Virgin Atlantic and its incredibly useful Flying Club mileage program have been acting like Oprah with the big credit card points programs lately: “You get a transfer bonus! And you get a transfer bonus!” Now there's another one.
Travelers with Chase Ultimate Rewards points from cards like the *chase sapphire preferred* or the *chase sapphire reserve* can now get a 30% bonus when transferring Ultimate Rewards points to their Virgin Atlantic account. This brand-new bonus is widely available through June 15, so you've got plenty of time to put it to use.
Chase also kicked off May with a 40% transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy, but that's nowhere near as notable as this promotion – transferring points to hotels is rarely worthwhile, even with a bonus.
Read our guide on Chase transfer partners and how they work!
Don't have Chase points? No problem: There's an identical 30% transfer bonus to Virgin for American Express cardholders. And a similar promo for Capital One Venture miles-users just ended.
Using transfer partners like Virgin Atlantic is one of the best ways to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points for even more value. And these transfer bonuses make it even better – think of it as a way to get some free airline miles. Even if you don't use Virgin Atlantic or know much about their Flying Club program, you should.
Thanks to some excellent partnerships, you can use Virgin Atlantic miles to book Delta flights to Europe and save a ton of SkyMiles, fly Delta One business class for as low as 39,000 points, or even a lie-flat seat to Japan and back at an enormous discount, among other opportunities.
This bonus just makes things even sweeter.
The Basics on Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic is a quirky airline with a quirky frequent flyer program. The airline flies from several U.S. gateways to London-Heathrow (LHR), as well as between several international hubs like Dubai (DXB) and Hong Kong (HKG). But you’ll rarely see us recommend using Virgin Atlantic miles to fly Virgin Atlantic flights.
While its award chart offers some pretty decent rates for getting to Europe and back, the fees it charges on award tickets are exorbitant. You can expect to pay $500 or more for just an economy roundtrip ticket flying in and out of London. That’s typically not worth it.
Luckily, there are some incredible partnerships where you can save a ton of miles by booking with Virgin Atlantic, with far more reasonable fees. Add in this transfer bonus from Chase, and it’s a no-brainer. You can transfer points to a Virgin Atlantic account from Amex, Chase, Capital One, Bilt, and Citi as well as Marriott. All of them (with the exception of Marriott which transfers at 3:1), transfer on a 1:1 basis.
However, with this current 30% bonus, Chase is obviously your go-to. If you transfer 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you’d get 65,000 Virgin Atlantic miles. These transfers generally clear immediately – meaning the points will be available in your Virgin Atlantic account as soon as you make the transfer.
But there's one big exception. If you're just setting up a Virgin account, your transfer could be delayed by 24 hours or more. That's a recurring problem with Virgin, which requires new accounts to be verified before they can accept these transfers.
Read more: Points Stuck in Limbo? Why & What You Can Do?
Virgin Atlantic’s website can be a tad difficult to navigate. Getting award flights to show up on a given route can take a few tries. One good trick is to search for airports by country or region and pick them, rather than manually typing in the city name or airport code.
So what can you book?
Big Delta Deals
We don’t need to tell you that trying to understand the value of Delta SkyMiles can be frustrating. There’s no award chart, so the airline’s pricing when booking a flight with miles can be all over the map. Often, a Delta award flight can be obscenely expensive – especially if you want to fly business class.
Enter Virgin Atlantic. You can easily use Virgin Atlantic to book the exact same Delta flight and save a boatload of SkyMiles. The London-based airline offers a far more stable – and frequently cheaper – alternative to book Delta flights than using SkyMiles outright.
Case in point, it’s next to impossible to find decent rates flying Delta One business class using miles. The airline regularly charges 300,000 SkyMiles or more for a business class seat to Europe, including the new Delta One suites.
But with Virgin Atlantic, it's just 50,000 miles to fly Delta One to Europe. Unfortunately, Virgin Atlantic destroyed a similar sweet spot to get to Asia for just 60,000 miles a few years back.
Still, there's plenty of value here with redemptions to Europe – though you'll have to be flexible, as finding these business class awards at such cheap rates through Virgin Atlantic has gotten much harder recently. But when you can, it's a steal. Here's a recent example.
A few weeks back, the airline was charging a whopping 375,000 SkyMiles for a one-way flight in Delta One from New York City (JFK) to Munich (MUC) next summer … each way. Woof.
But you could book that exact same Delta One flight to Germany – same day, same plane, exact same lie-flat seat – for just 50,000 Virgin Atlantic points. That's less than one-seventh of the cost! Factor in this 30% bonus, and you'd only need to transfer 39,000 Chase points to make it happen.
Booking that for just 39,000 points is one of the best deals you'll find in the world of points and miles. It can require some flexibility to lock in flights at these low rates. It all hinges on finding award availability, and you won't see that every day. But that's not always the case: We've sent Thrifty Traveler Premium members several alerts in the last few months to book this deal.
Get alerts for the best ways to use your points and miles with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
Just remember: Never transfer points to Virgin Atlantic (or any airline) until you know the flights you want to book are available. These transfers are a one-way street – you can't get them back to your Capital One account.
Read our guide on booking Delta flights with Virgin Atlantic miles, and you'll be ready to start hunting for the deal of a lifetime.
Flying Delta economy to Europe using 30,000 Flying Club points each way is typically much, much easier. With this bonus, 47,000 Chase points miles is all you'd need to transfer and book flights that would otherwise cost $1,800 or more!
