Bear with me as I’m still catching on the news from last week while I was flying with my son on an incredible trip on the upper deck of a 747.
American Express is a DansDeals.com advertiser.
Last week Starwood added its 35th airline transfer partner, Virgin America. Ironically both Starwood and Virgin America will cease to exist in a couple years from now having been snapped up by Marriott and Alaska, but there is value still to be had in the meantime.
It’s also great to see SPG still adding partners to its portfolio. Last December it added Aegean, which is excellent for awards to Israel.
Now it’s adding Virgin America as a partner at the standard 20K Starpoints=25K Virgin America points ratio. Click here to transfer Starpoints into airline miles.
You can earn Starpoints on the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express and on the Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express.
Virgin America has hybrid award redemption system. You can redeem for flights on Virgin America based on the cost of the flight.
Here’s a look at what your points will be worth for various one-way Virgin flights (Prices were researched on 4/16 and will fluctuate). Note that Starpoint rates listed below are assuming that you maximize the 25% point bonus for transferring Starpoints in blocks of 20,000 points (which you may or may not be able to do depending on the number of passengers, so you may have leftover miles):
1. Los Angeles-Las Vegas on 5/11 is $43.10 or 1,417 Virgin points (about 1,134 SPG)+$5.60. That’s a value of 2.65 cents per Virgin point (43.10-5.60/1,417) and 3.31 cents per Starpoint.
2. LGA to Dallas on 5/11 is $78.10 or 3,126 Virgin points (about 2,500 SPG)+$5.60. That’s a value of 2.32 cents per Virgin point and 2.9 cents per Starpoint.
3. JFK to Maui on 5/11 is $244.50 or 10,762 Virgin points (about 8,610 SPG)+$5.60. That’s a value of 2.22 cents per Virgin point and 2.78 cents per Starpoint.
4. JFK to Los Angeles on 5/11 is $138.10 or 6,056 Virgin points (about 4,844 SPG)+$5.60. That’s a value of 2.19 cents per Virgin point and 2.74 cents per Starpoint.
5. Los Angeles-Orlando on 5/11 is $93.10 or 3,859 Virgin points (about 3,087 SPG)+$5.60. That’s a value of 2.27 cents per Virgin point and 2.84 cents per Starpoint.
The exact point requirements will vary based on the price of the Virgin flights, but those are some pretty sweet values!
You can also redeem points on partner airlines.
Those include Hawaiian, Singapore, and Virgin Australia with low or no fuel surcharges and Emirates or Virgin Atlantic with high fuel surcharges.
For example:
-A roundtrip from JFK nonstop to Frankfurt on Singapore is just 20K Virgin miles (about 16K SPG) in coach.
-A roundtrip from JFK nonstop to Honolulu on Hawaiian is 35K Virgin miles (about 28K SPG) in coach or 80K Virgin miles (about 64K SPG) in business.
-A roundtrip from JFK nonstop to London on Virgin Atlantic is 15K Virgin miles+$475 (about 12K SPG) in coach, 25K Virgin miles+$790 (20K SPG) in premium economy, or 35K Virgin miles+$1,150 (about 28K SPG) in upper class, Virgin’s version of business class with an on-board bar with access to their highly-rated clubhouse lounges.
-A roundtrip from Los Angeles nonstop to London on Virgin Atlantic is 25K Virgin miles+$475 (20K SPG) in coach, 30K Virgin miles+$790 (about 24K SPG) in premium economy, or 50K Virgin miles+$1,150 (40K SPG) in upper class.
-A roundtrip from Los Angeles or San Francisco nonstop to any of the Hawaiian islands on Hawaiian is 20K Virgin miles (about 16K SPG) in coach or 50K Virgin miles (40K SPG) in business.
-A roundtrip from San Francisco to Hong Kong or Seoul on Singapore is just 40K Virgin miles (about 32K SPG) in coach.
-A roundtrip from Los Angeles to Tokyo on Singapore is just 40K Virgin miles (about 32K SPG) in coach.
-A roundtrip from Los Angeles to Sydney on Virgin Australia is just 40K Virgin miles (about 32K SPG) in coach, 60K Virgin miles (about 48K SPG) in premium economy, or 80K Virgin miles (about 64K SPG) in business class.
