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Screen shot from Virgin America web site showing partner Virgin Atlantic
Per a recent thread on FlyerTalk Virgin America and Virgin Atlantic will be ending their airline partnership on November 13th of this month.
The update was disclosed when a Virgin America Elevate member was trying to redeem elevate points on a Virgin Atlantic flight. In response the customer service agent at Virgin America wrote:
“Thank you for contacting Virgin America Elevate Desk. My name is LaShanda and I will be assisting you on this matter. In regards to your request, beginning on November 13, 2016 Virgin Atlantic will no longer be a partner of Virgin America. It is mostly not showing on the web as our Partner Award travel due to this fact.
We do apologize about the inconvenience, if you have any other additional questions please feel free to contact us at 877-359-8474 and we will be more than willing to assist you.”
I’m a little surprised by this recent development, as the Alaska Airlines merger with Virgin America hasn’t even happened yet. Virgin Atlantic is 49% owned by Delta Airlines. Since there is little love loss between Alaska Airlines and Delta, it was predictable that the ending of this partnership would eventually take place… after the merger.
If I would to guess what accelerated the breakup, Virgin Atlantic recently overhauled their frequent flyer program, Flyer Club. A lot of these changes look to have been influenced by Delta, including the idea of breaking ties with soon to be acquired Virgin America. Delta is also know to make program changes with little to no notice.
Personally, I’m a little disappointed with this news in that I thought I had more time to use my Virgin America points on Virgin Atlantic flights.
