeem for a flight with Virgin's partner Delta Air Lines , you won't earn elite-qualifying Tier Points. The redemption has to be for a Virgin Atlantic-operated flight.

You'll earn Tier Points based on the fare class of your ticket. To simplify the table below, all one-way Upper Class redemptions will earn 100 Tier Points, Premium one-way redemptions will earn 50 Tier Points and economy one-way redemptions will earn 25 Tier Points.

In other words, you're earning half of the Tier Points on award flights than you would earn if you were to book with cash in the highest fare class . While that's less than ideal, it's still a positive development that Virgin has added to the Flying Club program to make achieving status easier for members.

Virgin Atlantic confirmed that this is a permanent change to the Flying Club program — and a positive one, at that.

Elite status extension

On Thursday, the program also announced that it would be extending members' elite status and vouchers by an additional six months. In March, Virgin was the first major U.K. carrier to extend elite status . At the time, it was by six months. Thursday's announcement means that members will retain their status for a total of 12 months.

While the number of Tier Points needed is staying the same — 1,000 for Gold and 400 for Silver — members will get a total of 12 additional months of status.

While Flying Club isn't sending out new physical membership cards with the new status expiration date, Virgin will offer a digital membership card online and via the airline's app. The airline said that it's updating members' accounts so you can see how many Tier Points you have and the new end date to your membership year.

Voucher extensions and simplification

In addition to extending status and requalification period for elites, Flying Club is also extending the validity for some elite benefits for those that were valid as of March 13, 2020. For Gold members, that means that the following will be extended for an additional six months — a total of 12 months:

• Gold member companion reward for Gold status renewal
• Clubhouse passes for Gold member 1,500 Tier Point reward
• One cabin upgrade for Gold member 2,000 Tier Point rewards

Additionally, Virgin is simplifying the way by which members can earn and redeem Companion Vouchers, Upgrade Vouchers and Clubhouse Vouchers:

• Companion Vouchers can now be used with any ticket in any booking class, regardless of status. Gold and Silver members can book their companion into any cabin for zero miles. Red members can book their companion into economy and Premium for zero miles or Upper Class at a 50% discount.
• Upgrade Vouchers can now be used with any ticket in any booking class for a one-cabin upgrade on a return flight. The only exclusion is for those booked in Economy Light, Virgin's version of basic economy.
• Clubhouse Vouchers are valid for one entry to any Clubhouse when booked on a Virgin flight or with Delta, Air France or KLM when flying internationally. Gold members continue to receive two vouchers.

All existing vouchers earned before these changes will take on the new terms.

Lounge access at Heathrow

As TPG U.K. previously reported, Virgin Atlantic is granting its premium and status-holding passengers access to the Plaza Premium Lounge in London Heathrow Terminal 2 . In lieu of access to Virgin's famed Clubhouse at Heathrow, which remains closed , as does its Terminal 3 home, passengers in Upper Class, as well as those members with Gold elite status and eligible partner customers will have access to the Plaza Premium Lounge.

Interestingly, Virgin Atlantic said in a press release that "Customers of Virgin Atlantic and its partners will also receive a special welcome with an exclusive premium drinks package, which includes Champagne". Typically, Plaza Premium guests who are granted access with a Priority Pass membership are entitled to a base-level drinks package, which doesn't include Champagne.

In a press release, Virgin Atlantic said that it'll return to its home at Terminal 3 when demand at Heathrow grows. At that point, it's possible that the Clubhouse and Revivals arrivals lounge will reopen.

Bottom line

Overall, these appear to be some positive developments from the Flying Club. By making the permanent change to allow members to earn Tier Points on award flights — albeit at reduced levels — Virgin shows its commitment to its elite members. Additionally, its status extension by one year in total and more simplified vouchers show this.

