Redeeming Virgin Points for Air France and KLM Flights Paused Until August

Updated: August 15, 2024, 7:05pm CDT

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Virgin Atlantic System Issue for Air France/KLM Redemptions
Alternative for Air France/KLM Points Redemptions
Final Thoughts

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Update: The issue below has been resolved, and reservations are working again.

If you want to redeem your Virgin Atlantic points for flights on Air France or KLM, you’ll have to wait until next month. That’s because of a “system issue,” according to Virgin Atlantic.

Here’s what travelers need to know and some potential workarounds in the interim.

Virgin Atlantic System Issue for Air France/KLM Redemptions

One of the things people love most about the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is how easy it is to earn Virgin points. You can transfer just about any type of points into this program, and there are some great uses of Virgin points.

Several of those uses involve Virgin Atlantic’s SkyTeam partners. However, 2 of those options aren’t working right now.

You’ll see this error message on the partner pages for both Air France and KLM:

Virgin KLM Screenshot — Image Credit: Virgin Atlantic

“Due to a system issue, customers are currently unable to book Air France/KLM seats with Virgin Points on our website and through the Customer Centre. We’d like to sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and our teams are working hard to fix this issue. We expect bookings to be available again at the start of August.”

This indicates that redemptions cannot currently be made over the phone or online. The best estimate for this issue to be resolved is early August; until then, you can’t redeem Virgin points for KLM or Air France award flights.

To be clear, you can still redeem Virgin points for Virgin Atlantic flights and a host of other partners. You won’t see this error message on the Delta page, for example.

Air France Business Class Paris CDG Airbus A350 — You’ve got other options for using points and miles to fly on Air France right now. Image Credit: Daniel Ross

Alternative for Air France/KLM Points Redemptions

If you want to redeem points and miles for flights on Air France or KLM, you’ve got options — unless your points are already in your Virgin Atlantic account. If that’s the case, you’ll have to wait until August, hoping the seats you want to book don’t disappear in the meantime.

For those with flexible points (also called transferrable points), you can transfer these points to multiple other programs and use these programs to book award flights on Air France or KLM. Potential options include:

Air France-KLM Flying Blue: Transfer from Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, Wells Fargo Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy
Delta SkyMiles: Transfer from Amex Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy
Aeromexico Rewards: Transfer from Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One miles, Citi ThankYou Points, and Marriott Bonvoy

Hot Tip:

This is a good example of why we believe you should earn transferable points and keep them in your account with the bank until you’re ready to redeem them. Doing so gives you flexiblity and keeps your options open.

Final Thoughts

Until an unknown date in August — hopefully the early part — you won’t be able to redeem Virgin Atlantic points for flights on Air France or KLM. This isn’t affecting other uses of Virgin points at this time, thankfully, but that’s not much consolation if you’re trying to redeem for a flight on Air France or KLM right now.

Luckily, there are other ways to book these flights with points and miles in the meantime. We’ll keep you updated about any further delays or when these redemptions start working again.