Virgin Atlantic provides three completely different cabins on its plane: financial system, Premium (premium financial system) and Upper Class (enterprise class).
But do you know its financial system cabin provides three very completely different fare varieties? What are the variations, and which do you have to select?
Related: Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: How to earn and redeem factors for optimum worth
Virgin Atlantic economy-class fundamentals
ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
All three Virgin Atlantic financial system fare varieties embody the next:
A seat within the financial system cabin of the planeOne 22-pound piece of carry-on baggageAll meals, snacks and drinksInflight seatback leisureThe capacity to earn Virgin factors for the flight
The three economy-class fare varieties, known as Light, Classic and Delight, then differ as follows:
ClassEconomy LightEconomy ClassicEconomy DelightChecked baggageNot includedOne 50-pound bag*One 50-pound bag*Seat choiceAvailable throughout the check-in course of (pays additional to pick out upfront)Available anytimeAvailable anytimeSeat typeStandard-legroom seat as much as 31 inchesStandard-legroom seat as much as 31 inchesExtra-legroom seat as much as 34 inches (together with in exit rows)Upgradeable to Premium or Upper Class with Virgin pointsNoYesYesPriority check-inNoNoYesPriority boardingNoNoYes
*Passengers flying to or from India, Nigeria and South Africa have a unique baggage allowance.
So why are there three completely different choices for a similar cabin? Virgin says it’s about giving passengers extra journey selections and never charging them for issues they do not need or want.
Don’t want checked baggage for a cheeky weekend in New York City? Don’t pay for it.
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Want seat choice to make sure you sit subsequent to your journey companion? There’s that possibility, too.
Economy Delight comes with some perks that airways often reserve for his or her elite members who’re flying financial system — now everybody pays for these advantages.
The three choices additionally assist Virgin compete with low-cost provider Norse Atlantic Airways on lots of the identical routes to the United States. Norse Atlantic provides very low headline fares just like the Economy Light possibility with Virgin Atlantic. When implausible sale fares are marketed with Virgin Atlantic, they’ll almost certainly be Economy Light choices.
I’d argue that an Economy Light fare with Virgin could be considerably higher than the identical on Norse Atlantic, as Norse Atlantic doesn’t embody a carry-on bag, meals or drinks without cost on its most cost-effective fares, whereas Virgin Atlantic does.
Related: This feels acquainted: A overview of Norse Atlantic Premium on the 787 from London to New York
How a lot do Virgin Atlantic Economy Light, Classic and Delight price?BEN SMITHSON/THE POINTS GUY
Looking at a spherical journey on the busy route between John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Heathrow Airport (LHR) in May 2025, I can see fares priced as follows:
Economy Light: $583Economy Classic: $743Economy Delight: $843GOOGLEFLIGHTS.COM
So, Classic is $160 greater than Light, or round 27% extra. Delight is $100 (round 13%) greater than Classic and $260 (round 44%) dearer than Light.
So which kind do you have to go for?
You may assume that Light is reasonable for a transatlantic flight on a full-service airline — Norse Atlantic might have an analogous value and never embody seat choice or checked luggage, however it additionally will not embody a carry-on bag and meals and drinks like Virgin.
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Another approach to have a look at it’s that the Classic and Delight fares are considerably dearer than the Light possibility, so take into account for those who want all these extras bundled collectively in Classic and Delight fares if you’re making an attempt to determine amongst them. If you may get away with solely carry-on baggage for an extended weekend and do not need to improve your fare with factors, bear in mind which you can pay for seat choice if you want — even doing that each methods, you may nonetheless lower your expenses versus paying the Classic value.
If you do must test a bag, notice that Virgin will cost a steep $150 round-trip for the privilege on an Economy Light fare, which is sort of the identical value distinction as upgrading to Economy Classic; you’ll be higher off paying for Economy Classic given it additionally provides free seat choice and no change charges (a fare distinction might apply). An extra $50 every approach for an extra-legroom seat is also a clever funding in Economy Delight, particularly given which you can choose an exit row seat with a Delight fare.
All Virgin Atlantic economy-class award redemptions guide into Economy Classic, whether or not you redeem Virgin factors by way of Flying Club or use a companion forex like Delta Air Lines SkyMiles miles or Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles.
There isn’t any approach to guide Economy Light or Delight fares with factors or miles, and you can not improve an Economy Classic redemption to Economy Delight with money, factors or miles, which is an odd restriction.
Related: Is Virgin Atlantic Economy Delight value it on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner?
How to earn Virgin factorsBEN SMITHSON/THE POINTS GUY
It’s simple to spice up your Virgin factors steadiness with the precise bank card, as Flying Club is a switch companion of each main program with a transferable forex:
Some of the above applications provide common switch bonuses to Flying Club, which means you would possibly want even fewer factors than you first thought.
Many of those applications provide playing cards that function terrific welcome bonuses. Here are a few of our favourite journey rewards playing cards that earn transferable factors and miles that may be transformed to Virgin factors:
Related: Combining a switch bonus and Virgin’s Saver fares: How I booked lie-flat business-class seats to London for simply 21,000 factors
Bottom line
Virgin Atlantic has cut up its financial system cabin into three completely different fare choices.
You solely must pay for what you utilize, and you’ll select between very low-cost fares with out bells and whistles and fares with nearly every part an financial system passenger may need.
Always keep in mind that Virgin Atlantic is a full-service airline, so you’ll be able to earn factors and luxuriate in meals, drinks and leisure on all flights.
If extra space is your prime precedence on lengthy flights, paying for an extra-legroom seat with an Economy Light fare could be a greater funding than paying for Economy Delight.
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