There’s a particular kind of frustration that frequent flyers know intimately — the moment you realize the loyalty program you’ve spent years nurturing has quietly moved the goalposts. For thousands of British Airways Executive Club members, that moment arrived in 2024 when BA announced sweeping changes to its tier points structure, effectively raising the bar for elite status in ways that left many road warriors feeling, as one London-based consultant put it, “more grounded than airborne.” Now, with Virgin Atlantic’s enhanced status match promotion closing February 23, 2026, a competitor is turning that discontent into a mass migration — and the numbers are staggering.

According to <a href=”https://www.ft.com/content/6384ee81-fab6-4024-a9ec-a0d18303a48f”>reporting by the Financial Times</a>, Virgin Atlantic is on track to poach tens of thousands of British Airways’ most loyal customers, capitalizing on what may be the most consequential loyalty program overhaul in UK aviation history. The transatlantic airline rivalry has always been fierce, but rarely has one carrier’s stumble created such a clean runway for the other.

The BA Loyalty Shake-Up: What Went Wrong?

British Airways’ revamp of its Executive Club, which began rolling out in earnest through 2024 and 2025, was designed with a clear philosophy: reward high spenders, not just high flyers. The airline shifted its tier points model to weight spend more heavily, meaning that a budget-conscious business traveler who logs 100,000 miles annually on economy fares could find themselves slipping from Gold to Silver — or off the tier ladder entirely.

The logic is financially sound from an airline CFO’s perspective. Loyalty programs have evolved into multi-billion-pound profit centers; BA’s parent company IAG reported loyalty revenue contributions exceeding £1.5 billion in 2024. Restructuring around spend rather than miles mirrors Delta SkyMiles’ controversial 2023 overhaul in the United States — a move that triggered a similar exodus there.

But the human cost to brand loyalty has been severe. <a href=”https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/advice/passengers-abandoning-british-airways”>The Telegraph has documented</a> a notable wave of passengers abandoning British Airways, with forum threads on FlyerTalk and social media communities swelling with testimonials from disgruntled BA frequent flyers who feel the airline has broken an implicit contract. “I gave them my business when there were cheaper options,” wrote one Gold card holder on a popular aviation forum. “Now they’re telling me that’s not enough.”

This is the kindling Virgin Atlantic just lit a match to.

Virgin’s Clever Counterplay: Enhanced Status Matches

Virgin Atlantic’s status match promotion — which allows qualifying BA Executive Club Gold and Silver members to receive equivalent status in its Flying Club program — is not new. Status matches are a standard competitive tool in the airline industry. What is notable is the scale of uptake and the precision of the targeting.

<a href=”https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-11/virgin-targets-british-airways-loyal-flyers-with-status-upgrade”>Bloomberg reported in February 2026</a> that Virgin Atlantic had seen a threefold increase in status match applications compared to the same period a year earlier — a figure that, extrapolated across the promotion window, suggests the airline could onboard somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 newly status-matched members before the February 23 deadline closes.

The Virgin Atlantic BA status match 2026 offer has become one of the most searched loyalty-related queries in UK travel this quarter, with an estimated 2,500 monthly searches — a signal of genuine consumer intent, not just passive curiosity. For those unfamiliar with what they’d be gaining, the comparison deserves scrutiny.

Virgin Flying Club Gold status perks include:

• Priority boarding and check-in across all Virgin Atlantic routes
• Access to Virgin Clubhouses and partner lounges (including select Delta Sky Clubs on codeshare routes)
• Bonus miles earning at an accelerated rate on Virgin and SkyTeam partner flights
• Complimentary seat selection in preferred economy and premium economy cabins
• Elite customer service lines with reduced wait times

The SkyTeam elite status perks accessible through Virgin’s alliance membership are a quietly powerful selling point. SkyTeam’s 19-airline network — including Air France-KLM, Delta, and Korean Air — means a matched Virgin Gold card holder gains reciprocal benefits across a broad global footprint. For frequent travelers to Continental Europe or Asia, this can represent a meaningfully better everyday experience than BA’s oneworld network depending on specific routes.

