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Update 6/30: The AMEX transfer promotion ends today!
Update: 6/22: The Citi transfer promotion ends today!
Update, 5/19: You can now also get a 30% bonus when you transfer Citi ThankYou points to Virgin Atlantic through 6/22. You can transfer points from cards like the Citi Premier® Card and Citi Prestige .
Originally posted on 5/6:
You can login here get a 30% bonus when you transfer American Express Membership Rewards Points to Virgin Atlantic until 7/1. The miles typically transfer instantly.
In general, Virgin Atlantic charges high fuel surcharges that kill the value of many of their awards.
For example a round-trip coach ticket from JFK to London on Virgin Atlantic is just 20K miles (under 16K AMEX points), but the taxes and fuel surcharges add $472. Premium Economy is 35K miles+$794. Business class is 95K miles and you’ll also owe $1,544 in taxes and fuel surcharges. Ouch.
If you only need a one-way ticket from NYC to London it’s not as bad. 10K miles+$149 in coach, 17.5K miles+$249 in premium economy, or 47.5K miles+$624 in business class.
You can save money by booking travel on 2 one-way trips. A one-way ticket from London to NYC is 10K miles+$263 in coach, 17.5K miles+$452 in premium economy, or 47.5K miles+$583 in business class.
Or for example a round-trip coach ticket from JFK to Tel Aviv on Virgin Atlantic (service begins 9/25) is just 38K miles (under 30K AMEX points), but the taxes and fuel surcharges add $517. Premium Economy is 67K miles+$547. Business class is 151K miles and you’ll also owe $1,253 in taxes and fuel surcharges.
If you originate in Tel Aviv then the round-trip coach ticket from Tel Aviv to JFK on Virgin Atlantic is 38K miles plus $461. Premium Economy is 67K miles+$557. Business class is 151K miles plus $547.
If you only need a one-way ticket from NYC to Tel Aviv you’ll pay 19K miles+$240 in coach, 33.5K miles+$255 in premium economy, or 75.5K miles+$608 in business class.
You can save money by booking travel on 2 one-way trips. A one-way ticket from Tel Aviv to NYC is 19K miles+$249 in coach, 33.5K miles+$297 in premium economy, or 75.5K miles+$292 in business class.
Transfer to Hilton:
You can transfer increments of 10K Virgin Atlantic miles into 15K Hilton points. That means the equivalent of 7,692 ThankYou points can become 15K Hilton Honors points.
Flying on Delta:
There are some notable sweet spots on partner airlines:
Virgin Atlantic miles can be a bargain for flying on Delta. They often have saver award space, even when there’s none available on Delta.com!
Click here to access the Virgin Atlantic award booking page.
If you have problems typing in your desired airport you will need to click the location icon as shown below and manually search for your destination by country and state. If your destination still isn’t available you will have to call Virgin Atlantic to book award travel to that destination.
If the option to search for miles isn’t available you also may need to try selecting another airport, click on pay with miles, and then switch the airport. For example NYC to LAX didn’t work for me at first, but I switched the destination to San Francisco, clicked on pay with miles, and then switched back to Los Angeles.
On the search page you can select one-way or round-trip, exact dates, flexible within 1 week, or within 5 weeks. You can also change the class of service by clicking on “Show advanced options.” When you are viewing the award calendar you can toggle it to show direct flights only.
Here’s what’s fascinating. In general, partner airlines can only book saver awards.
If you search for JFK to TLV on 7/8 on Delta.com you’ll see that the award costs 160K miles. There’s a reason they’re called Skypesos.
But you can redeem 40K Virgin Atlantic miles for that same flight! That’s under 31K AMEX points with a 30% bonus!
Here is the Virgin award calendar for direct flights from JFK to Tel Aviv:
And here is the Delta award calendar for nonstop flights from JFK to Tel Aviv:
Want to fly business class nonstop from JFK to Paris?
It’s 105K miles if you use Delta Skypesos:
But you can book it with Virgin Atlantic for just 50K miles. That’s under 39K AMEX points thanks to the 30% bonus!
Unfortunately, there are fuel surcharges to fly on Delta to London, but other destinations should have no fuel surcharges.
Note that the website charges extra for flights with connections. You can try calling Virgin Atlantic at 800-365-9500 to see if they can price the award without the extra pricing for taking a connecting flight.
Flying on ANA:
ANA is an incredible Japanese airline with great first class suites that have very comfortable beds and amazing service. I reviewed them here towards the end of the 4th part of my Island Hopper adventure.
You only need 110K miles to fly round-trip from the west coast to Japan or 120K miles to fly round-trip from the east coast to Japan in first class. That’s under 85K AMEX points or under 93K AMEX points respectively, thanks to the 30% bonus.
Virgin Atlantic now collects fuel surcharges on ANA, but they are relatively low.
Here is the Virgin Atlantic award chart for travel on ANA:
Unfortunately, you do need to call Virgin Atlantic to book travel on ANA at 800-365-9500. You can search for ANA award space on United.com.
Round-trip travel is required on ANA awards.
You can fly in ANA first class to Tokyo/Narita from Chicago, Houston, JFK, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Washington DC.
You can fly in ANA first class to Tokyo/Haneda from Chicago, JFK, or Los Angeles.
United charges a whopping 220K miles to fly round-trip from the US to Japan in ANA first class, but you can call Virgin Atlantic to book travel for under 93K AMEX points!
Search for first class saver awards on United.com and then call Virgin Atlantic to book:
AMEX cards with transferable points include:
Are you targeted? Will you transfer points from AMEX to Virgin Atlantic to take advantage of this bonus? What other award sweet spots do you take advantage of?
