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American Express just relaunched a transfer bonus on points transfers to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. You'll get 30% bonus points when transferring Membership Reward to Flying Club now through June 14, 2023.
This offer doesn't seem to be targeted, but it can't be seen publicly. To view the offer, just log in to your Membership Rewards account and head to the points transfer page.
Key Terms
- Receive a 30% bonus when you transfer Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
- The promotion is valid through June 14, 2023.
- Transfers must be in increments of 1,000 points.
- Including the bonus points, your transfer total cannot exceed 999,999 Flying Club miles.
- The bonus is hardcoded in the transfer. You will receive 1,300 points for every 1,000 points you transfer.
While the terms say points transfers can take up to 48 hours, data points from AwardWallet users show that transfers are typically immediate.
Using Virgin Atlantic Points
Virgin Atlantic has a wide range of sweets spots, not only on its own flights but also on partner flights. Historically, booking Delta flights with Virgin points was a great value. However, a recent devaluation has eradicated most of the sweet spots there. That said, you can still get excellent value using Virgin points for the following:
- Flying ANA business class between Japan and destinations in Europe, Central and Eastern US, or Mexico for 47,500 Virgin points each way. That's just 37k Ultimate Rewards points during this transfer bonus. Note that ANA first class on the same routes now costs 85,000 Virgin points each way (66k Ultimate Rewards points during this transfer bonus) after a March 2023 devaluation.
- Domestic economy awards aboard Delta are an excellent value — as long as you keep the route distance under 2,000 miles.
- Short-haul flights between North America, Mexico, and the Caribbean (under 2,000 miles) are a great value in economy. For example, an award from Boston to Bermuda requires only 8,500 Virgin points one-way or 17k Virgin points round-trip. During this transfer bonus, you only need to transfer 7k Ultimate Rewards points to book a one-way award.
Virgin Atlantic Expiration Policy
Virgin Atlantic points do not expire. When Virgin Atlantic revamped its program in 2020, it changed from Flying Club Miles to Virgin Points and made this positive no-expiration change as well.
With no deadline, you can take all the time you need to plan your travel goals and accumulate your points toward those goals.
How Does the Deal Stack Up?
When it comes to special offers on transferring points from American Express to Virgin Atlantic, a 30% transfer bonus is standard. Historically, this promotion comes around roughly once a year, although it is no surprise that none were offered in 2020. Now it seems that this transfer bonus is happening every few months:
- 30% transfer bonus through May 2017
- 30% transfer bonus through November 2017
- 30% transfer bonus through September 2018
- 30% transfer bonus through December 2019
- 30% transfer bonus through September 2021
- 30% transfer bonus through December 2021
- 30% transfer bonus through March 2022
- 30% transfer bonus through September 2022
- 30% transfer bonus through December 2022
- 30% transfer bonus through June 2023
Other Options to Boost Your Virgin Atlantic Balance
If you have a specific redemption in mind and want to boost your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club balance, you have plenty of options. You can transfer all of the following points to Virgin Atlantic:
- American Express Membership Rewards: 1:1 transfer rate; most transfers process immediately
- Bilt Rewards: 1:1 transfer rate; most transfers process immediately
- Capital One Rewards: 1:1 transfer rate; most transfers process immediately
- Chase Ultimate Rewards: 1:1 transfer rate; most transfers process immediately
- Citi ThankYou Points: 1:1 transfer rate; most transfers process immediately
- Marriott Bonvoy: 3:1 transfer rate plus a 5,000-point bonus for each 20,000 points received; most transfers take one or two days
Our Take
With so many variables to consider, think carefully before transferring points. Consider which program may provide the best value for your booking and whether those numbers change because of the numerous promotions available. Decide what works best for your travel plans, spending patterns, and various points balances.
Also, remember that — no matter how good the bonus is — it is never a good idea to transfer credit card points speculatively. You lose flexibility when you do so, because transfers can't be undone. It's best to transfer when you have a redemption in mind and plans to use those miles.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Still see some value booking AIr France / KLM Business within Europe (no so much Transatlantic, especially West Coast)
One of the best sweet spots for VS is flying to London nonstop in economy, especially from Florida. Today the one-way price in economy for a family of six on Virgin’s A350-1000 from MCO-LHR is $4,265, with round trip pricing out at $5,039. I’d much rather burn 58,000 Amex points + $900 in fees with a 30% transfer bonus for > 5.5¢ per point, and have the flexibility to jump on a Flying Blue promo reward or another program on the return and still come out way ahead.
Any sweet spots (or decent at least) to use this to get from US (FL) to Europe?
You can fly one-way from Orlando or Miami nonstop to London on VS for 12,500 points + $151 in fees. That’s a huge bargain, award availability is extremely plentiful, and it’s one of the best niche values of the program, IMO.
You can also burn 50,000 Virgin points to fly Delta One business class to Europe, but you’ll have to put in work to hunt for it (relatively scarce) and you’ll need to be flexible on airports and dates. On paper, it’s a great deal that bloggers LOVE to talk about, but it’s largely impractical for the average traveler.
Ana F is gonna be tough to book whenever Japan removes quarantine requirements.
I like this partnership between membership rewards and virgin Atlantic. Not excellent value but still value.
I am from Argentina, does this voucher also serve me in my country?
Hernan – we think it’s only from US-based Amex accounts. If you want to check, you can log into your Amex account in Argentina and see if the bonus is available.
30% bonus is pretty good and very tempting offer !
One of the better transfer partners, so a really nice bonus. No plans for me to use them right now though. Travel is too uncertain.
I assume this is a US only (Membership Rewards) bonus?
Yes, I believe so. There may be bonuses with international versions of MR as well, but those are managed separately as far as I know.
This is really tempting. Really would like to try ANA F and this sweet spot would be the way to go.
any bonus is a bonus, even if its only thirty percent.