Economic Ripples in the Skies

To understand why this moment matters beyond the marketing spectacle, it’s worth examining the loyalty economics in aviation at a structural level.

Airline loyalty programs have been unmoored from their original purpose — rewarding flight frequency — and repositioned as financial instruments. Airlines sell miles to banks and credit card partners at rates that often exceed the revenue from the seat itself. United Airlines’ MileagePlus program was valued at approximately $22 billion in 2020 collateral filings — more than the airline’s entire fleet. This financialization means that acquiring a loyal member, particularly one who holds a co-branded credit card, is worth far more than a single booking.

When Virgin Atlantic matches a BA Gold member’s status, it isn’t just winning a transatlantic fare. It’s bidding for years of credit card spend, hotel transfers, shopping portal revenue, and the downstream ecosystem that a loyal, high-value traveler represents. <a href=”https://finance.yahoo.com/news/virgin-atlantic-lures-hundreds-ba-120300720.html”>Yahoo Finance has noted</a> that the sign-up surge represents a potentially transformative shift in Virgin’s loyalty revenue trajectory — particularly as the airline deepens its joint venture partnership with Delta Air Lines on UK-US routes.

The transatlantic airline rivalry between Virgin and BA is ultimately a proxy war for this loyalty revenue. And BA’s tier points overhaul, whatever its internal financial rationale, has handed its rival an opening that won’t come twice.

Perks That Persuade: Comparing the Programs

For the disgruntled BA frequent flyer weighing their options, the practical calculus deserves honest examination. Status matches are not unconditional gifts — they typically require meeting ongoing earning thresholds within a qualifying window, usually 90 days, to retain the matched tier.

That said, for someone already flying regularly on UK-US transatlantic routes, earning the required tier points within Virgin’s Flying Club framework is achievable. A return Virgin Atlantic Upper Class ticket from London Heathrow to JFK, for instance, earns substantial tier miles that accelerate toward Gold retention.

A side-by-side comparison for economy travelers:

The best airline loyalty switch UK calculation tilts toward Virgin for travelers whose routes align with Virgin and SkyTeam’s strengths — particularly those flying to New York, Los Angeles, or cities well-served by Delta, Air France, or KLM. For travelers heavily dependent on BA’s dominance of Heathrow slots and its extensive short-haul European network, the switch carries more trade-offs.

The Forward View: Aviation’s Loyalty Wars Enter a New Phase

What Virgin Atlantic has executed here is textbook competitive strategy — identify a competitor’s policy-driven customer dissatisfaction, lower the switching cost, and convert resentment into revenue. But the deeper story is what it reveals about the future of frequent flyer programs UK and the airlines that operate them.

BA’s revamp was not miscalculated in isolation. Airlines globally are trying to thread an impossible needle: extract more value from loyalty programs without alienating the road warriors who built those programs’ worth in the first place. Delta triggered backlash. BA triggered backlash. The lesson competitors are taking is that the window of maximum customer frustration is also a window of maximum competitive opportunity.

Virgin Atlantic, for its part, enters this phase with structural advantages it lacked a decade ago. Its Delta joint venture provides genuine transatlantic scale. Its Clubhouses remain among the most acclaimed premium lounges in UK aviation. And its Flying Club, while smaller than BA’s Executive Club, has a reputation for accessibility and customer responsiveness that its rival has struggled to maintain.

The February 23 deadline will close, but the switchers it captures won’t easily return. Research on airline loyalty transitions consistently shows that once a traveler habituates to a new program — and begins accumulating points and status within it — re-acquisition costs for the original carrier are enormous.

Thinking about making the switch before Sunday’s deadline? The process is simpler than it sounds: visit Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club status match page, upload your BA Executive Club tier documentation, and allow 72 hours for processing. Whether the match holds long-term depends on your flying patterns — but for many former BA loyalists, the question isn’t whether to switch. It’s why they waited this long.

The skies over the North Atlantic have always been contested territory. This February, they belong a little more to Virgin.

The Generation Z: The Internet Age

Marketing trends always change with time. Modern marketers need to focus on age brackets so that they may customize the products to reach the audience where it is highly demanded. Generation z is the generation that was born from 1997 to 2019 having age groups 9 to 24 years. This age group is mostly young having some specific priorities for buying any product.

