3 Obvious (and 3 Not-So-Obvious) Ways to Use a Virgin Atlantic Transfer Bonus

Virgin Atlantic partners with several transferable credit card points programs. On top of that, there’s (more often than not, seemingly) a transfer bonus to its Flying Club loyalty program.

At the moment, Capital One is offering a 30% transfer bonus through November 20. And there are plenty of ways a bonus like this can be useful on airlines other than Virgin Atlantic.

Most of these ways are fairly obvious (we’ll show you those), and some aren’t so obvious (we’ll show you those, too).

Just note that Capital One transfers start at 1,000 miles, with increments of 100 miles thereafter.

The Obvious Redemptions

U.S. to London on Virgin Atlantic

The most obvious way to use Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points is for flights operated by Virgin Atlantic itself.

Virgin Atlantic uses dynamic pricing, so award rates fluctuate based on several factors. But the lowest rates are remarkably cheap. They’re some of the lowest you’ll find between the U.S. and the U.K. (London Heathrow and Manchester), though they’re tempered by higher taxes and fees.

Particularly in economy, they really can’t get much cheaper.

For instance, from Virgin’s East Coast gateways (New York, Boston, Washington — and even Cancun, which isn’t technically on the East Coast), you can book tickets starting at just 6,000 points each way. From the other side of the country (Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Francisco), you’ll see rates starting at 9,000 points.

Book these round-trip at the lowest rates, and you’ll pay 12,000 Virgin points from the East Coast (transfer 9,300 Capital One miles with the bonus) or 18,000 points from the West Coast (13,900 Capital One miles).

The catch is the taxes and fees, which can run closer to $150 flying to the U.K. and $330 coming back.

Los Angeles to New York on Delta

Both Delta and Virgin Atlantic belong to the SkyTeam airline alliance, and because of this, you can use Virgin points to book Delta flights and vice versa.

Virgin Atlantic prices Delta awards according to a distance-based chart (and on a segment-by-segment basis). With a 30% transfer bonus, these flights now require quite a few fewer Capital One miles.

One example is a round-trip, cross-country ticket between New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX). If you take the nonstop in each direction, you’ll pay 44,000 Virgin points plus $5.60 in taxes each way.

That works out to about 33,900 Capital One miles with the current transfer bonus.

This won’t always be the cheapest way to get between these two big cities, but it’s one to keep in your back pocket nonetheless.

Virgin Atlantic publishes its distance-based award chart for Delta flights on its website.

Boston to Copenhagen on Scandinavian Airlines

Nearly every day of the week (except Wednesdays), Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) flies between Boston (BOS) and Copenhagen (CPH).

In business class, these tickets cost 60,000 Virgin points each way, plus roughly $6 in taxes departing the U.S. or $95 departing Copenhagen. (Taxes and fees can vary if you’re flying from other Nordic countries to the U.S.)

If you book a round-trip ticket between Boston and Copenhagen, you’ll redeem 120,000 Virgin points and pay roughly $100 in taxes and fees.

With the ongoing transfer bonus, the mileage component drops to about 92,400 Capital One miles for round-trip business class to Europe.

The Not-So-Obvious Redemptions

On the not-so-obvious side, we’ve got a few fun ways to redeem Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points that are made a little better with the 30% transfer bonus.

St. Vincent to Bridgetown on Virgin Atlantic

On Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Virgin Atlantic’s Airbus A330-300 makes a short, 50-minute hop between St. Vincent (SVD) and Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI).

If you’re using Flying Club points, you can only book economy, which costs 2,300 or 2,500 points plus about $50 in taxes and fees in either direction.

These tickets don’t normally drop below $150 each way, so it’s a redemption worth keeping in mind if you’re planning an island-hopping trip around the Caribbean.

If you ended up booking a round-trip for 4,600 points total, you’d need to transfer just 3,600 Capital One miles with the current bonus.

Los Angeles to Papeete on Air France

Air France flies a fifth-freedom route between Los Angeles (LAX) and Papeete, Tahiti (PPT), on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays through Saturdays using its Airbus A350-900.

Through Flying Club, you can book economy for 42,000 points each way (plus roughly $6 in taxes to Tahiti or $60 coming back).

You can also book this flight through other programs that offer Air France award tickets. But if you book through Virgin Atlantic, you could fly round-trip from Los Angeles to Tahiti for about 64,700 Capital One miles and less than $100 in taxes with the current transfer bonus.

Toronto to Seoul on Korean Air

For this one, you might want to set a PointsYeah Points Price Alert because it’s a little hard to find unless you get lucky and stumble across availability.

Every day, Korean Air flies its Airbus A350-900 between Toronto (YYZ) and Seoul (ICN). The trip takes roughly 15 hours each way, and Virgin Atlantic (when there’s space available) prices these awards in business class at 100,000 points per direction.

Taxes run about $56 westbound or $18 eastbound.

With the transfer bonus, you can book business class on this really long flight for about 77,000 Capital One miles each way.

Economy, though, is more widely available for 37,000 points per way (28,500 Capital One miles) plus the same taxes and fees.

Earn More Capital One Miles With These Cards

Inspired but short on Capital One miles? Consider these two cards to boost your balance — and click “Learn More” for additional details.