Virgin Atlantic began its return to service in July , with routes from Heathrow to Hong Kong (HKG), New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX). Since then, the airline has also resumed limited scheduled services to Barbados (BGI), Miami (MIA) and Shanghai (PVG). This autumn, Virgin plans to resume its routes to Atlanta (ATL), Delhi (DEL), Mumbai (BOM), Lagos (LOS), Montego Bay (MBJ), Antigua (ANU), Grenada (GND) and Johannesburg (JNB).

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NEWS: Virgin Atlantic extends status and vouchers again

• 25 May 2021

Virgin Atlantic is extending the timeframe for customers to maintain their tier status by an additional three months, as the airline continues to increase flexibility for its Flying Club members. Virgin has consistently led the way for renewing members status but in small increments, once it becomes clear that members will struggle. This is in contrast to BA who has been late to the table and recently angered around 50% of its members when they decided to only renew status for people whose status ended in July to December 2021. This left many with only 6 months to achieve 75% of a full years tier points which is pretty much impossible due to the fact that virtually no long haul routes are viable for UK citizens. 

In recognition of the continued impact Covid-19 has had on its customers’ ability to travel, the airline is offering an extra three months for Gold and Silver members to maintain their tier status.   This latest move marks the fourth extension for Flying Club members throughout the pandemic.  It means in total all members will have been given an extra eighteen months to maintain tier status.

In addition to tier extensions, Companion, Upgrade or Clubhouse vouchers, will be extended further, totalling 18 months.

Changes have been automatically applied to members accounts. Customers will not need to call to update their status, as the airline is extending automatically.   Members will be able to download or print their digital membership card from the Virgin Atlantic website or app.

Siobhan Fitzpatrick, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer at Virgin Atlantic, commented; “As international travel gradually resumes, we understand our customers may need increased flexibility as they navigate the easing of restrictions and make plans to travel in 2021 and beyond. We appreciate how important Flying Club is to our valued members and we’re committed to rewarding those who choose to fly with Virgin Atlantic, so I’m delighted we can reassure our customers with an additional three months validity on their accounts. “It’s now essential UK Government plays its part in ensuring a meaningful resumption of international travel by adding low risk countries, including the United States, to its green list, providing consumers and businesses with confidence to book ahead. There is no reason to delay, given that economic recovery and 500,000 jobs are at stake.”

Gold & Silver tier extension

Gold and silver members need to earn 1000 tier points (Gold) and 400 tier points (Silver) to maintain their status for another year. These members will have an additional three months added to their membership year to ensure they have extra time to achieve the required tier points.  Members can login to their Flying Club account online to see how many tier points they have and the new end date of their membership year.

You also now earn tier points on redemptions on Virgin Atlantic flights which makes life easier as well. 

Voucher extension

Vouchers that are valid as of 13 March 2020 will be extended further, to a total of 18 months for customers to redeem them, which will already show in members’ accounts. This includes Companion, Upgrade or Clubhouse vouchers. 

In a further bid to increase flexibility for its customers, Virgin Atlantic has  introduced unlimited free date and flight changes for new bookings but you may still need to pay a difference in fare.  Alongside the improved changes policy, the rebooking horizon has been extended for all customers all the way until 30 April 2023, giving a broader window of time to reschedule plans if needed.

Flying Club members have recently been invited to enrol in Virgin Red, Virgin’s new reward club.   Customers can link their Flying Club account, creating a shared Virgin Points balance that they can use across either programme. At the heart of the bolstered earning and spending opportunities are Virgin Points – the universal Virgin currency that unlike many other loyalty currencies, have no expiry date.

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God Save The Points

Elevating your travel

Virgin Atlantic Adds 6 Month Elite Status And Voucher Extension

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Today, Virgin Atlantic announced another 6 months of Flying Club status extensions, primarily due to key long haul flying routes from the UK, such as the USA, remaining inexplicably closed to UK and EU visitors.

Although members would undoubtedly rather be flying, it’s great news, meaning any hard earned benefits or vouchers will maintain their value for longer.

