Virgin Atlantic Sweet Spots

Award travelers strive to use the right card for every single purchase. We want to always work on a sign-up bonus or welcome offer. But oftentimes we forget to also use our mental energy in finding the best ways to USE our points for maximum value. We call these “sweet spots” and one of our favorites is Virgin Atlantic sweet spots. For August 1, 2023 only, you can sweeten the Virgin Atlantic sweet spots with a 75%-150% transfer bonus from Bilt Rewards. If you're unfamiliar with this Skyteam airline, it is time you learn. Read more to find out what the ToP team loves about Virgin Atlantic and how you can maximize the Bilt Rewards transfer bonus.

Using Virgin Atlantic Miles To Fly Delta Airlines Domestically

If you're a fan of Delta Airlines, you know by now that Delta can charge quite a bit for any redemption. Even worse, the redemptions are shockingly unpredictable. Have no fear, however, Virgin Atlantic is a Skyteam partner and can book any Delta Airlines saver award released to Skyteam partners. Even better is the Virgin Atlantic sweet spot with a fixed-rate, distance-based award chart for Delta! If the flight is available, you know exactly how much it costs AND the rates are quite good.

As you can see, routes start at only 7,500 miles in economy and 17,500 in business. For the vast majority of domestic flights, the maximum price is only 12,500 in economy or 45,000 in business.

But don't forget about the Bilt Rewards transfer bonus on August 1, 2023. For one day only, Bilt Rewards members get a 75% to 150% transfer bonus. This means these flights cost as little as 4,000 miles (500 miles or less) in economy and 18,000 miles (flights 2,000 miles or less) in business!

Virgin Atlantic Sweet Spots: Fly Delta One To / From Europe

Much like the Virgin Atlantic sweet spot discussed above, you get outsized value by booking non-stop Delta One to or from Europe with Virgin Atlantic miles. Oftentimes, Delta charges between 300,000 and 400,000 Skymiles for these flights.

Rather than spending hundreds of thousands of points per person, when Delta flights are available to Skyteam partners, Delta One to or from Europe is only 50,000 points. With the Rent Day bonus, these flights are only 20,000 to 29,000 miles.

Flying To / From Japan On ANA

One of the sweetest Virgin Atlantic sweet spots in all of award travel is using Virgin Atlantic miles to fly ANA between the USA and Japan. ANA is considered one of the world's best airlines, especially in First Class, and the low rates offered by Virgin Atlantic make this redemption an absolute no-brainer.

Flights from the west coast of the USA are 60,000 in economy, 90,000 in business, and 145,000 in first class for round-trip flights. Yes, you read that correctly. One way flights are half these rates. Similarly, flights from the east coast of the USA are 65,000/95,000/170,000 for round-trip. These rates are unheard of for flights between the USA and Japan, especially for a flight experience as nice as ANA!

But don't forget about the August 1st Bilt Rewards bonus, with 75% to 150% transfer bonuses to Virgin Atlantic, west coast flights are as low as 12,500/18,000/29,000. East coast flights are as low as 13,000/19,000/34,000 miles. Obviously, this bonus is unprecedented and astoundingly good!

Flying ITA To / From Italy

Over the last few weeks it has become possible to finally book ITA Airways with partner miles and that includes new kid on the Skyteam block, Virgin. The awards are distance based, and far from the lowest miles, but the taxes and fees are dirt cheap. When you throw in the Bilt Rewards transfer bonus it doesn't look too bad either. Here is the award chart, which can be found on Virgin's site.

What makes this Virgin Atlantic sweet spot pretty interesting is the availability. For some people it is worth paying a bit more if you can find space easily (hi Mark). Look at the New York (JFK) to Rome (FCO) route that costs 75K one way in business class.

When you pull up the award calendar search (details on how to do it here) you can see what I am talking about:

If you had a fall, or winter trip, in Rome on the mind then this could be interesting to you. You could jump off from there and hit Christmas markets in Vienna, Salzburg, Munich or Frankfurt etc.

When you include the Bilt transfer bonus you are looking at a total cost of 30,000 – 43,000 Bilt Rewards depending on your Bilt status level. That just went from a flight on the expensive end of the spectrum to one of the cheapest business class options to Europe with one click!

Cruising with Virgin Voyages

Everything we have heard on Virgin Voyages cruises have been overwhelmingly positive. This adults only cruise line seems to have great food, good ports and a lot of entertainment. With Virgin you can even book their cruises with transferrable currencies, something no other cruise line offers. They have even run deals a few times this year where you could get a 7 night Mediterranean Cruise for 100,000 points or a 5 night Caribbean cruise for 80,000 points. With this transfer bonus those cruises would have been 40,000 – 58,000 or 32,000 – 47,000 points respectively. The amount would once again depend on your Bilt Rewards status level. That would have been a great double dip right there!

This one is more of a gamble / long term play because cruise bookings are not always available. They seem to be releasing them a few times a year when they need to fill cabin space. When Virgin Voyages makes them available they will appear on this page. You will need to keep an eye on it and also be a little flexible whenever availability pops up.

Virgin Atlantic Sweet Spots: ToP Thoughts

Hopefully we gave you a few Virgin Atlantic sweet spots to consider with tomorrow's Bilt Rent Day transfer bonus. If you think one of them would work for you check space now to see if you can take advantage of the promotion. Remember that we don't encourage FOMO transfers or taking advantage of transfer bonuses without a clear use. Or, at least have a strong ability with the currency and use it frequently before risking your valuable transferrable points.

Come over to the ToP Facebook Group and let us know if you book any of these with your transfer bonus!