Before buying the product they conduct Internet research and decide to buy the products. They search for competitors to know which product is affordable, economical, and durable. They decide to purchase the product when they are sure that this product is the best in the market after reviewing all others and consulting with friends and Experts.

Marketing Trends and Strategies

Most marketers focus on the general marketing strategy ignoring the features, specialities and interests of Generation Z thus such a marketing plan is destined to fail given the circumstances.

Marketers should focus on specialized categories so that their campaign may have a massive influence over Generation Z ultimately increasing sales and revenue.

The advertising campaign must have brand ambassadors from a specific generation so that it may attract the youth to purchase that product or service from the company.

It is pertinent to mention here that marketing trends always tend to change and Marketers keep exploring new ways to reach prospective customers. They use multiple platforms such as TV, Radio, Digital Media, Internet,email, printMedia, Newspapers and magazines etc. They implementvarious strategies to develop their marketing plans.

Marketing Experts do recommend that adopting the best consumer trends especially focusing on Generation Z will have a positive outcome and the outreach may be massive given their addiction to various social media channels, apps, websites etc. This generation is tech inspired by the craze for Smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

The research on the products by reading comparative reviews regarding the companies on Capterra, Trust Pilot, and G2etc. as well as on social media.

Marketers need a prudent approach in targeting this generation since they are educated, and well aware and the techno generation has infinite internet browsing habits and the Social Media craze or sensation. 

To focus on Generation Z, the bands, and Agencies marketers need to tailor their strategy by keeping their focus on these points which will add value to their marketing campaigns.

Make your Brand Mobile Friendly

Tech-inspired Generation Z is born with exploding digital World and the age of 4G and 5G Speed. The Marketing Plan should be fast, focused and Mobile friendly so that it may reach the target effectively. The Mobile-friendly brand has more chances of popularity given the ever-increasing number of smartphone users around the world.

Availability for multiple Platforms:

The Marketing focus should touch all the platforms such as TV, Radio, DTH, IPTV, Internet, Mobile, print and Billboards, Banners, Google Ads, and Video Marketing through Social Media platforms such as YouTube and Short Video services through Facebook Reels, Tiktok and YouTube shorts. All these contribute to tremendous success in marketing campaigns. The marketers, Brands and agencies can utilize multiple platforms and reap the benefits. Generation Z prefers social Media, Smartphones so companies must have mobile applications on the Google play store for online shopping such as KFC, Mcdonald’s, Amazon,Walmart,Food pandaetc.

Social Media Presence

Generation Z prefers to stay connected through Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter,YouTube,WhatsApp and Instagram. The brands and agencies must consider the social media platforms for wider social marketing without spending any penny as social media marketing has been a very strong tool to market your products to a wider audience, The customers between 13 to 24 years of age prefer to stay in touch with brands through social media. Therefore, social media platforms can be instrumental in crafting your next generation’s innovative, specific and tailored Marketing plan to base their outreach to this Generation Z.

Video Marketing Strategy that generates Leads

Video Marketing has been a top-notch preference of Marketers, especially Internet marketers. The Visual effects have a strong and impressive impact on the people. The video has the message, results and engagement features that keep the viewers hooked to it from the start to finish. Hence Marketers should adopt a video marketing strategy for both TV and Internet-based campaigns. The leading Marketers are of the View that a video message has more effectiveness than a dull textual message. The sites such as YouTube, Tiktok, Instagram and Facebook can be great platforms to market your products to massive social media users who can be your prospective customers. It is estimated that Over 70 to 80 per cent of people use these platforms

New horizons for engaging the customers

Social Media Influencers will play a key role to take your brand marketing to next level as the companies should keep exploring new ways to engage these youth to purchase the products and services on offer by the Companies. Social media influencers with millions of fan followings can be your brand ambassadors and recommend your products and services to their followers.

Corporate Social Responsibility

According to an estimate, about 80% of people expect that the company contributes to social good as they believe that those companies having the mission to make money or mint money may not be working on social welfare. Generation z focuses on those companies that contribute to a social cause or have any relation with charity. This gives them the satisfaction that their purchase may help those charities working on any humanitarian issue. Most of the Big companies such as Google, Yahoo, Apple, Samsung and Microsoft have a social good program, especially for schools, children and social organizations.