Virgin Atlantic Status Extension

Virgin Atlantic has extended elite status, Clubhouse lounge vouchers and companion vouchers earned from credit cards for an additional 6 months. With the extra 6 tacked on, the moves represent a total of two years extended.

Confused? Whenever your status, vouchers or clubhouse passes were set to expire, they’ll now expire 6 months later. In total, they’ve been extended by two years.

My God it’s really been that long. What did we all do for the last two years?

Gold & Silver tier extension    Gold and silver members need to earn 1000 tier points (Gold) and 400 tier points (Silver) to maintain their status for another year. These members will have an additional six months added to their membership year to ensure they have extra time to achieve the required tier points.  Members can login to their Flying Club account online to see how many tier points they have and the new end date of their membership year.  Voucher extension   Our Flying Club members earn various rewards throughout the year  will be extended further, to a total of years for customers to redeem them, which will already show in members accounts.  In a further bid to increase flexibility for its customers, Virgin Atlantic offers unlimited free date and flight changes for new bookings as part of a series of enhancements to give further flexibility to customers and support their future travel plans. Alongside the improved policy, the rebooking horizon has been extended for all customers  until 30 April 2023, giving a broader window of time to reschedule plans if needed.    Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic used the last two years to make some welcome changes to the Flying Club program , including allowing members to earn tier points toward elite status even when booking a flight using miles. In other words, you’re not being punished for your loyalty.

Companion vouchers also got more flexible. Instead of needing to use miles for a companion voucher, they can now be used on cash tickets too. You have the choice, and if you want to find a great deal and have a friend join by just paying the taxes, that’s possible too.

Gold and Silver members can even book discount upper class tickets and have a companion join, just for the cost of taxes. It’s a key reason my family signed up for the UK Virgin Atlantic Rewards+ Card this year.

More Extensions To Come?

Two years seems like a lot, but most UK Flying Club members didn’t manage any travel at all during these times, or very little long haul if they did. British Airways will now be forced to weigh another extension, after the Virgin Atlantic move.

Ultimately, it’s good news for Flying Club members, voucher holders and and anyone with perks set to expire. Who knows, maybe there’s more to come.

Gilbert Ott

Gilbert Ott is an ever curious traveler and one of the world's leading travel experts. His adventures take him all over the globe, often spanning over 200,000 miles a year and his travel exploits are regularly... More by Gilbert Ott

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Improvements for loyal Flying Club members

Virgin Atlantic introduces tier points for redemption flights and extends Flying Club tier status and benefits by a further six months

• From 1 September Flying Club members will be able to earn tier points on redemption flights using miles – providing greater opportunities for customers to progress or maintain their tier status. 
• Companion, Upgrade and Clubhouse vouchers have been simplified and improved to make them more generous and easier to use.
• To support loyal customers, Flying Club Silver and Gold tier status and voucher validity is further extended by six months, giving members an extra year in total to maintain tier status and redeem a host of benefits.
• From today (20 August) Upper Class, Gold Flying Club members and eligible customers of partners can use the Plaza Premium Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 2.

Virgin Atlantic has extended its measures to protect Flying Club members who have been impacted by the global travel restrictions caused by Covid-19, whilst introducing improvements to make Flying Club even more rewarding. 

Having become the first UK airline to automatically extend loyalty status in March 2020, with all Flying Club Gold and Silver members given an extra six months’ tier status, and all voucher validity extended, the airline is now further extending validity by an additional six months. It means all members will have an extra year in total to maintain tier status and redeem a host of benefits. The automatic extension gives members more time to use their valuable miles, achieve tier points or use rewards such as Companion, Upgrade or Clubhouse vouchers. 

Furthermore, in a first for any UK airline loyalty programme, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club members will now also be able to earn tier points on Virgin Atlantic redemption flights using miles – providing greater opportunities for customers to progress or maintain their tier status, every time they fly with Virgin Atlantic. 

