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Capital One Adding Virgin Red as Transfer Partner
Virgin Red is a program rolled out by Virgin that encompasses all of its properties. It links 1:1 to Virgin Atlantic, but also offers access to things like Virgin Cruises.
Capital One will be adding Virgin Red as a transfer partner in “the coming weeks” (exact date TBD), meaning that Capital One members will now be able to transfer (in two steps) to Virgin Atlantic to take advantage of those sweet spots, my favorite of which are:
The ANA Sweet Spot
You can use Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points to book First and Business Class to Japan on renowned carrier ANA (All Nippon Airways).
Check out this award chart:
As you can see, you need just 90,000 – 95,000 miles for a round trip in Business Class or 110,000 – 120,000 miles for a round trip in First Class.
That works out to as little as 45,000 miles one way to Japan in world class Business Class and as little as 55,000 miles one way to Japan in world class First Class. And they are even introducing new hard product, called The Room (Business Class) and The Suite (First Class). Currently this new cabin operates on some New York to Tokyo flights, though it will be expanded.
Booking with Virgin is easy. You can call and have the flight put on hold for a day while you transfer in the points from any US transferable credit card point program, now including Capital One.
One way redemptions are also now allowable.
The Delta Sweet Spot
You can book any Delta Business Class flight ()Delta One) that Delta makes available to partners for just 50,000 Virgin points.
This no longer applies to UK flights, but still does for Delta flights form the US to the European continent.
So, something like JFK-AMS or LAX-AMS would price at just 50,000 Virgin points, a level you will never see on Delta’s Skymiles program even at the lowest level.
Unfortunately, all other Delta flights booked with Virgin now use a distance based award chart.
Bottom Line
Another great addition to the Capital One lineup!
The rest of the Capital One transfer partner list looks like this:
| Capital One Miles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Transfer Ratio | Expected Transfer Time | |
| Air Canada (Aeroplan) | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France / KLM Flying Blue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca Lifemiles | 1:1 | Instant |
| Aeromexico | 1:1 | Instant |
| British Airways Avios | 1:1 | TBD |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 | Nearly instant |
| Choice Hotels | 1:1 | 1 day |
| Emirates Skywards | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Finnair | 1:1 | Instant |
| Qantas | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| TAP Air Portugal | 1:1 | TBD |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 1:1 | TBD |
| Wyndham Rewards Hotel Program | 1:1 | Instant |
| EVA | 2:1.5 | 1-2 days |
| Accor Live Limitless (ALL) Hotel Program | 2:1 | 1-2 days |
| Virgin Red | 1:1 | TBD |
Thoughts?
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