How to Navigate Mexico’s Volaris Airlines’ Friends & Family v.club Membership
Author's Note: The program has changed since this article was published. The current v.club membership offers a discount per flight and ticket promos. The other perks described in this article are outdated, however, there are some good tips such as waiting for a promo code before booking. Our family had positive experiences with flying Volaris in 2022.
Volaris Airlines is Mexico’s cheap carrier – seats may not recline, no screens in the seatbacks, and you pay for all upgrades such drinks including water, snacks, carry-on luggage, seat assignments, and bathroom access (just kidding, but probably shouldn’t give them any ideas).
However, Volaris offers both domestic and international flights at reasonable prices. This is perfect for budget travel, but there’s more…
If you have children aged 2-12 or you’re traveling with a group or you plan 2+ flights with Volaris, you may find purchasing a Friends & Family v.club membership is worthwhile.
Benefits of the Friends & Family v.club membership include:
Discounted airfares
No longer offered: Discounted luggage charges (both carry-on and checked)
No longer offered: Children aged 2-12 fly “free”: zero base fare, still pay airport taxes
The membership holder can include 9 people on each reservation at the reduced rates (must include the individual who has purchased the membership)…the additional passengers do not need to be family members
This membership comes in two different formats: domestic-flights-only or all-flights including international travel. Annual costs are MXN$1999 for the domestic-only membership and USD$149 for international (note: the airline publishes a disclaimer stating that pricing may change depending on the route flown).
Our family of five with one “child” and two older teens planned two domestic flights within the country as well as one international flight to depart Mexico. After crunching the numbers, we decided to purchase the international v.club membership as it more than paid for itself.
Begin Your Flight Search The membership sign-up option happens just prior to checkout, so first decide which plan you need. If you want the international membership, arrange your international flight first.
Navigate to the Volaris.com website which lands on the search page. Before you get too excited about entering flight details, notice the following:
BONUS Money-Saving Tips:
1. Change the currency to MXN pesos (this will eliminate the steep currency conversion fees, saving ~15% if you have a credit card without foreign transaction fees):
2. Hover over the “Have a Promocode?” box…occasionally they offer a special deal. Just click it, there are no special requirements to access the codes in the drop-down menu.
3. Now open the flight date calendar to observe pricing differences. You can select your date(s) depending on the fares.
Completing Ticket Selection & Purchasing Membership
The rest of the process is quite simple. Click the search feature to bring you to the possible itineraries and pricing page. Here is where you’ll see the difference in regular and v.club fares.
Select the down arrow on the v.club prices (you do not need to have the membership arranged yet, they’ll add it at checkout) and select the fare you want. Remember all carry-ons are charged baggage fees; our family chose Classic pricing.
Once you select the seat price you’re willing to pay, a pop-up appears with the option to purchase the membership. Though they list the monthly price, the full year is paid upfront.
Confirm you’d like to have the v.club pricing and you’re taken to a page which breaks down all the fares, taxes, membership rate, etc. This is where you set up your account login/password for future bookings (remember this login info so you can access your membership).
The remainder of the booking process is straightforward. You have the option to add baggage, flexible booking surcharge, and seat selection. It’s a good idea to pay for any additional bags you’ll check at this time. However, if you’d rather not pay for seat selection, just hit the “continue” button to bypass the seat charges. You’ll be assigned the leftover seats at check-in.
Note: our family typically declines seat selection and has had very good luck being seated together on other airlines. However, if you’re traveling with young children and want to guarantee you’ll sit near each other, it’s probably worth the upgrade at least for a few of the passengers.
Eventually you’ll come to a screen where the airport tax is charged. You must tick the checkbox for the airport taxes (taxes are calculated on total number of travelers). You’ll also be offered the option to receive promotional emails… if you plan additional flights, sign up.
Booking Subsequent Flights with Your Membership Step 1: Before you book any other flights, wait a few days and watch your email spam folder. Within a week, you’ll be offered a promo code which is dependent on purchase date (compra) and travel date (viaja). For example, this one is 20%-off regular prices and an additional 10%-off the v.club rates.
Step 2: When the code matches your travel dates, login to the Volaris site to access your membership. Follow the initial steps of changing the currency to pesos, date selection, etc and enter your promocode to search the flights. Book your tickets and enjoy your travels!
Consider Joining Us in Mexico! The Worldschool Pop-Up Hub has multiple events planned in Mexico for 2022. Come and explore these Mexican destinations with other worldschoolers:
Cabo San Lucas – January 23-30, 2022
Merida – February 20-27, 2022
Guanajuato – February 27-March 6, 2022
Guanajuato – March 12-19, 2022
Mexico City -- April 9-16, 2022
Other Notes: *The legroom is reportedly skimpy; consider purchasing exit row seating if you are tall. *Disclaimer: This article is not a recommendation to use Volaris as a carrier, it’s merely an explanation of their v.club program. My family has traveled on other budget airlines before with excellent results. However, please read reviews of personal travel experiences before purchasing tickets. EDITED TO ADD: Our flights met our expectations for a budget carrier. Though do note -- they often change the departure gate without warning or do not post the gate until after "boarding time" begins. It adds a little stress but was not an issue for us.
*Have you traveled on Volaris? Let us know about it in the comments.