Combining a transfer bonus and Virgin’s Saver fares: How I booked lie-flat business-class seats to London for just 21,000 points

1 month ago 51

Fun fact: Even though I've worked at TPG for 5 1/2 years and have a nice stash of points and miles saved up, I've never booked an international lie-flat business-class flight ... that is, until now.

Most of the time, I'm an economy traveler. Even on international long-haul flights, I generally choose to forgo a lie-flat seat to save my points and miles. At this point in my life, the number of trips I can take per year with my points is far more important than splashing out on a luxury flight experience, even if that means sacrificing some sleep and comfort on longer flights. And honestly, I'm rarely on an international flight that lasts more than seven or eight hours maximum.

But when Virgin Atlantic Flying Club rolled out its new dynamic pricing for Virgin Atlantic-operated flights, I found a deal too good to pass up and started focusing on the Flying Club program properly for the first time.

Thanks to Virgin Atlantic's new dynamic pricing on award flights and a timely Chase transfer bonus, I booked my first lie-flat, round-trip business-class flight for just 42,000 credit card points (plus taxes and fees).

Here's how you can, too.

Stacking a great deal with a great transfer bonus

While some Flying Club points rates now skyrocket to 350,000 points each way for Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class (business class), flexible travelers can also score great deals via Flying Club's new Saver fares.

More out of curiosity than any actual plan to book a trip, I did a few sample searches in late October to help co-workers understand the new Flying Club changes.

Multiple dates throughout the first half of 2025 were available for just 29,000 points (plus taxes and fees) each way in lie-flat business class between New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and London's Heathrow Airport (LHR).

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For comparison, that's about what you'd pay to fly economy on American Airlines from New York to London in the spring of 2025. I've earned more than double that on rent payments alone this year with my Bilt Mastercard® (see rates and fees).

But what turned this great deal into a "you'd be silly not to book this" deal in my head is the current Chase transfer bonus in place. Through Nov. 30, you get an extra 40% when you transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Flying Club. That means this trip went from costing 58,000 points round-trip to just 42,000 points round-trip (or 21,000 points each way).

The downside is the taxes and fees, which are typically much higher for business-class seats than economy tickets. But while $870 in taxes and fees round-trip certainly isn't cheap, paying less than $900 all-in for transatlantic business-class seats that would have easily cost $3,000-plus had I paid in cash still classifies as a fantastic deal, and the surcharges are much lower than the $2,000-plus Flying Club charged before the program switched to dynamic pricing.

Despite not planning to book a trip that day, I felt foolish not to jump on this deal. I had no idea how long this amazing new Saver pricing on Virgin Atlantic would be available, and the transfer bonus ends at the end of November. I've never been to London, and I've never flown lie-flat business class. I had the points available to transfer, and they transferred instantly. Award flights are refundable, and it was close to the same price I'd typically pay for an economy ticket with other airlines.

Needless to say, I booked it.

How you can book Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Saver fares

While some Saver seats have now been snapped up for the specific dates I booked in March, Virgin Atlantic does have a Reward Seat Checker calendar tool where you can find Saver availability as it fluctuates — not just for New York City to London, but also across other routes like Orlando International Airport (MCO) to Edinburgh Airport (EDI).

The key is to have a stash of credit card points ready to transfer and the flexibility to jump on a deal when you see it.

First, check Virgin Atlantic's Reward Seat Checker for an easy way to see points prices at a glance, and look for those prices with a red "Saver" tag to ensure you're paying the lowest price.

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If you find a deal you want to book, search more specifically for those dates on Virgin Atlantic's site to find the specific flight you want and confirm the points you'll need. I found round-trip flights on dates I wanted in March for 29,000 points each way, meaning I needed 58,000 points total.

Next, transfer points from the issuer of your choosing. Of course, if you book this trip before the end of November, it's best to use your Chase points to take advantage of that 40% transfer bonus. Regardless of when you look to book, you can check with each issuer (or our regularly updated guide to transfer bonuses) to ensure you're transferring for the best value.

Ensure you know how many points you need to transfer, including the bonus. On Chase's Ultimate Rewards platform, you won't be shown explicitly what the end amount of points will be on Virgin after you transfer, so you'll have to break out those rusty high school math skills.

For example, here's how the breakdown worked for my flights: I needed 58,000 points in my Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account to book these Saver flights. To account for the 40% transfer bonus, I divided that total number of points by 1.4 (the .4 representing the 40% transfer bonus). That left me with 41,428.571 points. Given that you have to transfer points in increments of 1,000, I rounded up and transferred 42,000 points to Virgin Atlantic.

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After transferring your points, ensure you're logged in to your Virgin Atlantic account. TPG staffers have found that Ultimate Rewards point transfers to Flying Club are instantaneous; however, transfer times are not universal and it may take longer for the points to hit your account. Once your points are in your account, it's just a few clicks to book!

TPG always recommends finding availability before transferring points, as point transfers are irreversible.

How to earn Virgin points

Virgin points are easy to earn, with Flying Club being a transfer partner of every major program with a transferable currency:

American Express Membership Rewards (at a 1:1 ratio)
Bilt Rewards (1:1)
Capital One (1:1)
Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1)
Citi ThankYou Rewards (1:1)
Wells Fargo Rewards (1:1)
Marriott Bonvoy (3:1, with a 5,000-point bonus for transferring 60,000 points; 48-hour transfer time)

It's worth noting that Capital One miles transfer to Virgin Red, not directly to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. However, you can easily use your Virgin Red account points with Flying Club.

Check out these card options to earn reward points and miles to book Flying Club award seats (all offer terrific welcome bonuses):

Bottom line

I'm far from a Virgin Atlantic aficionado — this is the first flight I've ever booked through Flying Club. But it was still a fairly straightforward process to search for flights, find out how many points I needed and transfer the points from my Chase account to book my flights. One of my friends who had never transferred points also took advantage of this deal and said similar things about how easy it was to transfer and book.

I'm pumped to take my first international lie-flat business-class flight, and knowing I snagged it for essentially the same points price as an economy flight makes this redemption all the sweeter.

While the Virgin Atlantic dynamic price changes have pros and cons (especially for families), if you are flexible with your travel dates and keep a ready-to-transfer stash of points available, you can snag some fantastic deals like this one.

Related reading:

See Bilt Mastercard rates and fees here.
See Bilt Mastercard rewards and benefits here.

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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