i am a vigin fan but am i right in thinking that you can only get virgin air miles if you book direct with virgin and not thru a broker etc?

if this is the case then i cant see the point of it cos the extra you pay to book direct seems to far out weigh the cost of just buying the 'free' flight?

and how many flights to florida/new york do you need to get a free one(i am aware you can get extra miles with virgin creditcards)

any ideas?