Quality Management and Authencity:

Generation z always prefers the Authencity or genuineness of products as they do believe that only the authentic and genuine products are quality based. The Marketers should focus on qualitative and authentic products to enhance the brand loyalty and reputation of the companies.

Effective Marketing Focus or Strategy

Finally, after a detailed discussion, it is summed up that our marketing focus should be very specific targeting the age grounds keeping the records of interests, purchasing power, affordability and the favourite platforms social media, Mobile and the Internet as Generation Z  is internet or techno generation having an advanced understanding of products. They first conduct research by reviewing similar products through compare and contrast strategy. They also give importance to customer feedback and reviews to make their Idea about the product and its quality.

Hence, marketers should optimize their marketing strategy for multiple platforms so as the reach prospective customers. The changing dynamics of marketing make it imperative to adopt innovative AI-powered Customized and Tailored strategies to achieve the targeted results. Because sticking to a prevalent strategy may not produce the results. The Marketers will have to think outside of box to devise a networked strategy having the combination of all platforms to get maximum leads and make more sales.

With over 2.3 billion users worldwide, YouTube has proven that video marketing is here to stay. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to know that publishers are increasingly using video ad networks to reach a wider audience and form a connection through creative storytelling.

In fact, ad spending in the video advertising segment is projected to reach over US$92.29 billion by 2021. Spending has a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.94% between 2021-2025.

However, this has been a long time in the making. In 2016, BuzzFeed stated that more than half of their advertising revenue was generated by video advertisements, with expectations that this number would climb to 75% in the coming years.

And, it seems it’s already paying off as they’ve seen a 3X increase in Facebook in-stream ads between June and December 2018. Similarly, The Washington Post, Forbes, CBS, and larger publishers have begun exploring alternate video advertising avenues, a.k.a. top video ad networks.

What are Video Ad Networks?

Simply put, video ad networks help both publishers and advertisers trade video ad impressions at scale. Video Ad Networks connect advertisers with publishers who want to sell ad space.

According to a Five Minute Marketing report, 85% of content consumed on the internet by 2021 will be video. As a result, 96% of marketers have invested ad spend on video, with another 61% planning to increase their budgets.

A strategically placed video ad can make you between $9 and $20 per 1,000 impressions based on location, niche, and other factors.

And, as a result of these factors, not all video advertisers will make the same amount of money.

There are many ways digital publishers of all sizes can take advantage of this by generating their own unique video content and monetizing it through programmatic demand.

Alternatively, you can utilize different partners that will actually produce the video content for you, so you can reap the benefits of video ads without creating them yourself.

Instream vs. Outstream video ads: Which is right for you?

In-stream video ads

Publishers who already have video content on their websites can run ads and their existing content. This is called “Instream video ads.”

The most reliable and frequently used system for placing video ads within a relevant video context, instream video ads allow advertisers to get into the thick of consumer video content.

However, they can also be somewhat limiting, especially if an advertiser’s audience isn’t active on their advertising channels.

Outstream video ads

Publishers without video content can place video ad units the same way they would an image or text ad, called “out-stream video ads.” Outstream is a somewhat new addition to the world of video advertising. Still, it offers a massive advantage since it can deliver video ads anywhere, anytime.

Whether a publisher chooses instream or out-stream ads, they still need to connect with buyers to run relevant online advertising campaigns.

Video ad networks allow publishers to connect with thousands of buyers so that video ad impressions are transacted. The best video ad networks also provide publishers with the technology required to run, report, and optimize video ad campaigns.

Which is the most popular platform for video ads?

Before delving into the most popular or the fastest-growing ad network, it’s important to know that as a publisher, you should select an ad network that offers technical support and the expertise needed to fight against fraudsters.

We have compiled some of the best video ad networks in the ad space so that publishers can compare and choose from our comprehensive video ad networks list.

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13 Best Video Ad Networks for Publishers

1. Primis

Primis is one of the best video discovery engine platforms. Primis is the original Video Discovery platform built to increase revenue for publishers by helping their users discover high-quality video content.

