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A recent post by View from the Wing said not “to be tempted” by the current 25% transfer bonus from Citi ThankYou Points to Virgin Atlantic miles. His argument was that there are so few good uses of Virgin Atlantic miles that he had to dig “deep in the barrel” to come up with any.
Well I dug for 15 seconds to find two great uses to South America and Europe. My message: do be tempted by the transfer bonus.
Top of the Barrel Use #1: South America for 40% Off
Go to delta.com and search for economy award space from your home airport to Southern South America, places like Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. On the search results, check the box “Delta Only” and update the results.
Now any roundtrip you find for 60,000 Delta miles plus taxes can be booked for 45,000 Virgin Atlantic miles and the same taxes.
During the 25% transfer bonus, that’s 36,000 ThankYou points, basically a 40% discount on Delta’s already fair price.
Top of the Barrel Use #2: Europe for 10k Points
If you live in one of the dozen cities served by Virgin Atlantic, go search for award space in economy over the heart of summer.
You’ll find that most Eastern cities to London are 17,500 miles + $135 one way.
Western cities are a little more, 21,250 miles + $135.
During the 25% transfer bonus that’s 14,000 or 17,000 ThankYou Points + $135 for one way to Europe. (The return is a worse deal, so return with a different type of miles.) And you can do even better!
There are frequent 30% off award sales, like the one that ended a few weeks ago, that bring the one way price from the Eastern United States down to 12,250 miles one way. If you transfer 10,000 ThankYou Points to 12,500 Virgin Atlantic miles now and wait, it is very likely–though by no means guaranteed–that another such sale will come along, and you can book a one way award to Europe for those 10,000 points + $135 in taxes and fuel surcharges.
Is This Transfer Bonus for Everyone?
Of course not! Virgin Atlantic runs what I think of as a niche frequent flyer program. It has some great uses like the two listed here and a few more here and here, but for most awards it represents poor value. That must be why View from the Wing is urging you not to be tempted by the transfer bonus. But I think that completely misunderstands transfer bonuses.
There hasn’t been a transfer bonus for at least several years that was a good deal without a specific high value use in mind. (The last one I did just because it was such a good deal was one between Delta and Membership Rewards in 2011 or so. You transferred 50k MR to 50k Delta and got 15k MR back as I recall.)
Transfer bonuses are only ever a good deal if you have a high value use in mind, usually an immediate high value use. There are immediate high value uses for this transfer bonus. If one works for you, be tempted to transfer. If not, don’t transfer.
Getting ThankYou Points
The Citi Prestige® Card comes with 40,000 bonus ThankYou Points after $4,000 in purchases made with your card in the first 3 months the account is open.
My review of the Citi Prestige Card which explains its many benefits like $250 in airfare or airline fee credits per calendar year, access to the American Airlines Admirals Clubs and Priority Pass lounges, and 3x points per dollar on air travel and hotels.
Application Link: Citi Prestige® Card
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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Great post, as always. I’m on the fence on this transfer. I’m looking at 4 one-ways to London for me, my wife and our two kids *next* summer (end of June/early July, 2017). Ideally, me and the Mrs in Upper Class and the kids in Premium Economy on the same flight.
Questions: how far in advance does Virgin tend to open award seats? And do they usually open at least two in each cabin? Do you think this plan warrants transferring the miles now while the bonus is available?
I’m thinking yes, but I’d love others’ perspectives.
11 months out. I would wait if I were you because this is the second transfer bonus we’ve seen like this one. Let’s bet on another one in the next 6 months or so that would be better timing for you. You don’t want to put the points in your Virgin Atlantic account too far in advance. Virgin Atlantic could always increase the number of miles needed or a booking.
Nah, me neither – this isn’t for me. It’s still a very restricted set of redemptions:
On you first idea (Delta) – Redemption MUST be roundtrip – one-way is charged the same as roundtrip by Virgin Atlantic. This is extremely hard with Delta – get to and fro, lowest-level redemptions – maybe South America in it’s winter is an exception.
Secondly, in my experience, every individual segment must have YS availability for Virgin reps to pull up the award inventory. We all know how Delta provides low-level award for e.g. SFO-ATL-FLL may be available. But if you look for one of the segments individually, i.e. SFO-ATL, or ATL-FLL, those are rarely available individually, at the lowest levels. That’s a no-go then.
On your EU redemptions – yes that’s a good deal one-way. But then one has to figure how to get back to the US with the HUGE fees levied on ex-EU award flights. Makes vacation planning for most ordinary travelers (like me) very complicated – unless I’m ready to pay big fees.
I’m very disappointed in Virgin. Got about a 100k miles… and just holding them for now…when the stars and planets align – I hope to redeem them…
I don’t get what’s so hard about booking a one way return from anywhere in Europe to your home airport with United miles after using Virgin Atlantic miles one way to London.
Scott: How do you book Delta flights using Virgin Atlantic miles? Do you have to call Virgin and give them the flight information you found from the Delta website?
Yes
Jim,
I’d suggest yes, and transfer the points now.
I was in a similar situation last Summer when Citi had a similar bonus offer and we were planning a high value use for Sept 2016. We transferred the points in the Summer, waited for October to arrive and then jumped on the Sept 2016 flights and booked Upper Class on Virgin. There’s was loads of availability to choose from, so the making our Virgin accounts points ready was the best option.
Not sure it’s a good deal if you have no definite travel plans, but if you have definite plans in place I’d say it’s a no-brainier and transfer. There may be better offers, but as they say, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!
Enjoy your trip,
Sean
How about using Virgin Atlantic to book a Virgin America domestic round trip for 20K Citi Points during the 25% transfer bonus. I did this last time Citi offered this bonus. LAX-EWR for 20K points was a good use of points for me!
The prices look decent on the Virgin America award chart when using Virgin Atlantic miles: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/eu/en/flying-club/flying-club-partners/airlines/virgin-america.html
[…] For details on the current award space picture of three sweet spots on the Virgin Atlantic chart, see Please Do Be Tempted by Virgin Atlantic Transfer Bonus. […]
[…] For details on the current award space picture of three sweet spots on the Virgin Atlantic chart, see Please Do Be Tempted by Virgin Atlantic Transfer Bonus. […]
[…] of points that can transfer 1:1 or better to Virgin Atlantic miles. Then the next time we see a 25% Citi to Virgin Atlantic transfer bonus like in March 2016 or a 30% Amex to Virgin Atlantic transfer bonus like in May 2016, you can transfer your […]