Virgin is offering an unprecedented gift to its most devoted fliers. The company, which opened a gateway to space in October 2011, will award a traveler who earns the most frequent flyer points from booking its flights until August 7, 2013 with a free trip on the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo shuttle. The project titled “Virgin America Presents Mission: Galactic” is a great opportunity to rocket into the space without paying a cent—the points are collected for flights consumers were on.

Photo: A snapshot from the loading page Virgin America Presents Mission: Galactic

“Fly Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic, and Virgin Australia throughout the year to reach the ultimate status: Galactic. Earn the most Elevate status points by August 7, 2013 to win a Virgin Galactic suborbital space flight,” says the dedicated page at www.galacticcontest.virginamerica.com. This one-of-a-lifetime opportunity to become a space traveler for free will be given to just one lucky winner—normally, such passengers are asked to pay at least $200,000, the starting price. The runner-up will also get awarded for his loyalty to the company—Virgin will hand it a ticket for a free zero-gravity flight.

So far, the company doesn’t drive people to the suborbital level, it will start taking fare-paying customers into space in December 2013. “The initial flights will be sub-orbital, which will give people a taste of space,” commented Richard Branson, Virgin CEO, according to CNN. “From there we’ll go into orbital flights and maybe one day hotels in space.”