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On March 1, 2022, Virgin Red joined as the 17th Capital One transfer partner. And it seems the partners want to mark their first anniversary together. Capital One is back with a transfer bonus to Virgin Red — the collective loyalty program for the Virgin Group. This transfer bonus is valid now through 11:59 pm U.S. Eastern Time on March 31, 2023.
This Capital One transfer bonus to Virgin unlocks some stunningly good deals — such as Delta One business class awards to mainland Europe from 38,500 Capital One miles or one-way ANA first class awards to Japan starting at just 34,700 Capital One miles.
However, you will need to set up a Virgin Red account and link it to your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account before taking advantage of these deals. Let's show you how to do so and the best sweet spots unlocked by this new transfer bonus.
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Capital One Transfer Bonus to Virgin Red Key Terms
- Receive a 30% transfer bonus when converting Capital One miles to Virgin Red points.
- The promotion is valid from March 1 to March 31, 2023.
- Must transfer at least 1,000 Capital One miles.
- Above that, transfers can be in increments of 100 Capital One miles.
- Capital One notes that “rewards will be transferred to your loyalty program within 24 hours.”
Virgin Red vs. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Capital One miles transfer to Virgin Red — which is a different, but related, program from Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
Unfortunately, you can't use Virgin Atlantic Flying Club membership account information for Capital One miles transfers. Instead, you'll need to set up a new account with Virgin Red. Thankfully, the process only takes a couple of minutes.
When setting up your Virgin Red account, you'll be prompted to link your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account. Once you do, you'll see your Flying Club points balance reflected in your Virgin Red account. And any transfers into Virgin Red will automatically be available in your Flying Club account.
Best Ways to Redeem Virgin Red Points
Virgin Red is much more than just Virgin Atlantic Flying Club — but Flying Club is where most travelers will find the most value out of their Virgin points. Here are some examples of the best uses of Virgin points.
Short-Haul Delta Flights
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club uses a distance-based award chart for Delta award flights (excluding flights to Europe). When this change was implemented in early 2021, it killed off many Delta sweet spots. But, it opened up sweet spots on short nonstop Delta award flights.
Here are the rates to book Delta award flights through Flying Club:
- Up to 500 miles: 7,500 Virgin points (5,800 Capital One miles during this transfer bonus)
- 501-1,000 miles: 8,500 Virgin points (6,600 Capital One miles)
- 1,001-1,500 miles: 11,500 Virgin points (8,900 Capital One miles)
- 1,501-2,000 miles: 12,500 Virgin points (9,700 Capital One miles)
For example, you can book nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Cabo for just 8,500 Virgin points. Or splurge for first class for 27,500 Virgin points:
Booking an economy award on this route requires a transfer of just 6,600 Capital One miles during this Virgin transfer bonus. Or transfer just 21,200 Capital One miles to have enough points to book first class.
Delta One Business Class Awards to Mainland Europe
The sole Delta One business class sweet spot remaining in the Virgin Atlantic award chart is on nonstop flights to mainland Europe (not the U.K.). If you can find nonstop award availability, awards cost just 50,000 Virgin points each way:
During this Capital One transfer bonus to Virgin, you only need to transfer 38,500 Capital One miles to Virgin Red to have enough points to book this award.
Delta One business class award availability can be frustrating to find. Thankfully, there's a trick to searching awards on the Virgin Atlantic website that can make it much easier to find availability.
ANA Business and First Class to Japan
Another incredible sweet spot in the Virgin Atlantic award chart is ANA business- and first-class awards to Japan. Again, you'll need to find nonstop award availability. However, if you do, it's an incredible deal.
The U.S. is split up into three regions. ANA flights to/from Hawaii are the cheapest at just 35,000 Virgin points each way in business class or 57,500 points in first class. During this transfer bonus, you can transfer just 27,000 Capital One miles to have enough Virgin points to book business class — or just 44,300 Capital One miles to book ANA first class.
Flights from the U.S. mainland aren't much more expensive.
- 45,000 Virgin points (34,500 Capital One miles) from U.S. West Coast to Japan in ANA business class
- 47,500 Virgin points (36,600 Capital One miles) from Central/Eastern U.S. to Japan in ANA business class
- 72,500 Virgin points (55,800 Capital One miles) from U.S. West Coast to Japan in ANA first class
- 85,000 Virgin points (65,400 Capital One miles) from Central/Eastern U.S. to Japan in ANA first class
The catch? These awards aren't bookable online. So, you'll need to find award availability through another website — like United — and then call Virgin Atlantic Flying Club to book the award.
Other Virgin Red Transfer Options
Capital One is the only major transfer program that transfers to Virgin Red. However, if your Capital One miles balance falls short of funding a high-value Flying Club award redemption, you're not out of luck. You can transfer points to Virgin Atlantic from five major transferable point programs:
- American Express Membership Rewards (1:1 transfer rate)
- Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1 transfer rate)
- Citi ThankYou Rewards (1:1 transfer rate)
- Marriott Bonvoy (3:1 transfer rate with a 5,000-point bonus for transferring 60,000 points)
- Bilt Rewards (1:1 transfer rate)
Capital One to Virgin Red Transfer Bonus History
Capital One offered a transfer bonus to Virgin Red once before:
That's not bad considering Virgin Red joined as a Capital One transfer partner in March 2022. It's encouraging to see a second transfer bonus in just the one-year-old partnership.
Ways to Build Your Capital One Miles Balance
This Capital One transfer bonus is only available for a month. So, you won't be able to earn a new sign-up bonus before it ends. However, here are a few options for rebuilding your Capital One Miles balance:
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.
- Capital One Spark Miles for Business: Earn a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles - equal to $500 in travel once you spend $4,500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.
Our Take
Virgin Atlantic joined SkyTeam on March 2, 2023. Almost immediately, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club members got the chance to redeem Virgin points on more than a dozen new SkyTeam partners. Unfortunately, the shoe dropped a few days later when Virgin made a Delta-style devaluation of its ANA award charts.
Still, Virgin Atlantic still offers some of the best sweet spots in the points and miles ecosystem. This Capital One transfer bonus makes these sweet spots an even better deal.
Are you taking advantage of this Capital One transfer bonus to Virgin?
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Can you combine Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Red points? For example, if you transfer some points from CapOne to Virgin Red, and then some from Chase to Virgin Atlantic.. can you use both point balances to buy one award ticket?
Yes! Your Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic points will be automatically combined. But you just have to go through the extra steps to set up a Virgin Red account and link the two. Annoying, I know!