How I Earned Free Honeymoon Flights Using Virgin Points During Wedding Year
Gliding through Heathrow Airport before enjoying prosecco in a lounge, my happiness wasn't solely due to my impending Caribbean honeymoon. I was also beaming because my new husband and I secured our Virgin Atlantic flights to Saint Vincent for 'free', paying only £596 in taxes. We achieved this by accumulating more than 140,000 Virgin Points over a year of wedding spending.
The Loyalty Points Trend
We are far from alone in this approach. According to Virgin Red's annual Points Index report, nearly three-quarters of consumers (74 percent) have used loyalty points to pay for part or all of a flight. If you want to replicate this success, here is exactly how I built up hundreds of thousands of points in just twelve months – without significantly altering my spending habits.
Step One: The Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card
The initial step is remarkably straightforward: signing up for a Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card. This card offers 0.75 points for every pound spent, plus a bonus of 3,000 points on your first purchase. Given it was our wedding year, my total spending reached an eye-watering £105,000 over twelve months. That expenditure alone earned me 81,750 points – sufficient for return flights to New York and almost enough for Premium class.
Bridging the Points Gap
Despite this, I remained more than 70,000 points short of our honeymoon flights. As a regular Tesco shopper, I registered to automatically convert my Clubcard points into Virgin Points. By joining the Virgin Flying Club online and linking my account to my Clubcard, I immediately received 5,000 points. Over the year, I spent £3,877 on groceries at Tesco, securing an additional 7,754 points without changing my shopping routine.
Additional Points Opportunities
Another effortless gain came from sharing a referral link with friends. Ten sign-ups earned me 10,000 points. Purchasing Virgin Money's annual multi-trip travel insurance added 3,500 points, while switching my energy provider to Octopus Energy provided a further 5,000. The points began accumulating surprisingly quickly.
Maximising Online Purchases
Most of our wedding suppliers were small independent businesses not part of Virgin Shops Away or Virgin Red schemes. However, for every online purchase, I ensured to use these portals first to earn points on each pound spent. For instance, spending £90 on bridesmaids' dresses at Pretty Lavish earned 540 points. A £200 purchase at ASOS for bridesmen suits and ties yielded 200 points. My £99 bridal shoes from Rainbow Club at John Lewis added another 99 points.
Significant Wedding Expenses
While my wedding dress from What Alice Wore wasn't eligible, the Whistles suit I wore for my civil wedding at Greenwich Town Hall earned a substantial 4,244 points from a £528 spend. After a trial with my makeup artist using Charlotte Tilbury products, I spent £136 at Sephora on foundation, lipstick, powder, and setting spray, gaining 1,088 points.
Everyday Purchases Add Up
It wasn't just major wedding items that contributed. Hiring a car from Avis to transport wedding materials added 1,200 points. Buying gifts and matching pyjamas for the wedding party on Etsy brought in approximately 1,000 points from a £500 spend. A £50 Waterstones order for honeymoon books added 200 points. Even smaller purchases like £70 of Vivienne Westwood wedding jewellery for my husband earned 280 points, and £85 spent on wedding underwear at Ann Summers added 340 points.
Accommodation and Stationery
With our wedding at Hedsor House in Taplow, Buckinghamshire, and most guests from London, we booked twelve rooms at Burnham Beeches Hotel through Booking.com. The generous exchange rate of eight points per pound earned us 12,960 points from a £1,620 booking – one of the largest boosts of the year. Wedding stationery from Papier, including a welcome board and thank-you cards, added another 630 points from a £193.20 spend.
Post-Wedding and Beauty Points
After the wedding, I purchased a 2026 diary with our photos for £24. Our wedding album and photo canvases from Photobox, costing £400, earned 1,600 points as a new customer. As someone who spends considerably on hair and nails, I was pleasantly surprised to earn points on beauty appointments. I accumulated 790 points from £1,580 spent on Treatwell and 1,429 points from £1,429 spent at Rush Greenwich on hair treatments.
Transport and Final Tally
Another valuable discovery was the Virgin Trains Ticketing app, which provides three points per pound spent. Switching from Trainline, I earned 2,976 points on £992.50 worth of train tickets in one year. By year's end, I had amassed 142,720 points – more than enough for two Virgin Atlantic return flights from Heathrow to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, costing 124,000 points plus £596 in taxes and fees.
The Ultimate Reward
The best part? I didn't alter my spending habits at all. I simply ensured every pound I was already spending worked harder, transforming an expensive wedding year into a Caribbean honeymoon for almost nothing.
