Are The Virgin Atlantic Changes A Net Positive Or Negative? Fly Economy To London For 4.2K Points+$77 Or Business For 20.7K Points+$255!

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Virgin Atlantic has moved from award chart based redemptions to dynamically priced redemptions.

But thankfully, they are not fully copying Delta, which owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic. Delta has no award chart at all and charges obscene rates for premium cabin redemptions both on Delta and partner airlines. They fully deserve the Skypesos moniker.

Virgin will maintain the saver award concept, and published a range of saver award minimum and maximum rates, though who knows how long that will last.

In more surprising news, Virgin has lowered the fuel surcharges on saver award rates. Those surcharges vary based on the mileage rate, with lower mileage rates having lower surcharges, and peak dates with higher mileage rates having higher surcharges.

If you want to access the old search engine and calendar, try using the Virgin Israeli site.

For JFK to London and back, the new saver rates are fantastic. Combined with frequent transfer bonuses, there are some lucrative redemption options.

A coach saver seat from JFK to London is 6,000 points+$73, that’s just 4,285 points with the current 40% bonus from Chase or 4,615 points with the current 30% bonus from Citi.

A premium economy saver seat from JFK to London is 10,500 points+$105, that’s just 7,500 points with the current 40% bonus from Chase or 8,076 points with the current 30% bonus from Citi.

A business saver seat from JFK to London is 29,000 points+$255, that’s just 20,714 points with the current 40% bonus from Chase or 22,307 points with the current 30% bonus from Citi.

Fees will be higher for the return flight, largely due to the UK APD fee.

Here is a chart comparing some of the old and new lowest saver award rates and fees that I was able to locate:

But the chart is not totally fair. Virgin previously guaranteed a minimum number of saver award seats in every cabin on every flight, but that guarantee is now gone. It is harder to find the lowest saver award rates compared to how it was previously, though this varies by route.

Additionally, peak rates are now pricing at breathtaking levels, though these dates typically would not have been bookable with miles previously. Then again, who is redeeming this many miles for a one-way flight?

And it does seem that connecting flights have less saver award space than previously.

The good news is that partner award rates remain unchanged:

Change fees have also gone up. Previously it was the lower of taxes paid or $50, now it’s the lower of taxes paid or $100.

The biggest problem with removing award charts is that airlines can devalue awards without warning. And that’s why despite a 40% transfer bonus from Chase to Virgin Atlantic, you should not speculatively transfer points there. But if you’re ready to book something, you can get quite a good deal with it.

Want to earn Virgin Atlantic points?

• You can transfer AMEX, Chase, Capital One, Or Citi points to Virgin Atlantic at a 1:1 ratio or Marriott points at a 60K:25K ratio. 

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a 60K signup bonus for spending $4K in 3 months, earns 2.1 points per dollar on travel after the card's 10% anniversary bonus, 3.1 points per dollar on dining, streaming, and online groceries after the card's 10% anniversary bonus, has a $50 hotel credit, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.25 cents each for paid travel ($95 annual fee). Read more here.
• Chase Sapphire Reserve® has a 60K signup bonus for spending $4K in 3 months, earns 3 points per dollar on dining/travel, has a $300 travel credit, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.5 cents each for paid travel ($550 annual fee with $300 travel credit). Read more here.
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card has a 90K signup bonus for spending $8K in 3 months, and earns 3 points per dollar on up to $150K of annual spending on shipping, advertising, and travel, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.25 cents each for paid travel ($95 annual fee). Read more here.

• Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card has a $750 signup bonus in the form of 75K points for spending $6K in 3 months, and earns 1.5 points per dollar on business purchases ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card has a $350 signup bonus in the form of 35K points for spending $3K in 3 months and another $400 signup bonus in the form of 40K bonus points for spending another $3K in 6 months for a total of 75,000 Chase Ultimate points, plus if you have a Chase business checking account open on the card's first anniversary you will get a 10% points bonus on all earnings from card spending, this card earns 5 points per dollar on the first $25,000 in combined purchases on cable, TV, telecom, cellular, and office supply stores, plus 2 points per dollar on dining and gas on up to $25,000 in purchases ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
• Chase Freedom Flex has a 20K signup bonus, plus 5 points on rotating categories, 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Travel, and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstores ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
• Chase Freedom Unlimited® has a signup bonus that earns an extra 1.5% cash back in the form of 1.5 points per dollar everywhere on up to $20K of spending during your first year, on top of at least 1.5 points per dollar everywhere, 5 points per dollar (marketed as 5% cash back) on travel purchased through  Chase Travel℠, and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstores ($0 annual fee). Read more here.

• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is offering 75,000 bonus miles for spending $4K in 3 months, plus earn 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase, $300 annual travel credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, 10K anniversary bonus miles, Global Entry/Pre-Check, Capital One lounge access, Priority Pass Lounge membership, Hertz President's Circle status, free lounge access and status for free additional cardholders, transfer miles to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. $395 annual fee. Read more here.
• Capital One Venture X Business is offering 150,000 bonus miles for spending $30K in 3 months, plus earn 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase, $300 annual travel credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, 10K anniversary bonus miles, Global Entry/Pre-Check, Capital One lounge access, Enhanced Priority Pass Lounge membership, transfer miles to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. $395 annual fee. Read more here.
• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is offering 75,000 bonus miles for spending $4K in 3 months, plus 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase, transfer points to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. $95 annual fee. Read more here. 
• Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is offering 20,000 bonus miles for spending $500 in 3 months, transfer miles to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. No annual fee.
• Capital One Spark Miles for Business is offering 50,000 bonus miles for spending $4,500 in 3 months, 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase, Global Entry/PreCheck, transfer miles to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.
• New offer: Capital One Spark Cash Plus is offering $2,000 cash back (convertible to 200,000 miles) for spending $30,000 in 3 months, plus get another $2,000 cash back for every $500K spent in your first year, 2% back everywhere, $40 MLB redemptions, annual fee refund when you spend $150K/year, and more. $150 annual fee.

• The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express is offering a rare bonus to earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership and offers 2 points per dollar spent on up to $50K spending annually 1 point per dollar thereafter, plus transfer points to airlines and hotels and keep AMEX points alive. Terms apply. Read more here.
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is offering a 150K bonus for spending $20,000 in 3 months and offers monthly credits, lounge access, and much more. Terms apply. Read more here.
• American Express® Business Gold Card is offering a 100K bonus for spending $15,000 in 3 months, monthly business credits, Walmart+ membership, up to 4 points per dollar spent with a $150K annual spend cap, and more benefits. Terms apply. Read more here.
• The Platinum Card® from American Express is offering an 80K bonus for spending $8,000 in 6 months and offers monthly credits, lounge access, and much more. Terms apply. Read more here.
• American Express® Gold Card is offering a 60K bonus for spending $6,000 in 6 months,  monthly credits for Uber and Grubhub, and more. Terms apply. Read more here. 
• AMEX Green Consumer Card is offering a 40K bonus for spending $3,000 in 6 months and offers up to $189 in annual CLEAR Plus® credits, $100 LoungeBuddy credit, plus transfer points to airlines and hotels and keep AMEX points alive. All information about the AMEX Green Card has been collected independently by DansDeals.

What do you think of these changes?