Virgin Atlantic joins Skyteam, how to get status in Flying Club by flying ITA

I have just published the news regarding the debut, official, of Virgin Atlantic in the Skyteam alliance among all the details of this entry I want to focus on an interesting piece of news for all ITA Airways Italian passengers who want to accumulate points on the British carrier's loyalty program instead of Volare or other Skyteam loyalty programs, at least as long as ITA Airways remains in this alliance.

To date, one of the many shortcomings of Volare, ITA Airways' loyalty program., is to disallow the accumulation of points when flying on carriers other than ITA, no matter what the flight number or who issued the ticket. Similarly, it is difficult, if not impossible, to accumulate points on a program other than Volare if you fly on a Skyteam code-share ticket, the only exception being The agreement signed at the end of 2022 with Korean Air.

Benefits provided for the Silver level in the Flying Club

To obtain the Silver level, one must accumulate at least 400 qualifying points, and the main benefits are:

• 30% bonus Virgin Points on every flight
• Use of premium economy check-in desks where available
• priority boarding
• free seat assignment in Economy Light
• 7% discount on Virgin Holidays bookings

Benefits provided for the Gold level in the Flying Club

To obtain the Silver level, one must accumulate at least 400 qualifying points; the main benefits are:

• Virgin Points bonus of 60% on every flight
• Clubhouse access
• Access to Heathrow lounge (arrivals)
• Use of Upper Class check-in desks
• Priority boarding
• Free seat assignment in Economy Light
• Free exit row seat in Economy Classic
• Additional baggage allowance
• 10% discount on Virgin Holidays bookings

How to accumulate qualifying points by flying ITA

The concept of Virgin Atlantic's qualifying points resumes the same mode used by British Airways' Executive Club and Air France and KLM's Flying Blue programs, depending on the length of flight and class of travel, a fixed number of qualifying points are earned.

Cabin	Flight of less than 2000 miles	Flight greater than 2000 miles
Business	30	75
Premium Economy	20	50
Economy	10	25

This means, for example, a round-trip Linate Palermo ticket with a stopover in Rome in business class will earn 120 qualifying points. Climbing the Flying Club program will therefore be very easy even if you spend a few hundred euros per flight.

How to accumulate Flying Club points by flying ITA

While qualifying points are used to achieve status, and reset every year, FC points are those that can be used to book award tickets, for example in the beautiful and brand new Upper Class aboard A330/900neo aircraft.

In this case, the accumulation of ITA flying points will be calculated based on the distance traveled and the status held according to the following table.

Cabin	Ticket class	Virgin Points accumulated
Business	J, C, E, D, I	200%
Premium	P	150%
Premium	A	100%
Economy	Y, B, M, H	150%
Economy	K, V, T	100%
Economy	N, S, Q, X, W	50%
Economy	L, O, F	25%

In addition to this, elite members will get an additional bonus of 30% if Silver holders or 60% if Gold holders.

Still no award tickets using Virgin points with ITA

ITA is currently one of two airlines excluded from award ticket redemption agreements by Flying Club, and the reason is known to Flying members since there is no award table in the Flying program.

In conclusion

Given ITA's impending departure from Skyteam this option could be a great plan B for those who want to retain an Elite status by flying with ITA and accumulating with in a program other than Volare.