American Express and Virgin Atlantic transfer bonus: Get 30% more Virgin points when transferring Membership Rewards points

02.05.2024 - 14:51 / thepointsguy.com / John F.Kennedy / Express

Looking to travel to Europe? Is an island vacation on your bucket list? Want to take that dream trip for fewer points than you thought you could?

If so, there's good news — for a limited time, American Express Membership Rewards® card members that earn Membership Rewards points can receive a 30% bonus when transferring Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Terms apply.

Usually, card members can transfer Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at a 1:1 ratio, but the 30% bonus available through May 31 means you'll receive 1,300 Virgin points for every 1,000 Membership Rewards points you transfer.

Here's how this transfer bonus works and ways you can use it to travel more for less.

With access to the most point transfer partners of any major U.S. credit card loyalty program, American Express is the go-to issuer for many travelers. Here are several popular American Express cards that earn transferable Membership Rewards points:

If you have one of these cards or another eligible card that earns American Express Membership Rewards points, you can utilize this transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic. If you aren't yet familiar with how to transfer Membership Rewards points to participating hotel and airline partners, such as Virgin Atlantic, here's a guide to that process.

Virgin Atlantic is a member of the SkyTeam alliance, meaning you can earn and redeem points flying with Virgin Atlantic and even use them to fly the carrier's partner airlines, including Delta Air Lines, Air France and KLM. This gives you a vast array of flight options when using points.

Unlike many other airlines that make it hard to know what the award price will be ahead of time since redemption rates vary, Virgin Atlantic still uses an award chart separated by route, cabin class and peak or standard (off-peak) season.

Flights to London from the eastern U.S. during the standard season start at 10,000 Virgin points — excluding taxes, fees and carrier-imposed surcharges of around $150 — each way for Economy Classic seats.

This rate applies for flights departing New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and Washington, D.C.'s Dulles International Airport (IAD) and arriving at Virgin Atlantic's home at London's Heathrow Airport (LHR). It includes checked baggage, a full-size carry-on and onboard food and beverages. In other words, it's a full-service ticket rather than one that just barely gets you on the plane.

During Amex's 30% transfer bonus offer, you only need to transfer as few as 8,000 American Express Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic to book this 10,000-point Virgin reward flight to London.

Virgin also offers a cabin they call Premium