Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Transfer Bonus
American Express has a new 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic. This is a good deal for those with a redemption in mind. From now until 9/12/2018 you will be able to redeem Membership Rewards Points by transferring them to Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club Miles at a rate of 1:1.3. The usual rate is 1:1.
How to Transfer Membership Rewards to Virgin Atlantic
American Express makes transferring Membership Rewards to their partners easy. To transfer your points, simply login to your Membership Rewards account and click on the transfer option under “travel”. You will see all of the transfer partners listed and the Virgin Atlantic 30% transfer bonus will be automatic. Keep in mind that you will need to link your Virgin account before you can transfer points and the minimum you can transfer is 1,000 points.
Analysis
To decide whether this is a good deal or not, we first need to look at the value of each currency. MR points are flexible and can be redeemed in many ways. That versatility makes them pretty valuable. I would say about 2 cents a piece at least.
Virgin Atlantic miles are valued around 1.5 cents a piece by others. The Points Guy monthly valuations has them at this value as well. Lets do the math on the transfer and add in the 30% bonus.
1000 MR Points * .02 = $20
vs.
1,300 VA Miles * .015 = $19.50
That’s pretty equal math-wise. But there’s no fixed value for either, so could definitely do better or worse.
Conclusion
This is a great deal for anyone who was planning on using Flying Club miles for a specific redemption or who uses the program regularly and will have a redemption option in the near future. There are also partner awards with ANA in their terrific first class cabin that represent an excellent value.
I don’t think I would be transferring these miles without an immediate use is a good idea. We see this bonus a couple of times a year, so you will have another chance sooner or later.
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