Oli Byers, Senior Vice President, Data and Customer Loyalty at Virgin Atlantic said:

“We recognise our loyalty programme is extremely important to our Flying Club members and we want to ensure our most loyal customers don’t lose out on their benefits while they’ve had less opportunity to fly with Virgin Atlantic.”

“This additional six-month extension - making an extra year in total – gives our members peace of mind that they have even more time to enjoy and renew their hard-earned tier status or redeem their vouchers. Following our return to the skies last month, we’re committed to supporting our customers and welcoming them back on board when the time is right for them.

“We’re also making bold changes to deliver a programme which puts the needs of our members first. The introduction of tier points for redemption flights is an industry-leading move that will help customers progress to Silver or Gold membership more quickly and, in turn, enjoy even more rewards with their membership. We also know our customers love the vouchers we offer, so we’ve improved these to make the conditions simpler and more generous so they are even easier for customers to use.”

Up until now, tier points were only awarded for flights paid for with cash or Miles Plus Money, but in a shake-up of reward bookings to support customers, they will now also be awarded when purchased using miles only, ensuring members are rewarded every single time they choose to fly with Virgin Atlantic. 

Any member that books from 1 September 2020 with miles, or flies on a service which was purchased using miles, will receive the same tier points as if they were booking with money. It means more opportunities to reach the 400 tier points required to progress from Red to Silver status, or the 1,000 tier points needed to become a Gold member and unlock a host of incredible benefits. 

Gold & Silver tier extension

Gold and Silver members need to earn 1000 tier points and 400 tier points, respectively, to maintain their status for another year. Following the latest extension, these members will have an extra year in total added to their membership, providing them with extra time to reach their goal. A new membership card will not be sent but a digital membership card can be viewed online and downloaded via the Virgin Atlantic app. Flying Club accounts will be updated soon so that members can login online and see how many tier points they have and the new end date of their membership year. 

Voucher extension

Flying Club members can earn a host of rewards throughout the year and for those that were valid as of 13 March 2020, Virgin Atlantic is extending validity by a further six months to twelve months in total for customers to redeem them, effective immediately. These rewards include:  

Gold member vouchers

o Gold member Companion reward for Gold status renewal

o One cabin upgrade for Gold member 2000 tier point reward

o Clubhouse passes for Gold member 1500 tier point reward

Credit card vouchers

o Companion reward

o Premium upgrades

o Clubhouse passes

Simplification of Companion, Upgrade and Clubhouse vouchers

The terms and conditions for Companion, Upgrade and Clubhouse vouchers have been revised to make them simpler and more rewarding, with a single set of rules for each of the three voucher types regardless of whether they’ve been awarded through a Virgin Atlantic credit card or Gold tier status. It’ll now be easier for members to find availability and enjoy their well-earned benefits, with tier and booking class restrictions removed.

• Companion vouchers can now be used in conjunction with a ticket in any booking class and can be used in any cabin of travel regardless of tier status. Gold and Silver can book their companion into any cabin for zero miles and Red members can book their companion into Economy and Premium for zero miles or Upper Class at a 50% miles discount. Taxes and fees apply.
• Upgrade vouchers can now be used in conjunction with a ticket in any booking class, for a one cabin upgrade for a return flight (excludes original bookings made in Economy Light).
• Clubhouse vouchers will be valid for one entry to any Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, when booked on a Virgin Atlantic flight or with Joint Venture partners Delta Air Lines, Air France or KLM (when travelling internationally). Gold members will continue to receive two Clubhouse vouchers.

As part of the simplification of our vouchers, described above, all existing vouchers will now enjoy the more flexible and generous usage conditions being introduced, effective immediately.  

Plaza Premium Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 2

From today (20 August) all Upper Class, Gold Flying Club members and eligible customers of partner carriers, including Delta Air Lines, Air France and KLM, will be able to use the Plaza Premium Lounge in Terminal 2, enjoying complimentary hot and cold food and beverages in relaxed surroundings. Customers of Virgin Atlantic and its partners will also receive a special welcome with an exclusive premium drinks package, which includes champagne.