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57 Comments On "Ends Today! Transfer AMEX Points To Virgin Atlantic And Get A 30% Bonus: Expanded Delta Award Space, ANA First Class Bargains, And More!"
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Dan- does the AmEx Green card also allow transfer MR points? thanks!
Yes.
When you find availability for Delta direct JFK – TLV for 40k with Virgin, you can usually book it with Flying Blue for 29k
Which one is Flying blue?
And the taxes?
It’s not targeted. But there is a 10-20% to AC today that’s targeted.
Dan, I am looking at business class in November from JFK to TLV. by Delta.com, it is 170k miles (return) plus $100 taxes and on Virgin Atlantic, it is 151k (which can be now from Amex 105k!!) plus $1200 taxes. Is there any way to get the taxes from Virgin down from $1200 to $100?
No, you would need to click direct only on the Virgin calendar to only search Delta flights to avoid the fuel surcharges.
Any experience snagging 3 awards on ANA first?
Try searching easier routes on United.com, like ORD-TYO.
Would you fly ANA first over Singapore Suites?
how long does it take for the miles and the bonus to post?
Instant.
How can i search Virgin Atlantic award availability if i don’t have any miles in my Virgin account? Thanks.
By advanced search, select pay with miles, and you will be able to search even without an account. To continue with the booking you will need an account and points
Just use the link in this post. No need to login.
Do more Delta dates get added or it will forsure stay unavailable for the dates that are not available now?
Highly fluid. It can change multiple times per day.
How would I book a flight on virgin Australia with Virgin Atlantic points?
You’ll have to call to book.
Do award bookings have the same 24 hour refund policy?
@dan is it worth transferring because of bonus even without any plan in mind?
why would you limit yourself, these deals come up …
any reason there is no availability NYC/PHL – TLV the whole month of august?
July 31st is available. Direct on delta from jfk for only 40k
Did they just black out close-in availability? I searched at ~8pm EDT and found availability for PIT-LGA for 12.5k on 5/9 as well as many other dates in early to mid. Now I’m seeing everything blocked till 5/28.
Incidentally, I had to use your trick to initially pull up the search for PIT-LGA so I saw availability for other routes on 5/9 such as DTW-JFK. Now everything seems to be blocked.
Did DL just pull an AA?
I had only one experience with VA – I’m not sure if it was typical or not, but it was nice. I was flying in economy JFK-TLV via LHR. The second leg was on ELAL, and I was given a seat in business class.
I’ll take that any day 🙂
Why does it show up is 20k for JFK-LHR in Economy and not 10k?
One way or round-trip?
One way
Is it possible to search the expanded availability on expertflyer?
Just booked x2 on the Inaugural flight LHR-TLV in J.
Chances of upper class opening in 2 weeks from now man-nyc?
Is it possible to apply this promo for a transfer made in the beginning of April?
Trying to book LAX-USM business any recommendation is ANA an option?
Why am I having trouble viewing delta award availability on the virgin Atlantic site?? I followed everything in the post but I can’t seem to be able to view anything. Any recommendations??
never mind its working its just there it is not showing an availability from JFK to TLV in August/September. Anyone know if I can expect for flights to open up if I wait??
Any good use of this to fly from LA to Toronto (nonstop)?
Thanks
What about a 1 way awards for ANA alowed for 1/2 the 120K virgin miles possible? any reason you did not mention that?
Round-trip is required.
When does ANA First Class open up via miles? Is there a set time frame? Thanks!
It Worked! Just booked JFK-TLV July 16 for 3 passengers for 120,000 (93,000 Amex) plus $16.
Now I just need a good tip to get home the next week.
Any way of using Bonvoy points for airlines? I discovered I have a stockpile of 1 Million+ points. Good stuff Dan. Thank you
Can these be upgraded to E+?
Dan any idea what to do with my fathers citi world elite advantage miles? He has like over 300k and doesn’t travel much. Could this swap work out for him? Thank you in advance .
It looks like only close in dates are available for Delta flights from JFK to TLV. I couldn’t find anything after July 27.
Will Virgin Atlantic still offer reward Direct flights with Delta to Tel Aviv after they’re starting their own Israeli route?
Yes. Delta owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic.
Is this good for Delta domestic? Will VA have space even when DL doesnt show it? Or is this really just good for international
have there been any results with people gettign refunds on qantas flights booked at 42 when it changed to 37,800? like calling them after of before the flight or sms? i couldnt find anything on ddf
do you know off hand if the 40k JFK – TLV is RT or OW? cant check bc flight booking is down.
ow
Dan, just want to say thank you. I’m usually the guy who saves miles to fly with his family on economy to visit their grandparents. I just saw this and was able to book on Virgin Atlantic 2 one way Delta One tickets for 50K (or 40,000 Amex pts) to CDG with my wife, while my parents watch my kids iy’H. I’ve always heard about flying first, but never done it internationally before. Couldn’t believe how much cheaper it is on VA than Delta.com. Thanks for all your help!
Awesome!
hi dan thanks for the letting know the info
i would like to know will virgin post saver rewards on delta one seats between TLV-JFK?
Hi Dan,
I have around 100K Amex points and I looking to travel next year to TLV with a stop in London, Is this my best option to transfer? Or what would you suggest?
Got a confirmation from Amex and now I see that they cancelled my transfer. Anyone else have this? (Amex is blaming VS for rejecting the points. But I recently transferred points between these exact accounts.)
I cannot find a single available flight over the next few months between NYC and LAS. I’ve been looking for several weeks now and I even called in. Did they pull all domestic flights or is something else afoot?