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33 Comments On "Starwood’s 35th Transfer Partner Increases The Value Of Your Starpoints; Fly Roundtrip JFK-Los Angeles For Less Than 10K Or JFK-Europe For Less Than 20K SPG!"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
Are these deals only for 5/11 or other dates as well? I am looking for June/July
@moshe:
5/11 was just a random date I used to illustrate what the points are worth on various routes.
You can get similar values per point on any date. Just create an account to see how many points you’ll need for any date.
Dan you meant one way no round trip..50k VA LAX LON etc
@moshe:
“Virgin America has hybrid award redemption system. You can redeem for flights on Virgin America based on the cost of the flight.”
These aren’t “deals”; he’s illustrating for you the potential value of their points.
Is there special dates for the JFK to HNL nonstop? Tried googling it even, don’t see it…
Oh my bad says on Hawaiian…-A roundtrip from JFK nonstop to Honolulu on Hawaiian is 35K Virgin miles (about 28K SPG) in coach or 80K Virgin miles (about 64K SPG) in business. How I go ahead and book this flight.
@joe:
No, I didn’t. Those are roundtrip rates.
@Joe G:
The JFK-Maui sale seems to have ended yesterday when I did the research for this post. I posted the deal last week.
@Joe G:
Call them to book partner travel.
Who is them. Virgin or Hawaiian?!
@Joe G:
You always call the airline with which you have miles that you are trying to use, not the partner.
Is Virgin Atlantic premium economy worth anything, is it worth the extra points/money ?
Awesome. thank you Dan! Ur the best!!!
What’s the cancellation policy on flights booked with points??
@Okey:
Yes it’s very highly rated.
Also worth noting that VS J is lower EX-dtw
JFK-FRA is 16k SPG BUT WHAT about the fees ?
That price JFK – FRA is insane! I’d never heard that before, but just had to see it for myself here https://www.virginamerica.com/cms/elevate-frequent-flyer/redeem-points and it’s correct. I can’t conceive of a better deal to europe anywhere, ever.
Does anyone know if that’s for a limited time, or if it’s the standard price?
@Okey:
It’s very good.
@Akiva:
$100.
@High end hobo:
$140 cheaper, good to know!
Though you lose out on the kosher food at the JFK Clubhouse.
@Daniel:
$147 round-trip according to
https://www.virginamerica.com/cms/elevate-frequent-flyer/redeem-points
@jason:
It’s the regular price!
We transfer all SPG point to AA when the deal went on for extra 5K miles.
yq per ita on sq jfk-fra is a lot higher
@dov bennish:
Doesn’t mean anything, but feel free to call Virgin America to confirm that the number on their site is correct.
you can also fly emirates to mxp and dubai and virgin atlantic to london (from ny at least)
too long of a wait time. im sry i missed seeing that on there site. i guess i will believe vx site. i hope spg dosent go + now
Nyc-lax need 6 pm depart on miles
Best options?
Hard to see award space 5/11 f such time frame Mon stop
Thank you
Award prices on Virgin America fluctuate widely. We’ve been trying to book 3 one-way tickets on their non-stop LAX-Maui flight for early Sept. There is NOTHING under 18K miles. So the JFK-Maui one-way on 5/11 for ~11K miles is a steal. But again, Virgin America’s award prices vary a lot, so it really depends on whether you luck out with your travel dates…
How long does it take for transfer to complete. ???
Is there anyway to from from nyc to milan without the high fuel charges?
@yankel:
For Emirates travel you should be transferring to JAL instead:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/86375
@Advice?:
Make Virgin account. Check rates.
@Laura:
As the post says, the points required for Virgin America flights will fluctuate according to their current price of a ticket.
@Anonymous:
Probably a few days.
@Revk:
For Emirates travel you should be transferring to JAL instead:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/86375
Hi. Great stuff here. Best advice for NYC – tTLV round trip with a stopover we can spend two or three days in? I have loads if spg points to transfer .
What are the fees on the jfk-fra redemption ?
VA site shows $500 for Y, $810 for Y+ and $1300 for J
@Dan
Where do you find round trip LAX-SYD for 40k miles?
Virgin Australia is 47k each way.
You jfk to Frankfort thru Singapore is rt 20000
1-this route is only handled by delta with 39000 points each way
So how can get your discounted 20000 round trip
@Zalman:
As the post says, call to book.
@Yakov a tam:
As the post says, call to book.
quick starwood question. any advice if you miscalculate the time you have for a signup bonus and miss it by a few days. spoke w/customer service and manager and wouldn’t budge at all, even when i threatened to cancel the card…thanks!