Located on level 4 in the Terminal 2 departure lounge, Plaza Premium has been awarded the prestigious SKYTRAX award for the World’s Best Independent Airport Lounge for three consecutive years.

Flexibility and peace of mind

Flying Club members can make the most of these new enhancements and increased flexibility as they plan their next escape.

Virgin Atlantic recommenced some scheduled passenger flights on 20 July 2020 and is currently operating a limited schedule of core routes between London Heathrow and Barbados, New York-JFK, Los Angeles, Miami, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Further routes are planned from Heathrow this autumn, including Atlanta, Delhi, Mumbai, Lagos, Montego Bay, Antigua, Grenada and Johannesburg. External conditions and travel restrictions continue to be monitored closely. 

Virgin Atlantic continues to offer flexible rebooking policies to support customers’ travel plans. If anything changes, customers are able to change the dates on a booking twice, all the way up until 30 September 2022 and incur no change fee.

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From short breaks to spa days, skydiving to supercars, discover thousands of unforgettable experiences with a Virgin Gift Card.

The gift card can be loaded with an amount of your choice, and you can check your balance online whenever you want.

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The Virgin Gift Card is accepted by most Virgin Group companies including Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Holidays and Virgin Experience Days.

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Virgin Atlantic Is Extending Tier Status & Voucher Expirations + Offering Bonus Miles & Tier Points

Some links to products and travel providers on this website will earn Traveling For Miles a commission that helps contribute to the running of the site. Traveling For Miles has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Traveling For Miles and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. For more details please see the disclosures found at the bottom of every page.

Virgin Atlantic is one of the first major airlines to announce a series of measures to help its Flying Club members keep their status at a time when most cannot take to the air and offer up some interesting incentives to anyone willing to book travel through March 2021.

Virgin Atlantic Tier Status Extensions

Virgin Atlantic has announced that Silver and Gold Flying Club members have had the expiry date of their membership year extended by 6 months for this current membership year.

So, if for example, a Flying Club member’s original membership year expiry date was 30 June 2020, their new membership year expiry date will now read 31 December 2020.

New membership cards will not be sent out in the post but the extended membership is already viewable online and a digital membership card (complete with extended membership year) can be printed from the Virgin Atlantic website or downloaded to the Virgin Atlantic app.

Virgin Atlantic Voucher Extensions

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club members who have earned companion vouchers, upgrade vouchers or Clubhouse access vouchers that were still valid as of 13 March 2020, will have the expiration day of those vouchers extended by 6 months .

To be clear, this refers to vouchers offered through the Virgin Atlantic Reward and Reward+ credit cards (issued in the UK) and the Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard (issued in the US) as well as companion vouchers, Clubhouse passes and upgrades issued to Flying Club Gold members as part of their benefits package or for hitting select tier point targets.

Replacement vouchers will not be issued but the vouchers in Flying Club members’ account will be valid through the new expiration date.

Earn Bonus Flying Club Miles

As part of its efforts to keep people booking flights (and to aid the airline’s liquidity), Virgin Atlantic is offering travelers a bonus of 5,000 Flying Club miles (2,500 each way) for all bookings made by 30 April for travel through 31 March 2021.

Per Virgin Atlantic:

Members do not need to register for this offer. Registration will be automatically applied to all Flying Club accounts. 

Members will be rewarded an extra 2,500 per flight on a return-basis, equalling 5,000 extra Flying Club miles.

Flights must be both operated by Virgin Atlantic and marketed by Virgin Atlantic (flight number starts with VS) to be applicable for the bonus miles. Codeshare flights are excluded from this offer. 

Travel completed in all classes will earn 2,500 bonus miles per sector. 

Applicable for flights booked and tickets issued between DD March 2020 – 30 April 2020. 

All travel must be completed by 31 March 2021. 

Reward tickets are excluded from this offer, apart from Miles Plus Money bookings which are applicable for bonus miles. 

