How You Can Now Redeem Miles for Flights to Space
The recent advances in flight technology have made it possible for commercial flights to the outer edge of Earth’s atmosphere into the beginnings of outer space. Soon, more passengers will pay for tickets and book excursions to this new frontier. With plans for commercial space travel in the future, so far, it’s something that only the very wealthy will be able to afford, but did you know that one day, you will have the opportunity to use travel points to apply toward a trip to space?
How you can now redeem miles for flights to space
The Points Guy has delivered some encouraging news for those who can’t quite raise enough cash to purchase a ticket to space. The day is coming when you could use the points that you accumulate to travel to 300,000 feet above the earth. Virgin Atlantic is making a special offer with its Flying Club to use your points towards one of the future trips that are planned. Yes, you will be able to redeem the points for space travel, but it would take around 2 million Flying Club points to pay for the cost. If you’re interested in throwing your hat in the ring for a chance to win a trip to space there are a few things you need to know. First, you must call Virgin Atlantic at 0344 874 7747. To redeem points from the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, be advised that only points that you earned on Virgin Atlantic Airways are eligible to be used in the draw for a ticket to space on Virgin Galactic flights. You cannot transfer points from other member accounts or merge them, and you cannot use family accounts or Silver Flying Club accounts for the Virgin Galactic tickets. Only the cardholder who has earned eligible points may use the points earned on his or her account and the fight may only be booked for the cardholder on Virgin Galactic.
When will space travel be an option?
Just two commercial trips to space have been successfully completed. The first by Sir Richard Branson, and the second by former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, his brother, and two other passengers including the oldest person to ever travel to space and the youngest. These pioneers are paving the way for commercial space travel which is a few steps closer to becoming a reality. Space travel will not be easy to access initially, as the next passengers will vie for a ticket by entering a drawing to win a trip after commercial space flights officially launch, according to Omaze. Virgin Galactic is currently in the process of making preparations for the new venture. According to Space.com, Virgin Galactic is going to make final test runs for the remainder of 2021 with commercial space flights commencing at some time in 2022. It’s going to be the first to gear up operations for taking passengers outside of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Flight bookings are already filling up for competitors
Virgin Galactic is not the only commercial space flight company preparing for space travel. According to Space Perspective, its program has already booked 400 reserved seats for planned excursions to space in 2024. They’re currently accepting bookings for the year 2025, but they do expect the seats to fill quickly. It’s anticipated that as commercial space flights become more frequent, the waiting lists will grow longer, and possibly become backed up for two or more years. Space Perspective has plans to make trips to space that last for six hours aboard the Spaceship Neptune.
Space Perspective travel options
Space Perspective is offering advance reservations for two commercial space travel options. Individual Space Explorer seats are available for $125,000 in US dollars per seat with a $1,000 deposit for each ticket required per explorer. The second option is the Space Explorer Full Capsule For 8 reservations. The cost is the same to book a full capsule for 8 travelers with an $8,000 deposit (refundable) required and $125,000 per explorer.
The Legacy Explorer commercial flights
Space Perspective’s first 25 flights fall under the Legacy Explorer category. The cost is $125,000 per explorer with a deposit of $12,500 required per seat or an $80,000 deposit required for a capsule of 8 ($10,000 deposit per Legacy Explorer. This indicates that the first 25 flights will require a higher deposit to reserve seats.
Bespoke space travel will be available
Space Perspective is currently advertising another option. If you would like to book a private spaceflight or observe a special occasion, the company is willing to sit down and listen to your ideas to create a customized space flight for you and your party. Although it’s still three years away, Space Perspective is preparing its Spaceship Neptune for the flights and is gearing up to make space travel a reality for recreational opportunities for the general public.
Final thoughts
The average person from the working class will not be able to afford the $125,000 that is currently asked for reserving a seat aboard Space Perspective’s flight rosters, but there are other ways to make it into space. One of them is by putting your name into the drawing to win a ticket. If you will the Virgin Atlantic contest, you will have the opportunity to use your eligible Flying Club points to help defray the cost of the ticket, which has not yet been disclosed. From all appearances, Virgin Galactic will launch its commercial space flight program two years ahead of Space Perspective, that is if everything goes according to plan. It’s going to be an exciting time in the history of mankind as we open up a new and largely unexplored new frontier.
