MR (USA) to Virgin America (VX), 35% bonus 1.15.2015 - 2.15.2015
Jan 19, 2015, 4:19 pm
#1
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Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
MR (USA) to Virgin America (VX), 35% bonus 1.15.2015 - 2.15.2015
Standard transfer ratio: 200:100
Promotional transfer ratio: 200:135
Promotional transfer ratio: 200:135
Virgin America: Terms and Conditions for the Membership Rewards® program apply. Visit membershiprewards.com/terms or call 1-800-AXP-EARN (297-3276) for more information. You must be enrolled in Elevate® Loyalty Program in order to participate in this offer, visit https://www.virginamerica.com/elevat...-flyer/sign-up to enroll. American Express is not responsible for availability of flight, accommodations or any other rewards in the merchant program. Once you have transferred Membership Rewards® points, they become subject to the Terms and Conditions of the merchant program and cannot be transferred back to your Membership Rewards program account. Taxes, fees, charges and surcharges, including airline surcharges, apply on Virgin America redemption flights. See Elevate® Loyalty Program Terms and Conditions for details. Individual air carrier restrictions may apply.
Minimum transfer is 200 Membership Rewards points. Redeem for this exclusive offer from 12:00 a.m. CST on January 15, 2015 to 11:59 p.m. CST on February 15, 2015, to receive 35% additional Elevate points. Additional Elevate points will be awarded at the time of transfer. For each conversion of points into the Frequent Flyer program of a U.S. airline, a fee of $0.0006 per point, with a maximum fee of $99, will be charged to your Card account. We charge this fee to offset the federal excise tax we must pay on such conversions. The fee may be more or less than the actual amount of the excise tax we pay on any individual conversion. We may offer you the option to redeem points to pay this fee.
Minimum transfer is 200 Membership Rewards points. Redeem for this exclusive offer from 12:00 a.m. CST on January 15, 2015 to 11:59 p.m. CST on February 15, 2015, to receive 35% additional Elevate points. Additional Elevate points will be awarded at the time of transfer. For each conversion of points into the Frequent Flyer program of a U.S. airline, a fee of $0.0006 per point, with a maximum fee of $99, will be charged to your Card account. We charge this fee to offset the federal excise tax we must pay on such conversions. The fee may be more or less than the actual amount of the excise tax we pay on any individual conversion. We may offer you the option to redeem points to pay this fee.
Jan 23, 2015, 11:24 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: NJ
Programs: United Silver, Hyatt, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Amex Plat, Global Entry
Posts: 751
Jan 26, 2015, 10:46 am
#4
Moderator
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
Virgin America's program is tied to the price of the ticket. Virgin Atlantic's is not, but availability may be. Why not post an example mentioning the route, days of the week, class of service to allow others to check the arithmetic and rules.
Jan 26, 2015, 11:54 am
#5
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: SPG Gold, AMEX Plat, UA,AA
Posts: 34
Looks like it depends on class and flight, but it's close. Two examples using the VX 35% bonus and the standard VX transfer rate:
IAD to LAX - March
Main cabin:
VX Points - 24,600
VS points - 25,000
MC Select:
VX points - 47,800
VS points - 50,000
FC:
VX points - 100,000
VS points - 75,000
SAN to SFO - March
Main cabin:
VX Points - 13,800
VS points - 12,500
MC Select:
VX points - 21,800
VS points - 17,500
FC:
VX points - 27,800
VS points - 25,000
IAD to LAX - March
Main cabin:
VX Points - 24,600
VS points - 25,000
MC Select:
VX points - 47,800
VS points - 50,000
FC:
VX points - 100,000
VS points - 75,000
SAN to SFO - March
Main cabin:
VX Points - 13,800
VS points - 12,500
MC Select:
VX points - 21,800
VS points - 17,500
FC:
VX points - 27,800
VS points - 25,000
Jan 26, 2015, 12:17 pm
#6
Moderator
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
To be sure we understand correctly, the number of VX points shown is actually the number of MR points required to obtain the required number of VX points? For example:
VX Points - 24,600 means you need 16,605 VX points, which would normally require 33,210 Membership Rewards points?
VX Points - 24,600 means you need 16,605 VX points, which would normally require 33,210 Membership Rewards points?
Jan 26, 2015, 12:26 pm
#7
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: SPG Gold, AMEX Plat, UA,AA
Posts: 34
To be sure we understand correctly, the number of VX points shown is actually the number of MR points required to obtain the required number of VX points? For example:
VX Points - 24,600 means you need 16,605 VX points, which would normally require 33,210 Membership Rewards points?
