Oy. Amex is offering a 30% Membership Rewards transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic this month, but the offer is targeted. I was targeted for the offer, but my wife was not.
Why does this matter? Some readers may remember my idiotic quest to earn 1.2 million Virgin Atlantic miles so that my wife and I can spend a “free” week on Richard Branson’s private island. In case you missed it, or care to review, here’s what has gone on before:
- Considering the 1.2 million mile Necker Island challenge… Who’s with me?
- 420,000 miles closer to Necker Island
- Half way to Necker Island
- An interesting find on my way to Necker Island
- New BOA approval process and a stumble on my way to Necker Island
- Necker Island: 557,000 miles in the bag, 180,000 miles on the way, and my plan for the rest
But, I know you’re not going to go and read all of those posts (I don’t blame you). Instead, here’s the short version:
- I decided to do this really stupid thing
- There are three primary ways for me to earn enough miles: sign up for Virgin Atlantic credit cards, spend money on Virgin Atlantic credit cards, and transfer points from transferable points programs.
- I’ve already signed up for lots of Virgin Atlantic credit cards
- I signed up for a 150K Membership Rewards offer with the idea that I would transfer those points once a 30% bonus came along
- My wife signed up for a number of cards, and also qualified for a couple of good Citi retention offers
- When Citi offered a 25% transfer bonus from ThankYou points to Virgin Atlantic miles, my wife transferred her ThankYou points to me and then I took advantage of the transfer bonus.
- In my latest post on this topic I said that I would earn the rest of the needed miles through Virgin Atlantic sign-up bonuses
Even though I earned over 150,000 Membership Rewards points from a signup bonus with the intention of transferring to Virgin Atlantic miles, I’m not at all sure that I want to do that. In a recent post, I wrote the following (this was about transferring ThankYou points, but it is still relevant):
I was hesitant to transfer my valuable transferable points to Virgin Atlantic, but I finally decided on an approach that makes it easier: I’ll transfer my wife’s points rather than my own. Even though my wife’s transferable points are just as valuable as mine, and I fully manage both sets of accounts, it’s somehow easier for me to give up her points. It doesn’t make any sense, but there you go. In return, I’ll invite her to accompany me to Necker Island.
So, now I have a tough decision to make. I won’t transfer my wife’s Membership Rewards points since she wasn’t targeted for the 30% bonus, but I could transfer my own. Should I do it?
Totals to-date
Currently I have 622,000 Virgin Atlantic miles banked and I’ll soon earn 190,000 more after meeting the minimum spend requirements on a few cards. Plus, I have reasonably concrete near-term (e.g. within the next 3 months) plans for acquiring about 240,000 more miles.
Adding all of the above together gets me to 1,052,000 miles.
I would still be 148,000 miles short.
Options
I could, of course, wait and sign up for a couple more Virgin Atlantic credit cards. At this point, there really isn’t much of a rush. Necker Island redemptions are only available during “Celebration Weeks” which tend to be in the late summer and early fall. Yes, hurricane season. See why this quest was so stupid? So, I’m likely to take my “free” week in September or October of 2016. Unless Virgin Atlantic increases award prices before then, I have plenty of time.
Alternatively, I could transfer 114,000 Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic now. With the 30% bonus, I would get 148,200 miles. My wife and I currently have a combined total of 620,000 Membership Rewards points, so 114,000 would hardly be missed. On the other hand, Amex has a few fantastic transfer partners. It feels like a waste to blow my points on Virgin Atlantic, even with the 30% transfer bonus.
What do you think I should do?
Should I speed things up and transfer Membership Rewards points? Should I, instead, go slow and steady with future signup bonuses? I have until October 31 to decide.
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All, just to be clear, I am definitely still doing this. The question was simply whether to do so by signing up for more cards or transferring points. I like what ODB wrote: “Just transfer them. You aren’t going to miss those MR points, and you can always earn more if you need them.”
That’s true!
