In November 2017, I wrote the post: Good News: Virgin Atlantic Card Approved, Bad News: The 24k Spend. In November 2018, I wrote: Keep Vs. Cancel: Virgin Atlantic Card. In it I said, “I transferred MR’s using Amex’s 30% bonus to reach the 120k threshold for a RT to Japan on ANA first from the east coast. Now that the card is closed, the only thing left to do is book my trip. I’ve been to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. While I would like to see other cities, I wouldn’t mind going back, especially if I can stay at the St. Regis Osaka again.”
On March 5th, I told Ms. TPOL that we have no immediate plans to go to Japan either for a TPOL trip or for a residency (see Vote Where TPOL Moves AFTER Albania…And I’ll Go!). I said that we’ve been hanging on the Virgin points for so long that they’ll be devalued by the time we’re ready to go.
On March 7th, my premonition came true. The 120k first-class round trip to Japan was gone (see Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Devalues ANA Awards). The new cost to fly first from the east coast is 170k.
I only have myself to blame for hoarding these points for five years. At the same time, I no longer care as much about the novelty of flying first as I did before. Once Alaska devalued the Emirates first redemption, I began to accept that aspirational awards on certain carriers would become increasingly challenging. I shifted my focus from getting to point A to point C with a stopover in point B stylistically (see Emirates First Class to Shanghai: Don’t Stop the Party) to getting from point A to point B, C, D, E, F efficiently i.e., using round the world and other clever booking tricks (see Revealed: An Insane Use of The United ‘Free’ One way (Part 1 & Part 2)). The last round-the-world trip I flew 25,000 miles in business to too many destinations (see 25,000 Mile RTW Trip Including Iraq Booked!). While the logistics are noteworthy, I don’t think anyone was jealous of my LOT business class flight from JFK to WAW (see LOT JFK-WAW: It’s How You Finish) or my 8 business class flights on Turkish (see Vilnius to IST: Turkish Flight Review 1 out of 8).
This brings me back to the Virgin devaluation. It would have been nice to plan my Japan residency and use these to arrive and depart in style. But sometimes I miss out on redemptions. And that’s ok.
I tried repeatedly. Never any award space open
I never checked obsessively but that is the general consensus. And for two people? I did find flights to Mexico City when I was doing the ANA rtw but that’s about it.