Gold members (60%) and Silver members (30%) will still earn tier bonus miles. The promotional miles will not be included in the tier bonus. 

The normal Flying Club miles and the bonus Flying Club miles will be automatically credited to your Flying Club account within seven days of your Qualifying Flight’s. 

Normal tier points will be earned. 

Be very aware that bonus points are only awarded for flights booked through Virgin Atlantic and flown on Virgin Atlantic aircraft.

Earn Bonus Flying Club Tier Points

Flight + hotel bookings made through Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Holidays by 30 April 2020 will see the lead traveler earn 100 bonus tier points per booking …but you shouldn’t get too excited if you think that booking a series of cheap trips will be a short-cut to Flying Club status.

Virgin Atlantic has added the following in the terms and conditions:

If the tier points triggered an upgrade to Silver or Gold status we reserve the right to downgrade the account to the previous status.  

I’m not sure why Virgin feels the need to give itself this “out” because (a) just how many people are going to try to game this? and (b) tier points are tier points and the airline shouldn’t be looking to distinguish between tier points earned through flying and tier points earned through other means offered by Virgin Atlantic.

Hopefully Virgin will not exercise the right it has given itself in its terms and conditions because I can see it resulting in a few ridiculous scenarios.

A Word Of Warning

These are strange and unusual times that we’re living through at the moment and there has never been more doubt surrounding the future of a lot of participants in the travel industry.

Before making any future bookings please make sure that you’re covered for all eventualities by your travel insurance and the credit cards that you’re using to book your travel – bonus points and elite status credits won’t mean very much if an airline goes out of business and you’re not covered for that eventuality.

Bottom Line

These are a series of good moves by Virgin Atlantic and, as far as elite status goes, the moves shine a damning light on the silence coming from Virgin’s prime competitor – British Airways.

The people who will most benefit out of these moves are those whose elite status and/or vouchers don’t expire until later this year as they will now have until deep into 2021 to enjoy their status or to use their vouchers (hopefully things will be back to as close to normal as possible by then). For everyone else, this is just a little bit of breathing room as who knows what the world situation will be like for the rest of this year?

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Virgin Atlantic plans Heathrow to Moscow route

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A planned daily Moscow service heralds a move by Virgin Atlantic into short and mid-haul routes from the UK. The airline plans to serve the Russian capital on a former Bmi route from Heathrow in 2013 operating a new three-class Airbus A330. But the launch will be predicated on Virgin winning Heathrow take off and landing slots that British Airways was forced to surrender following its purchase of BMI earlier this year. Virgin Atlantic will fight to take up the 12 daily slot pairs so that it can provide renewed competition and feed its long haul network. Flying to Russia reflects a strategy of mixing emerging economies with its more established destinations. For example, its Heathrow to Mumbai route launch in October will also connect the Indian commercial centre with New York, Boston, Chicago, Miami and Washington via London. Chief executive Steve Ridgway said: “Given the increased consolidation in the market and challenging economic environment, we need to develop our network proposition and ability to sell more connecting journeys. “Winning the BMI remedy slots will help us add connectivity to serve a huge number of travellers who have lost choice and the benefits of competition through the BA takeover.” He added: “This route is now open for another UK airline following BA’s takeover of BMI and we are making preparations to take up these rights early next year. “Linking these two cities will be an important part of our strategy to run short haul flights into Heathrow thus feeding our long haul network.  It will also radically improve competition on the route giving business and leisure travellers much better choice. “Our core flying has always been across the Atlantic but we have been clear that we will also continue to grow our routes to emerging markets if given the slots at London Heathrow. “Moscow would be our third BRIC country and we think it is imperative for British trade that we are operating in these economies.” Traffic between London and Moscow has trebled in ten years and demand on the route continues to grow, Virgin says.