Their Video Discovery technology is used by 100s of digital publishers worldwide, empowering 300M uniques with an engagement-based video experience that recommends video content they love, automatically skipping content they don’t interact with.

Every month, Primis makes 4.8B recommendations of 3.4M pieces of content across 30 verticals leading to the monetization of over 4.5B video impressions.

Primis holds itself accountable to the highest industry standards in digital advertising. The network is safe to use and protects users against fraud.

This ad network describes itself as an endless library, as it allows publishers to exert complete control over categories, channels, and keywords that prompt the display of relevant video ads. Meanwhile, the ads are carefully selected to maximize RPMs and improve video monetization.

2. Facebook Audience Network

Publishers can join the company’s in-stream video ads system and use their original content. Since most Facebook users are on mobile devices, it’s more suitable for mobile video ad inventory. You can opt for mid-roll or pre-roll ads with FAN, as the platform does not presently support post-roll ads.

With assorted video ad formats, Facebook is a compelling addition to this list. While Facebook Audience Network is an excellent option for the video ad format, remember that CPMs depend on various factors, including bid density and location. You’ll also need to configure SSP or ad server to deliver video ads.

3. AdPlayer.Pro

AdPlayer.Pro is an outstream video ad solution, which enables publishers and content creators to generate ad revenue by monetizing editorial content, regardless of whether they have on-site video inventory or not. This platform allows publishers to display in-app and in-page video ads.

This network provides additional ad revenue with no interruption to your current ad stack through video monetization tactics.

The audience targeting of the video content served to users on the platform provides a better user experience than most ad server networks, so your ads will only be served to the highest quality audience.

4. OpenX

OpenX is a video ad network that is available across all major video ad servers, video players, and integrations, including VAST tags, header bidding, and OpenRTB maximizing inventory value via open auctions and private marketplaces.

It has also proved to be a good option in over-the-top (OTT) media services (i.e., Netflix) and can run both in-stream and outstream video ads. In-content and in-content sticky are some of the top supported formats on this ad network.

This video marketing platform is suitable for users who have access to a good amount of their own video content since it lacks a syndication service.

While it’s a major con, it has more than 50 demand-side partners on the positive side. Plus, it offers a bunch of campaign optimization and custom targeting tools.

5. Magnite

Magnite (previously known as both Rubicon Project & Telaria before the merger) is a reliable source for advertisers, serving over 65% of the global comScore 300 publishers, including big names, like CNN, Bloomberg, ESPN, and The Economist.

Magnite is known as the world’s largest independent sell-side ad platform as well as a curated programmatic advertising marketplace with a global demand to place video ads. Very few video ad networks enjoy the kind of reputation and recognition that the Rubicon video ad network does.

The merger combines Telaria’s strong, connected TV and video management operations with Rubicon’s big programmatic desktop and mobile video advertising.

Unlike other options out there, this one serves all kinds of users including, mobile and desktop users.

You will find different ad formats on this network. Plus, it provides information in real-time and can be a good option if you’re looking to monitor how campaigns are performing at a glance.

This video network also uses the latest video ad technology, including AI, to improve the delivery of rich media. Publishers who use Magnite are said to earn more revenue than publishers who use other ad networks. However, we do not have figures to test the claim.

It has enabled video header bidding, which can be used as a tool to increase competition and generate more revenue via video content.

6. SelectMedia

If you’re looking for a top video ad network in Asia, then your search ends here. This international ad system is best suited for Asian publishers and brands.

SelectMedia offers a variety of formats here, including slider playlist, in-content, bottom sticky, and overlay. 

The network runs outstream video ads and provides a bunch of reliable and user-friendly yield optimization tools to enhance revenue. Another benefit of this ad network is the freedom to micro-direct your own campaigns.

On the negative side, SelectMedia doesn’t offer very high CPMs for video ads since the auction occurs on open exchanges. Plus, unlike some other options out there, this one doesn’t let users make use of first-party data.

7. Unruly

Joining Unruly will give you access to every major DSP and trading desk, in addition to 95% of top brands found in the AdAge 100.

