American Express launched a couple of new transfer bonuses last week, but then promptly pulled them as they were released prematurely. Those two bonuses are now officially live.
The better of the two is a 30% bonus when transferring Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
The Deal
- American Express Membership Rewards is giving a 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic.
Key Terms
- Expires July 31, 2026.
Quick Thoughts
You can book economy saver awards between the US and UK from 6K Virgin points (albeit with a decent amount in taxes/fees as well). With this 30% transfer bonus, you’d only need to transfer 5K Membership Rewards points for every person; that would then give you a few Virgin points left over for future redemptions.
One way premium economy awards between the US and UK are available from 10,500 points. That means that if you already have 100 Virgin points in your account, you’d only need to transfer 8K Membership Rewards points in order to have enough points to book a ticket. If you’re more interested in booking Upper Class (i.e. business class) tickets, those can be available on select dates and routes for only 35K points one way (with very high taxes and fees to go along with it). That would only require 27K Amex Membership Rewards transferred with this 30% bonus.
This transfer bonus could also come in handy for other Virgin redemptions like cruises with Virgin Voyages or this all-inclusive stay at Finch Hattons in Kenya. That latter redemption costs 100K points per night with a minimum two night stay, with that covering the cost of two people. You’d therefore only need to redeem 77K Membership Rewards points per night when transferring them from American Express.
You can also book three nights at Necker Island for two people for 750K Virgin points, with each additional night costing 250K points. That would “only” require 577K Amex points to be transferred which is, admittedly, a lot, but it could be a worthwhile bucket list redemption for some people who are flush with Membership Rewards points and who’d rather not transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards that are also offering a 30% transfer bonus right now.
Here’s a list of all current and past transfer bonuses to Virgin Atlantic from all transferable currencies:
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It is a worthwhile transfer for Virgin Voyages? It is really one of the few cruise lines I would consider – admittedly I have not cruised yet… but want to avoid the “carnival” type w/ young children and partiers.
It’d depend on which cruise you’d want to take and how much that would ordinarily cost. The cheapest Virgin Voyages cruise costs 250K points for two people, so you’d need to transfer 193K Membership Rewards; I believe others cost 350K or more, so 350K would require 270K points transferred. That’s a sizeable chunk of points, so it’s up to you whether that’s a worthwhile redemption for you if if you’d rather use those points for other travel.
Close in Dates for Virgin Voyages have been coming down to 160K points.
I think this 30% transfer bonus is for Ultimate Rewards, not Membership Rewards
Both Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards have a 30% transfer bonus at the moment
I just chatted with Amex and they confirmed that there is no transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic currently. It appears to have popped up in some people’s accounts yesterday as a mistake.
Yep, it looks like they’ve pulled both this and the Hilton transfer bonus. I suspect they were meant to be launched on July 1.