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Virgin Atlantic set to launch Heathrow – Moscow services

• In Airline News , Virgin Atlantic
• July 10, 2012

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• Working in a team alongside our experienced Cabin Crew bringing your unique personality and flair to everything you do. Sharing our passion for delivering outstanding customer service and making lasting memories. 
• Ensuring our customers' happiness, health, and needs are your focus. Reassuring nervous flyers or helping with special assistance and medical requirements! 
• Passion and dedication to delivering exceptional customer service. At the time of application, you have a minimum of twelve months of customer service experience.
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• No live or unspent criminal convictions or cases pending
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• Higher Secondary Certificate in three subjects with a pass. (Equivalent GCSE system in the UK)
• Reach up to 210cm high without shoes, standing on tiptoes if needed. This is the height of our overhead lockers where some emergency equipment is stowed onboard 
• Adopt the brace position in a 45cm high seat with your feet flat on the floor (without shoes) and comfortably secure your harness without the use of an extension seatbelt

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Distance between Atlanta and Moscow

Flying non-stop from atlanta to moscow.

How far is Moscow from Atlanta? Here's the quick answer if you have a private jet and you can fly in the fastest possible straight line.

Flight distance: 5,389 miles or 8672 km

Flight time: 11 hours, 17 minutes

Because of the curvature of the Earth, the shortest distance is actually the "great circle" distance, or "as the crow flies" which is calculated using an iterative Vincenty formula. For a long distance, this appears as a curve on the map, and this is often the route that commercial airlines will take so it's a good estimate of the frequent flyer miles you'll accumulate as well.

This is a fairly long flight, so unless you have a Gulfstream G650 or your own Boeing or Airbus, you might be booking a commercial flight. In that case, your travel time would really need to include how many minutes to get to your local airport, wait for security, board and taxi on the runway, land at the other airport, and get to your destination. Scroll down to see a more realistic calculation that takes into account all these factors to get a more accurate estimate of your actual flight time .

Atlanta to Moscow airports and flights

In the quick calculation above, we assumed you had a private plane and just wanted to know the time in the air from city to city. But for most of us, we're going to be flying on a commercial airline (whether it's first class or coach). So that means we really need to account for all the extra travel time getting to the airport, waiting for our flight, and making it to the destination.

To give you a better estimate of real-life travel, we've put together a flight itinerary with actual airports. Eventually you'll be able to customize this plan, choosing your own airports and flights. But for now, here's an example we've selected to give you an idea of how traveling might work between airports.

Departure airport: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)

Arrival airport: Vnukovo International Airport (VKO)

With the airports selected, we can estimate the travel time to and from the airport, based on how far the airport is from downtown.

Getting to the airport: 24 minutes

Getting to your destination: 52 minutes

Now finally, let's look at an actual flight from ATL connecting through LHR and arriving at VKO flying on Virgin Atlantic Airways. We can figure out how long it would take to fly including take-off and landing, time to taxi on the runways, and an average layover time of about 2 hours.

Initial flight time: 8 hours, 55 minutes

Connecting airport: London Heathrow Airport (LHR)

Connection flight time: 3 hours, 37 minutes

So now we can finally get an idea of the total travel time from Atlanta to Moscow including time spent getting to and from the airports, roughly 2 hours at the departure airport for TSA security lines and waiting at the gate, plus the connecting flight with a 2-hour layover.

Total travel time: 18 hours

Plan a trip to Moscow

Trippy has a ton of information that can help you plan your trip to Moscow, Russia. Start by reading the Trippy page on where to stay in Moscow . A great place to eat might be Pushkin Cafe . Trippy members can suggest things to do in Moscow like The Moscow Kremlin . Check out some of the questions people have asked about Moscow like Best Russian cuisine restaurants in Moscow . Click the button below to explore Moscow in detail.

How far is it the other way?

The distance is the same either way if you're flying a straight line. But for a real trip, there can be plenty of differences so go ahead and check the reverse directions to get the distance from Moscow to Atlanta , or go to the main page to calculate the distance between cities .

If you happen to know Atlanta, don't forget to help other travelers and answer some questions about Atlanta!