Unruly isn’t like other options out there because the network does not require publishers to have video content to monetize since a large number of video ad units on the platform are displayed within the content.

However, there are options for video content in the form of in-stream, out-stream, and mobile video formats.

What makes this an incredible choice for advertisers is the impressive onboarding process. It follows IAB Tech Lab’s LEAN Principles and the standards set by the Coalition for Better Ads. It offers dedicated account management for ease of use.

You will also be able to keep an eye on your video content in real-time to know how ad units are performing.

8.Verizon Media

Originally known as Oath, Verizon Media is among the most reliable names helping advertisers to run video ads. It combines some of the best assets of AOL and Yahoo and is known for offering excellent customer support.

This self-serve platform is easy to use and offers top-notch safety tools. It enables publishers to run outstream video ads by placing a script in different ad formats.

While it’s essentially a video ad network, non-video publishers can utilize Verizon Media’s syndication service. This means you will not need to rely solely on ad revenue.

8. Chocolate Platform

No video ad network list would be complete without mentioning Chocolate Platform—one of the fastest-growing video ad networks for publishers out there.

This platform primarily serves mobile developers and publishers and can be a good choice if you want to target mobile users.

However, we must mention that it doesn’t focus much on mobile sites, as 90% of the demand bids are on mobile apps, and only 10% are on the mobile web.

Due to these limitations may only be suitable for publishers who own or market mobile apps due to these limitations.

9. AdMedia

AdMedia is a unique platform, as it allows users to monetize third-party videos. It seems to be gradually growing in popularity. Still, some users are apprehensive about using this ad program due to how it operates.

Most networks connect to video ad exchanges and sell impressions. This is a universally accepted method to display ads.

However, AdMedia, like Google AdSense, works differently and only sells impressions to advertisers who are on its platform.

The platform uses contextual targeting, which can result in relevancy issues. You can, however, pick video content from its partners—making it a preferred option for publishers who do not have their own video ads to display.

10. Teads

Teads distributes video advertising to 1.9 billion people every month across some of the world’s biggest publishers. It’s one of the few ad exchanges that share high-quality video ads with mass audiences globally—much like YouTube.

At the core of Teads’ video ad platform is the goal to produce professionally-produced editorial content that captures attention and catapults viewability.

How does this global video ad network achieve this? Through contextual targeting, branding, and optimized creatives for mobile.

Brands no longer want to spend additional money on mobile advertising, which is why Teads adopts a mobile-first approach to your ad campaigns and supports many different ad formats, including video and display.

According to the company, Teads achieves a 30% increase in reach on target vs. Nielsen benchmarks and scans 100 million articles to understand what 1.9 billion consumers are reading each month to help inform their ad inventory.

While it’s best suited for publishers who own video content, you can still use it if you don’t produce your own, as it can provide thousands of videos for your campaign.

11. Fyber

Fyber offers video ads and a large number of ad formats and is said to be best suited for premium brands. It takes data very seriously and is one of the few ad platforms that offer information in real-time.

This programmatic tool mainly focuses on mobile-first video formats such as VPAID for mobile. You can choose from a number of ad units, including banner, vertical, landscape, and square.

Fyber brings a lot of tools under one platform and even allows publishers to run A/B tests to find what works and what doesn’t. With this tool, you will be able to attract more advertisers.

Such features make this one of the best ads networks for video ads and rich media ads.

12. Undertone

Undertone works with publishers who have an existing video library. You will not find a lot of video ad formats on this platform. However, it’s still in demand due to higher CPMs.

It mainly promotes full-screen takeover ads and offers limited ad and rich media customization options. With the right video campaigns, you will be able to create an ad that exceeds your business goals.

What next?

These were some of the best video ad networks for publishers.

As a publisher, your target should be to optimize every page and earn as much as you can. Learn how to create the right ad to make sure you can attract big brands. The key lies in generating “impressions” without affecting the user experience.

Some networks provide tips on making a high-quality video ad. Look for ad resources and work on your skills to create a successful ad campaign and maximize your video inventory to achieve your goals.

Also, don’t forget the importance of ad analytical tools that offer real-time figures to know how your videos perform.