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Citi ThankYou just launched a 30% transfer bonus when you transfer your ThankYou points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. This offer runs through October 14, 2023 and it unlocks some spectacular award pricing — from 6k points for a domestic Delta flight to 35k points for an ANA business class award from the mainland U.S. to Japan.
If this transfer bonus sounds familiar, that may be because it matches a transfer bonus offered between mid-February and mid-March 2023. Considering the sweet spots it unlocks, we are happy to see it return!
Citi Transfer Bonus to Virgin Atlantic Key Terms
- Receive a 30% bonus when you transfer Citi ThankYou points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
- The promotion is valid through 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 14, 2023.
- Must transfer points in increments of 1,000 Citi points.
- Based on AwardWallet user data points, points transfer from Citi Thank You to Virgin Atlantic immediately.
Citi has hardcoded this transfer bonus, so you'll receive 1,300 Virgin Atlantic points for every 1,000 Citi ThankYou points you transfer.
Best Ways to Use Virgin Atlantic Points
Fly to Japan in ANA business class or first class
One of the best awards in the points and miles world is booking ANA business or first class using Virgin Atlantic points. One-way ANA business class awards cost just:
- 35,000 Virgin points to/from Hawaii — 27k Citi points during this transfer bonus
- 45,000 Virgin points to/from the U.S. West Coast — 35k Citi points during this transfer bonus
- 47,500 Virgin points to/from the U.S. East Coast or Europe — 37k Citi points during this transfer bonus
ANA first class awards aren't as sweet after a recent devaluation. However, this can still be an incredible deal. Book one-way ANA first class from the U.S. West Coast for 72,500 Virgin points (56k Citi points) or from the U.S. East Coast/Europe for 85,000 Virgin points (66k Citi points).
Even without the transfer bonus, these award rates are excellent. With this 30% transfer bonus from Citi to Virgin Atlantic, these award rates are downright excellent:
| Route | Cabin | Virgin Points Needed (one-way) | Citi Point Transfer Needed (during 30% transfer bonus) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii - Japan | ANA business class | 35,000 Virgin points | 27k ThankYou points |
| U.S. West Coast - Japan | ANA business class | 45,000 Virgin points | 35k ThankYou points |
| U.S. East Coast - Japan | ANA business class | 47,500 Virgin points | 37k ThankYou points |
| Hawaii - Japan | ANA first class | 57,500 Virgin points | 45k ThankYou points |
| U.S. West Coast - Japan | ANA first class | 72,500 Virgin points | 56k ThankYou points |
| U.S. East Coast - Japan | ANA first class | 85,000 Virgin points | 66k ThankYou points |
One thing to remember is that ANA's first-class award space is unicorn-level award space. If you are fortunate enough to find availability, you'll want to act instantly to book it. These tend to get snapped up pretty quickly.
Delta business class awards to Europe
In 2021, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club devalued its Delta award chart. After the initial backlash, Virgin Atlantic threw award travelers a bone. Travelers would still be able to book Delta award flights to mainland Europe for 30,000 Virgin points each way in economy (meh) or 50,000 Virgin points in Delta One business class (wow!).
During this 30% transfer bonus, that means you can book Delta awards to Europe for 24k Citi points in economy or just 39k Citi points in business class.
With a deal like this, it might not be surprising that it's hard to find award availability. However, if you can find availability, this is an excellent deal. We recommend using the Virgin Atlantic reward seat calendar to search for up to a month of award availability at a time.
Domestic Delta award flights for 6k Citi points
One sweet spot in the new Virgin Atlantic award chart for Delta is being able to book Delta award flights from 7,500 Virgin points. While this is limited to routes under 500 miles in distance, AwardWallet found nearly 400 Delta routes bookable through Virgin Atlantic at this rate.
During this 30% transfer bonus, you need to transfer just 6,000 Citi ThankYou Points to get enough Virgin Atlantic points to book one of these awards.
Fly to London on Virgin Atlantic
Heck, you can even book Virgin Atlantic using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points! The key is to target Virgin’s standard season reward table and stay away from peak season travel. Round-trip awards between the U.S. and the U.K. vary based on the region you're flying from/to:
- U.S. Northeast: 20,000 points in economy, 35,000 points in premium economy, and 95,000 points in Upper Class (plus high taxes and fees).
- Midwest & South: 25,000 points in economy, 45,000 points in premium economy, and 95,000 points in Upper Class (plus high taxes and fees).
- U.S. West Coast: 30,000 points in economy, 55,000 points in premium economy, and 135,000 points in Upper Class (plus high taxes and fees).
Fortunately, availability on Virgin’s airline is relatively easy to find. This has been especially true since the middle of 2022 when Virgin announced that it would allocate 12 award seats on every Virgin Atlantic flight. Now, Virgin opens the following award space on each flight:
- Eight economy award seats.
- Two premium economy award seats.
- Two Upper Class award seats.
Boosting Your Virgin Atlantic Points Balance
You have other options if you find a great award option, but you are a few points short in your Citi and Virgin accounts. Fortunately, you can transfer six major flexible points currencies to Virgin. Therefore, you can use any of these to top off your points balance:
Keep in mind that Capital One miles transfer to Virgin Red first. Then, you'll need to link your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Virgin Red accounts to utilize these Virgin points for flights. Also, note that you can get 5,000 bonus Virgin points when you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to Virgin Atlantic.
Our Take
This promotion can be extremely worthwhile if it works well with your travel plans. Thankfully, travelers have almost a month to plan how to use Virgin points and find award availability before the promotion ends.
For flights on Virgin Atlantic, you are better served to wait until you're ready to book. With 12 award seats available on every flight, finding a space that works with your travel plans should be relatively easy. However, if you find the unicorn of ANA first-class awards space, you'll want to book it as soon as you find dates that work for your travel schedule.
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