Virgin Atlantic Increasing Price of Delta Redemptions on December 7

Finding a well-priced Delta reward is hard enough. Redeeming Delta’s own SkyMiles for the task is an exercise in futility, which is why many have relied on using Virgin Points for affordable redemptions. Unfortunately, these are about to become much more expensive on most routes.

Virgin Changes Delta Redemption Costs

These changes are taking place on December 7, 2023, and the cost of some routes is going up by 60%:

As you can see, the biggest difference in price is in economy class flights from 4,001 to 5,000 miles. Short-haul Delta One/first class flights are also seeing big jumps, with rates on 501 to 1,000-mile flights up by 50%.

Fortunately for travelers looking to fly from the U.S. to Europe, these increases don’t apply. Instead, the old rates will remain in place (until they come out with the next devaluation). The same can’t be said for flights to Australia, within the U.S., or to Asia, which will be subject to these increases.

How Bad Is This?

Look, this isn’t great news, obviously. A Delta flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Tokyo (HND) in economy is jumping from 35,000 points to 49,500 points. That’s more expensive than United MileagePlus:

American AAdvantage:

And even Delta SkyMiles itself, which will charge you just 44,000 miles one-way in economy:

That being said, that same flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Tokyo (HND) would cost you 345,000 SkyMiles in Delta One. At the higher levels, Virgin redemptions for Delta One flights remain unaffected. This means you’ll still pay just 130,000 Virgin Points for this Delta flight. That’s something.

Final Thoughts

There’s no denying that this is a pretty big decrease in value for Virgin Points. Short-haul first class and long-haul economy are especially affected. However, flights to Europe are staying the same price and so is long-haul Delta One, both of which remain a great value.