We just found a ton of award space to book these roundtrip nonstop flights to Europe, including this summer!
There used to be far more Delta sweet spots you could book using Virgin points, but Virgin obliterated many of them late last year with another nasty devaluation. But booking short Delta flights – 1,000 miles in distance or less – through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club can still be a great deal!
For example, this short flight from Fargo (FAR) to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) might otherwise cost you 20,000 SkyMiles. With Virgin Atlantic, you can still book for just 7,500 points each way – just 6,000 Chase points after the 30% bonus kicks in.
Fly in Style with ANA
You can also use this transfer bonus to score an amazing deal on a trip to Japan on one of the world’s best airlines.
ANA is one of Japan’s flag carriers, and it lives up to its five-star reputation. Its first class cabin is spacious, private, and offers some of the best catering in the aviation world. And even ANA business class is outstanding, rivaling Qatar Qsuites for #1 in the world, too.
Go figure Virgin Atlantic also has a sweet spot for booking ANA flights, and this transfer bonus makes it even sweeter. While Virgin Atlantic recently raised award rates to fly ANA first class, it's still easily the best way to book these flights.
A one-way flight in ANA first class flight from Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO) to Tokyo now costs 72,500 Virgin points – just 56,000 Chase points with this bonus. Or you could get from Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) or New York City (JFK) to Tokyo for just 66,000 Chase points. That’s still substantially less than what United charges for a one-way fare in business class.
Much like booking Delta One via Virgin Atlantic, finding award availability on ANA can be a chore. First Class availability is practically nonexistent these days, so focus on a business class booking. These days, booking within three weeks of departure seems to be your best bet.
You can't book these flights online through Virgin Atlantic, which means it requires a bit of extra legwork. You'll want to search for award availability through a site like United.com and then ring up Virgin Atlantic at 1-800-365-9500 when you're ready to book. On the plus side, you can now book these awards as one-ways.
Read our guide to booking ANA flights with Virgin Atlantic miles
Of course, ANA’s business class is nothing to scoff at either – especially if you can snag the brand-new business class suites it calls “The Room” which are currently flying from New York City (JFK) and occasionally from Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) and San Francisco (SFO).
Read our full review of flying ANA's The Room business class from Chicago to Tokyo!
Lucky for you, business class award rates weren't affected by Virgin's devaluation. That means you can book roundtrip flights to Tokyo in business class for as low as just 70,000 Chase points with this bonus – or transfer just 35,000 Chase points to Virgin for a one-way flight.
Fortunately, Virgin Atlantic has a reasonable $50 fee to cancel award tickets and get your miles back if plans change.
Fly Air New Zealand Business to Auckland
In normal times, finding a lie-flat seat all the way to Australia or New Zealand is like finding a needle in a haystack. But these aren't normal times.
Again and again and again, we've been unearthing outstanding award availability to use points to book business class on carriers like Air New Zealand. We did it again just a few weeks back, with wide-open award space flying from Houston-Intercontinental (IAH) to Auckland (AKL) this spring, summer, and fall.
And Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is the cheapest way to book these seats … by far.
The airline charges just 62,500 points each way for an Air New Zealand business class redemption between the U.S. and New Zealand. Factor in this 30% transfer bonus, and 49,000 Chase points are all you need to book!
Unfortunately, you also can't book these awards online at VirginAtlantic.com – you'll have to call the airline at 1-800-365-9500 and feed an agent the route and dates you want to book. Wait for the airline to confirm your flights are available before transferring your Capital One Venture miles to Virgin.
Fly Virgin to London & Back for 15K
Typically, we steer clear of using Virgin Atlantic points to book flights on Virgin Atlantic itself.
It seems counterintuitive, we know. But the hefty fees ($150ish for a one-way to London in economy or nearly $1,000 in business class) means you're forking over plenty of points plus a lot of cash, too.
But this transfer bonus definitely makes the high fees more tolerable.
- A roundtrip from the East Coast to London for as low as 20,000 miles – just 16,000 Chase points with this transfer bonus!
- A one-way in business class for 47,500 miles, transferring just 37,000 Chase points with a 30% bonus to make it happen.
Thrifty Tip: It’s much easier to search for Virgin Atlantic flights one-way rather than roundtrip – and unlike with many other airlines, it’ll often save you money on taxes and fees booking one-ways separately, too.
Business Class to Rome from 58K!
There's a great new way to get to Rome in lie-flat seats … and it might just be the best option on this list.
You can now book ITA Airways business class using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points, with flights between the U.S. and Rome (FCO) starting at 75,000 points each way. Factor in this transfer bonus, and this seat could be yours for just 58,000 Chase points!
You'll find those lowest rates flying from Boston (BOS) and New York City (JFK) straight into Rome, while nonstops from Miami (MIA) start at 85,000 miles – still a bargain after this transfer bonus: 66,000 Chase points. Even longer routes from Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO) clock in at 100,000 miles, or 77,000 Chase points with the bonus.
But best of all, it's fairly easy to search and book. Head to VirginAtlantic.com, plug in one of these nonstop ITA routes, use the quick trick to pull up a month of availability, and pick your date! Once you've confirmed the flights you want are available, transfer you Capital One miles and book!
Bottom Line
This new Chase transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic can unlock some of the best deals in the world of points and miles.
Whether you want to save your SkyMiles when flying Delta, fly to the land down under, or head to Tokyo or Rome, a 30% bonus to Virgin Atlantic can save you a ton of Chase points. Just make sure to use it before it ends on June 15.