Get a 30% bonus when you transfer your Citi ThankYou Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Citi is a TPG advertising partner

For a limited time only, Citi cardholders can receive a 30% bonus when transferring ThankYou Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

ThankYou Rewards members typically get a 1:1 transfer ratio, meaning you’ll typically get 1,000 Virgin points for transferring 1,000 ThankYou points. However, from now until March 16, you’ll get 1,300 Virgin points instead for each increment of 1,000 points you transfer.

You must transfer increments of 1,000 Citi ThankYou points, so you’ll need to round up to the next 1,000 points when determining how many points you need to transfer for an award.

Transfers to Flying Club have been instant in our testing.

Best use of Virgin points

Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club program continues to be quirky and valuable. While Virgin does impose surcharges for flights across the Atlantic on its own metal, especially in premium cabins, economy awards to London-area airports start at just 10,000 Virgin points on off-peak dates. If you want to take advantage of the 30% Citi transfer bonus offer, you would need to transfer just 8,000 ThankYou Rewards points, giving you 10,400 Virgin points.

While Delta Air Lines flights typically start at 15,000 Virgin points one-way to London, we have seen some dates go for as low as 10,000 points; however, there are carrier-imposed surcharges to be paid, which are higher than what Virgin will charge for its flights. Therefore, it may be best to shop around and search for other award flights before paying high surcharges.

If you’re looking to book Delta flights from the U.S. to European destinations outside the U.K., you’ll need about 30,000 Virgin points. However, the taxes and fees are virtually nonexistent, and you will not have to pay carrier-imposed surcharges. In this example, if you want to transfer your Citi points to Virgin with a 30% bonus, you would need to transfer 24,000 ThankYou Rewards points.

How to earn Citi ThankYou points

You can earn Citi ThankYou points through some of Citi’s credit cards. Here are some of our favorite Citi cards that can earn ThankYou points:

Citi Premier® Card: Best for earning full-fledged ThankYou points with a low annual fee (see rates and fees)
Citi Rewards+® Card: Best for supermarkets, gas stations and small purchases (see rates and fees)
Citi Double Cash® Card: Best for everyday spending (see rates and fees)
Citi Custom Cash® Card: Best for bonus earnings in different categories each billing cycle (see rates and fees)

Bottom line

If you plan to redeem miles to fly Virgin Atlantic, Delta or their SkyTeam partners (even the incredible All Nippon Airways sweet spot if you can find availability), this is a great way to boost your Virgin points by 30% by transferring Citi ThankYou Rewards points to Flying Club.

Another way to look at it is that you will need 30% fewer Citi points if transferred during this promotion.

We don’t recommend transferring points unless you have a specific use in mind as, unfortunately, devaluations can and do happen, but if you do have a Flying Club redemption in mind, transfer your Citi points before March 16 to enjoy a 30% bonus.