How to Use the Virgin Atlantic “Shops Away” Shopping Portal to Earn More Points

This is the shopping portal for Virgin Atlantic fans. With just a few extra clicks, you’ll earn bonus Virgin Points for shopping online. It’s as simple as that!

Read on for information on how to get the most from the Virgin Atlantic Shops Away shopping portal, and you’ll soon be booking those valuable reward flights.

How to Log In To Virgin Atlantic’s Shopping Portal

When you first visit the shopping portal, start by setting your language and location to see offers relevant to you.

Although you can browse available retailers and offers without logging in, in order to receive Flying Club bonus points for your purchases, you must first log in to the shopping portal.

The shopping account uses the same credentials as your Flying Club membership, so you will need to join the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club if you’re not already a member. It’s quick, easy, and free to sign up, so there’s nothing to lose!

Click the LOG IN button at the top right of the homepage to get going and complete your details.

Basics of Using the Virgin Atlantic Portal

The portal is very easy to navigate, with the homepage focusing on Hot Offers, so you can quickly identify the offers that are going to earn you the most points.

You can easily browse retailers using the Categories tab, where you can drill down to search for a specific store.

From the homepage or category results list, you get a top-level view of the bonus offer available for each retailer.

For more information, just click the retailer. You can see if they have a special bonus offer available with extra points, purchase conditions, a points calculator, or any current voucher codes.

To earn bonus points shopping with this retailer, you need to click the red Shop Now button, which will take you to the retailer’s website to carry on browsing.

When you’re ready to make a purchase, you can do this as normal on the retailer’s website. If you’ve clicked through the portal, Virgin Atlantic will automatically track your purchase through cookies, so be sure they are enabled on your browser for this to happen.

Once you have made an eligible purchase on the retailer’s website, it will show in your Virgin Atlantic Shops Away account within 5 days as “pending.” The retailer will then need to validate the purchase before the points will be awarded and this can take up to 45 days.

Hot Tip: Don’t forget that you must click through from the shopping portal using the retailer’s Shop Now button on each visit, otherwise the transaction won’t be registered.

Click Categories and then All Retailers to get a comprehensive list of participating stores, which you can sort alphabetically, by earning rate, by date added, or by most popular.

Special Offers for Extra Bonus Points

Keep your eyes peeled for these special bonus offers, as there is greater earning potential with retailers from time to time. To find them, click the Offers tab and browse retailers that are offering more than their usual points.

For example, at the time this article was written, Macy’s was offering double the normal amount of points per $1, with 4 points per $1 instead of 2 points per $1 spent.

Some retailers will also offer voucher codes with exclusive and non-exclusive promotions, including percentage savings and free shipping. Coupled with those extra bonus points, it’s a win-win situation!

Hot Tip: If you are curious how these bonuses compare to other portals, use CashBack Monitor to easily check over 40 different shopping portals.

Participating Retailers

Virgin Atlantic has over 1,000 participating retailers to choose from on the Shops Away portal, ranging from well-known global brands to smaller independents.

At the time this article was written, these were some of the bonus point offers:

• ESPN+ annual subscription: 450 points
• Groupon: 7x points per $1
• KitchenAid: 5x points per $1
• Ray-Ban: 6x points per $1
• Selfridges: up to 5x points per $1
• …and much more!

The Shops Away Point Finder Toolbar

The Shops Away Point Finder Toolbar is a handy tool if you’re a forgetful person who might not remember to click through from the shopping portal.

It also just saves you time, since it uses a browser extension that works with Chrome to display an alert when you’re visiting a website that offers bonus points.

It’s as simple as that, and it’s free to use — so you’ll never miss out on a precious point again.

Using Credit Cards to Earn Extra Points

You can earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points and then use the Chase transfer partners to move the points to your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account. Ultimate Rewards are easy to earn, especially when using one of their rewards cards for purchases.

Our recommendation is to use one of the Chase cards below when making purchases through the Virgin Atlantic shopping portal. The points earned by using the card will be added to the total bonus points for that retailer.

POPULAR FIRST CARD

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

U.P. Rating

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

A fantastic travel card with a huge welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.

Learn More(at Chase's secure site)

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

A fantastic travel card with a huge welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.

Welcome Offer

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards^®.

60,000 points

UP's Bonus Valuation*:

$1,200

Annual Fee

$95

APR

21.49%-28.49% Variable

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.

Good to Excellent (670-850)

Why We Like This Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® card is one of the best travel rewards cards on the market. Its bonus categories include travel, dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services, which gives you the opportunity to earn lots of bonus points on these purchases.

Additionally, it offers flexible point redemption options, no foreign transaction fees, and excellent travel insurance coverage including primary car rental insurance. With benefits like these, it’s easy to see why this card is an excellent choice for any traveler.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 5x points on all travel booked via the Chase Travel portal
• 5x points on select Peloton purchases over $150 (through March 31, 2025)
• 5x points on Lyft purchases (through March 31, 2025)
• 3x points on dining purchases, online grocery purchases, and select streaming services
• 2x points on all other travel worldwide
• $50 annual credit on hotel stays booked through the Chase Travel portal
• 6 months of complimentary Instacart+ (activate by July 31, 2024), plus up to $15 in statement credits each quarter through July 2024
• Excellent travel and car rental insurance
• 10% annual bonus points
• No foreign transaction fees
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs like United MileagePlus and World of Hyatt

Cons

• $95 annual fee
• No elite benefits like airport lounge access or hotel elite status

Card Highlights

• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
• Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more.
• Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
• Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024.
• Member FDIC

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 21.49%-28.49% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Card Categories

• Credit Card Reviews
• Credit Cards
• Travel Rewards Credit Cards
• Best Sign Up Bonuses

Rewards Center

Chase Ultimate Rewards

More Reads

• The Chase Sapphire Preferred 80k or 100k Bonus Offer
• Benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Score Requirements
• Military Benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Chase Freedom Unlimited vs Sapphire Preferred
• Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Reserve
• Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred

American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou Points also provide a 1:1 transfer rate to Virgin Points if you’re looking to top-up your points.

Final Thoughts

With over 1,000 participating retailers, you really are spoiled for choice on the Shops Away online portal. If you’re a frequent flyer with Virgin Atlantic, then it’s definitely worth logging in and having a look around.

There are some great bonus offers available, and with the nifty browser plugin, you don’t even need to click through from the portal each time. The plugin will guide you through activating the tracking so you can carry on shopping as normal. You’ll be booking your next reward flight in no time.