Virgin Atlantic's High Five: A Refreshing Take on Loyalty That Actually Values Your Time

In an industry obsessed with annual spend and tier points, Virgin Atlantic has just announced something rather remarkable: a loyalty reward that doesn't punish you for being a normal person with a normal life. Enter High Five, a programme that rewards Flying Club members simply for choosing Virgin Atlantic over multiple years, regardless of how often you fly or how much you spend.

Launching in January 2026, High Five offers 12,000 Virgin Points to any Flying Club member who has flown with Virgin Atlantic in any five distinct calendar years. The years don't need to be consecutive, and both cash tickets and award flights count. Even better? The tracking is backdated to 1 January 2021, meaning tens of thousands of members will qualify immediately when the programme launches.

Let's be honest: most airline loyalty programmes are designed for road warriors and frequent business travellers. If you're flying once or twice a year - perhaps a summer holiday to Barbados or a winter escape to New York - traditional status programmes feel out of reach. You watch the tier points tick up slowly, knowing you'll never hit Silver, let alone Gold.

Virgin Atlantic has recognised this reality and done something genuinely innovative. High Five acknowledges that loyalty isn't just about frequency - it's about choice. If you consistently choose Virgin Atlantic for your annual holiday when you could easily book with British Airways, Emirates, or any other carrier, that deserves recognition.

I hold Virgin Atlantic Gold status (matched from my BA Gold), so I'm not the primary target audience for this programme. But I absolutely love what Virgin Atlantic is doing here. It's a refreshing departure from the transactional nature of modern airline loyalty.

Here's exactly how High Five works:

The 12,000 points is enough for a return Saver award from London to New York in economy (before taxes), or you can put it towards Premium Economy which starts from 16,500 points return. If you have a household account, multiple family members can earn the 12,000 points and pool them together for a more substantial redemption.

This is where it gets exciting for many readers. If you've flown Virgin Atlantic in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, you already qualify. Come January 2026, you'll wake up 12,000 Virgin Points richer without having to lift a finger.

Even if you've missed a year, you're likely close to qualifying. Perhaps you flew in 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025 - you'd just need one more flight in 2026 or beyond to hit that fifth year and unlock your reward.

One important caveat: you must have had a Flying Club account to have your flights tracked. If you've been flying Virgin Atlantic without being a Flying Club member, those flights won't count retrospectively. This underscores why it's always worth signing up for airline loyalty programmes, even if you think you'll never earn status.

I'll admit, when I first heard about High Five, I was sceptical about the backdating decision. Virgin Atlantic is being almost too generous by tracking flights back to 2021. If they'd backdated it to 2022 instead, it would have created a stronger incentive for people who are sitting on four qualifying years to book a flight in 2026.

That said, I understand Virgin Atlantic's strategy here. By crediting tens of thousands of members immediately, they're creating goodwill and reminding occasional travellers that Flying Club exists and values their custom. It's essentially a mass loyalty marketing exercise that costs Virgin Atlantic relatively little (12,000 points per qualified member) but generates significant positive sentiment.

The real genius of High Five is that it's ongoing. Once you've earned your first 12,000 points, the counter effectively resets. You'll need to fly in another five distinct years to earn the next batch of points. This creates a long-term engagement mechanism that keeps Virgin Atlantic on your radar when booking holidays.

The 10% ongoing points bonus for Red tier members is a nice touch too. Whilst Silver and Gold members already earn 30% and 60% bonus points respectively, this gives non-status members a small but meaningful boost on future flights.

To my knowledge, no other airline offers anything quite like High Five. Most loyalty programmes are strictly transactional - your value is determined by what you've spent in the past 12 months, full stop.

Virgin Atlantic has form when it comes to innovative loyalty features. They were one of the first airlines to count award flights towards elite status, and they offer unlimited reward seat availability (albeit at variable pricing). The fact that Virgin Points never expire is another passenger-friendly policy that sets them apart.

High Five fits perfectly with this philosophy. It's a programme that says 'we value your consistent choice to fly with us' rather than 'we only care about how much you spent last year.'

Let's be pragmatic: 12,000 Virgin Points isn't going to change your life. It's enough for a one-way economy Saver award from London to New York (9,000 points) or a return to New York if you can find availability, but you'll still need to pay the taxes and carrier charges on top.

However, I'd argue that's rather missing the point. High Five isn't meant to be a massive windfall - it's a thank you gesture. It's 12,000 points you weren't expecting to receive, and it's enough to make a meaningful dent in your next redemption.

If you're already collecting Virgin Points through credit cards, flying, or other means, an extra 12,000 points could push you over the threshold for a premium cabin redemption you've been eyeing. And if multiple family members qualify through a household account, you could be looking at 24,000, 36,000, or even more points arriving at once.

If you're not already a Flying Club member, join now. It's free, and you'll start accumulating years towards High Five eligibility. Even if you only fly once a year, having a Flying Club account ensures you're building towards this reward.

For those sitting on four qualifying years, there's now a clear incentive to book at least one Virgin Atlantic flight before the end of 2026. That fifth year unlocks your 12,000 points, and the clock starts ticking on your next five-year cycle.

If you've already qualified (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025), congratulations! Your points will arrive automatically in January 2026. You don't need to do anything - just wait for the notification and then start planning how to use them.

From early 2026, you'll be able to track your progress towards the next High Five reward directly in the Virgin Atlantic app. This is a smart move - seeing that you're three or four years into your next cycle creates a psychological nudge to stick with Virgin Atlantic when booking your next holiday.

High Five represents a refreshing approach to airline loyalty at a time when many programmes feel increasingly punitive and transactional. British Airways recently introduced sweeping changes to its Executive Club programme that have been met with mixed reactions, whilst other carriers continue to devalue their currencies and restrict award availability.

Virgin Atlantic is swimming against this tide by introducing a programme that's genuinely member-friendly. High Five costs the airline relatively little to run (the points have a low cost to Virgin Atlantic), but it generates significant goodwill amongst a segment of their customer base that traditional status programmes ignore.

As Anthony Woodman, Vice President of Flying Club, noted: 'High Five is our newest way of saying thank you to those customers who choose us whenever they can, no matter how frequently. For our leisure travellers in particular, we know that this will ensure that they feel the love from Virgin Atlantic. After all, loyalty flies many different ways – and at Flying Club we believe it should be for everyone.'

That philosophy - that loyalty should be for everyone, not just business travellers and road warriors - is something I can wholeheartedly support.

High Five won't revolutionise the airline loyalty landscape, and 12,000 points won't fund a luxury holiday. But that's not the point. What Virgin Atlantic has created is a programme that recognises and rewards consistent choice over time, regardless of frequency or spend.

For occasional travellers who've been quietly loyal to Virgin Atlantic over the years, High Five is a welcome acknowledgement that your custom matters. For the rest of us in the points and miles game, it's a reminder that loyalty programmes can still innovate in passenger-friendly ways.

If you've been on the fence about joining Flying Club or booking with Virgin Atlantic, High Five removes one more barrier. Sign up, start accumulating those yearly flights, and enjoy the journey. After all, that's what travel should be about.

Safe travels,

Jack