FM,
“Fortune favors the Brave ” – go for it and then tell the rest of us groundlings what it’s like. Thank you for the many fantastic travel tips over the years !
Considering that you can easily signup to several more BOFA cards and get the 1.2 million that way, it would be unwise to unnecessarily transfer much more valuable Amex points.
Frequent Miler — just back from Necker Island
Frequent Miler — Richard Branson’s bff
Frequent Miler — been there (Necker), done that (Necker)
Frequent Miler — Boarding Area’s Necker Island Expert
Frequent Miler — Necker island and other frequent traveler advice
Frequent Miler — flights, travel, hotels, savings, deals, awards, private islands
Not there yet, but I hope to have the perfect tag line written by the time you get back
Transfer the points!
You’ve invested so much time and energy in this so far, and now you’re doubting your choice? Either do it and quit worrying about how to get the 148K later, or just quit the whole quixotic quest entirely. One or the other.
I tell my friends who have less capability of earning miles/points when they decide to go for a Special Trip: decide on your goal, set your budget, map out how you’re going to do it, and *stick to your plan.* Don’t second-guess yourself…if you do that, you’ll talk yourself out of it. If something doesn’t go according to plan, retrench and see if you can still do it; if you can, great, if not, ditch and try again later. So, you’re in that boat now. Do it, or ditch.
As far as which points to use…SRSLY? They’re of equal value to you regardless of which account they’re in, by your own admission.
Myself, I’d go for it now and save the miles/points generation that would be tied up in “slow and steady” accumulation for *other* loyalty currencies.
Do you really need the encouragement? If you don’t do it, I’ll beat you to it. Be a hero.
Dude, Necker is soooooooooooooooo worth it.
Hope you’ve already done the transfer!
nobody cares
I’m just not in to the whole idea. My first thought goes to the truth that living like the rich and famous doesn’t satisfy the soul. But then I have to honestly consider the trip we took to Alaska with our adult children. I splurged on the tour company, added a visit to an off-the-grid island, first class train tickets. It was a very nice trip and I was glad to put the effort into it for the family.
You’ve mentioned the possibility of a storm messing with the trip. You’ve travelled enough to expect the unexpected. You know the more people involved in the trip increases the odds that something unexpectedly unfavorable will happen. Bon Voyage 😉
In case you’d like to reconsider, here’s a place I found that looks like the practical sister to your plan. . .http://www.fernandezbayvillage.com. It’s on my wish list but not during hurricane season.
I’m definitely not with the majority with this one. I just can’t get excited about this Necker Island thing. I mean, if you WANT to go that’s one thing but, when you’re using words like “idiotic quest”, “stupid thing” and the like, it makes me think that you’re just not into it. That you’re simply doing it because you can and not, because you want to.
Over one million miles to spend a week in a British Virgin Island is a tremendous amount of miles. I do realize that you’re able to amass miles at a break-neck pace but those miles still have some kind of cost value to you. How much time and effort, along with countless trips to MS friendly stores did it take? So the question boils down to: All things considered, is Necker Island worth it? And, could any other one of the British Virgin Islands do? (since there are other pretty sweet options for a fraction of the cost).
I’d be interested in seeing a post of what else could be done with these miles. How many more trips could you take and to where? I think that’s the perfect way to figure out what exactly is Necker Island costing you.
Like everyone else has said, just transfer the points 🙂
Dude, you’ve already thought about this trip enough… Finish it by transferring in those last 120k ish miles! That’s a no brainer. If you were like 800k away and still re-thinking it, that would be one thing! You’re pretty much there and this won’t even wipe out 25% of your MR! That’s nothing. You can still book the 2 of you in first class to anywhere in the world with your 500k MR you’ll have left, plus by the time next Oct rolls around you’ll have earned even more! No brainer, book it!
You don’t want to wait till Sep to book the Necker Island trip. Sooner is better than later.
Why is this even a problem ?
Do it!