VX Points - 24,600 means you need 16,605 VX points, which would normally require 33,210 Membership Rewards points?
Jan 26, 2015, 1:05 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
I'm not sure how award availability works to buy VX flights through VA, but I assume that it's limited?
On VX you can buy any ticket with pts at a rate of 2.2c per pt. So that might be something to take into account, depending on how flexible your travel plans are.
Also, you can use the same trick the other way -- you can use VX pts to buy flights on partner airlines, with a much higher redemption value than 2.2c per pt (if you value the ticket as face value).
Personally, I fly VX a lot but I never use my elevate pts with VX. I prefer to earn pts on my VX flights (10pts/$ as Gold) and save the pts for long-haul flights with partner airlines (which I don't fly very often, so I don't care about earning pts with them)
I am not sure why, but it seems to be a common theme that you get better value redeeming pts/miles with partners than with the airline that actually issues the pts/miles. This is not unique to VX.
On VX you can buy any ticket with pts at a rate of 2.2c per pt. So that might be something to take into account, depending on how flexible your travel plans are.
Also, you can use the same trick the other way -- you can use VX pts to buy flights on partner airlines, with a much higher redemption value than 2.2c per pt (if you value the ticket as face value).
Personally, I fly VX a lot but I never use my elevate pts with VX. I prefer to earn pts on my VX flights (10pts/$ as Gold) and save the pts for long-haul flights with partner airlines (which I don't fly very often, so I don't care about earning pts with them)
I am not sure why, but it seems to be a common theme that you get better value redeeming pts/miles with partners than with the airline that actually issues the pts/miles. This is not unique to VX.
Jan 26, 2015, 1:17 pm
#9
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: SPG Gold, AMEX Plat, UA,AA
Posts: 34
Which makes the VX bonus ironic - it still in many cases is not as good as the partner. To be fair, there is the additional hassle of having to call and book the award flight with VS, but the transfer is instances and can be done while on the phone with the VS agent.
Jan 26, 2015, 2:00 pm
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
It's not true that it's "not as good". Perhaps, it's not as good if you want to use the points to fly with VX. But the point is, you can use the elevate pts to book with a VX partner and get better value.
Jan 26, 2015, 2:37 pm
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
This is a fairly common bonus. The offer targeted ones a lot and occasionally untargeted ones like this one. Unless you really really need the points right now for an award that you have no other way of getting, I'd suggest never transferring without a bonus.
Jan 26, 2015, 3:27 pm
#13
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 8,460
One reason I don't like to keep my points with Chase or AMEX is because I churn and burn quite frequently and I'm paranoid about being shut down and having my points frozen.
Jan 26, 2015, 3:33 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
I find that if you want to fly SQ, you get much better value transferring to VX and booking an award flight through them, if you can find availability. SQ is apparently very stingy with partner award availability, but if you can find it you can get the same flight for a fraction of the pts.
Edit: I just checked again and I'm probably overstating this. If you can get saver awards the costs are comparable. I remember seeing very high award costs but that was probably the most expensive redemption option.
Last edited by VegasGambler; Jan 26, 2015 at 3:41 pm
Jan 26, 2015, 3:47 pm
#15
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Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 8,460
I haven't payed attention. When there is a bonus it is usually discussed here though so you can check the archives.
I find that if you want to fly SQ, you get much better value transferring to VX and booking an award flight through them, if you can find availability. SQ is apparently very stingy with partner award availability, but if you can find it you can get the same flight for a fraction of the pts.
Edit: I just checked again and I'm probably overstating this. If you can get saver awards the costs are comparable. I remember seeing very high award costs but that was probably the most expensive redemption option.
I find that if you want to fly SQ, you get much better value transferring to VX and booking an award flight through them, if you can find availability. SQ is apparently very stingy with partner award availability, but if you can find it you can get the same flight for a fraction of the pts.
Edit: I just checked again and I'm probably overstating this. If you can get saver awards the costs are comparable. I remember seeing very high award costs but that was probably the most expensive redemption option.
But also keep in mind that it's much more difficult to get VX miles than SQ. SQ has a ton of transfer partners at 1:1. VX has much fewer and is never 1:1.
Also, by booking through SQ directly, you can book the awards way out in advance. I don't lead a nomadic lifestyle and like to have firm plans so waiting until a few weeks are left to know for sure just doesn't work for me.