The Amex Membership Rewards program has just introduced its latest transfer bonus, valid for the next several weeks. With a specific use in mind, this has the potential to be a good deal.
In this post:
Transfer Amex points with a 30% bonus
The American Express Membership Rewards program in the United States is offering a 30% bonus on points transfers to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. This promotion is valid for points transfers through Friday, May 31, 2024.
Ordinarily points transfer at a 1:1 ratio (in 1,000 point increments), while through this promotion you’d get 1,300 Flying Club points for every 1,000 Membership Rewards points transferred.
For context, Amex seems to offer a 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club two or three times per year. Prior to this, we saw the last transfer bonus from Amex to Virgin Atlantic at the very end of 2023.
- 4x points at restaurants
- 4x points at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases annually
- 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com
- $250
- Access to Amex Offers
- Redeem Amex Points Towards Airfare
- $375
- Earn 5x points on flights purchased directly from airlines or through Amex Travel (up to $500k/year)
- $200 Annual Uber Credit
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $695
- Earn 1.5x on purchases of $5,000 or more in a single transaction on up to $2MM per calendar year
- Redeem Points For Over 1.5 Cents Each Towards Airfare
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $695
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
Should you transfer Amex points to Virgin Atlantic?
Virgin Atlantic is definitely a frequent flyer program with more niche redemption opportunities. In addition to being able to redeem Flying Club points for travel on Virgin Atlantic, there’s also good value to be had for redemptions on Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, and Delta.
Award redemption rates on Virgin Atlantic are very reasonable, and a one-way Upper Class transatlantic award will typically cost you 47,500-57,500 Flying Club points. The catch is that there are significant carrier imposed surcharges (plus the UK Air Passenger Duty), especially for travel in Upper Class. You can expect that a roundtrip itinerary from the US to UK will run you well over $1,000, in addition to all the points.
Beyond that, Virgin Atlantic has several airline partners, some of which are more lucrative than others. Probably the best use of Flying Club points is for travel in ANA first & business class. You can find the redemption rates below.
Paying 45,000-47,500 Flying Club points for a one-way business class ticket between the United States and Japan is a phenomenal value to start with. Then when you consider the 30% transfer bonus, that means you could be paying significantly fewer Amex points. First class can also be a good deal.
All Nippon Airways’ new first & business class are amazing products as well. The major catch is that availability can be really tough to come by.
Virgin Atlantic is also in SkyTeam, so it’s possible to redeem these points for travel on all SkyTeam partner airlines, based on the below distance based award chart.
Bottom line
At the moment Amex is offering a 30% bonus when you transfer points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. This is definitely more of a niche program, but with a specific use in mind, there’s a lot of value to be had.
With the 30% bonus, some might find it worthwhile to book on Virgin Atlantic for the convenience. Virgin Atlantic is good about releasing business class transatlantic award availability, so if you value the convenience of a nonstop and don’t mind paying the carrier imposed surcharges, there’s value there.
However, the real value here is booking with partners. The single best value is for travel on All Nippon Airways, and this bonus stretches your points even further. Virgin Atlantic points can also efficiently be used on SkyTeam partners nowadays.
Do you plan on taking advantage of this Amex transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club?
Do the bonus miles post immedialy?
Another Virgin Atlantic transfer, Capitol One currently has 30% bonus until April 30. Hope VA won't devalue their points again like last year.