Earlier this month, Capital One announced the addition of Virgin Red, the brand new loyalty program for the Virgin family of brands, as its 18th transfer partner. But at the time of that announcement, the ability to transfer wasn't live yet.
That changed on Wednesday, as you can now transfer Capital One Venture Miles to Virgin Red.
While Virgin Red might not sound familiar, it's the new overarching loyalty program of Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Hotels, and more. And while other transferrable points only transfer to Virgin Atlantic, Capital One miles will stretch beyond just Virgin Atlantic.
No matter how you slice it, it's yet another way to use your Capital One Venture miles and a useful way to accumulate some Virgin Atlantic points for sweet spots like booking Delta One suites or even ANA first class on the cheap.
Once considered a distant third behind more-valuable points programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards or Amex Membership Rewards, this move is just the latest reminder of how far Capital One has come in the last year. From the launch of the stellar Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card to the introduction of fantastic Capital One airport lounges to leveling up transfer partners, Capital One has quickly transformed from a bank built for beginners to a genuine double-threat and a must-have even for seasoned award travelers.
Here's a deeper look at the bank's newest transfer partner.
Virgin Red as a Transfer Partner
It was only a matter of time before Capital One added Virgin Atlantic as a transfer partner.
Already a Chase transfer partner, Amex transfer partner, and a Citi transfer partner, adding the ability to transfer Capital One Venture miles to make Virgin Atlantic redemptions rounds out the quadfecta. Critically, Capital One is the only bank that is a transfer partner of Virgin Red, the overarching loyalty program of the Virgin family of brands.
This opens up additional possibilities beyond just Virgin Atlantic, like Virgin Hotels, Virgin cruises, and more. It also makes Virgin Atlantic miles among the easiest to earn in the world of points and miles with all four major transferrable currencies now on the table.
And there are some excellent sweet spots to use them.
As is the case with nearly all Capital One transfer partners these days, Venture Miles will transfer to Virgin on a 1:1 basis, meaning 10,000 Venture Miles would net you 10,000 Virgin Red points – and thus 10,000 Virgin Atlantic points.
It's Capital One's 18th transfer partner overall as the bank has built out an impressive stable of options to send your Venture miles. Here's the full list.
| Program | Type | Ratio | Transfer Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aeromexico | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France/KLM | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| British Airways | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles | Airline | 1:1 | Up to five business days |
| Emirates | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad | Airline | 1:1 | Up to 1 day |
| EVA Air | Airline | 2:1.5 | Up to five business days |
| Finnair | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Qantas | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Singapore | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| TAP Air Portugal | Airline | 1:1 | Same day |
| Turkish Airlines | Airline | 1:1 | Same day |
| Virgin Red | Other | 1:1 | Same day |
| Accor | Hotel | 2:1 | Up to two business days |
| Wyndham | Hotel | 1:1 | Same day |
| Choice Hotels | Hotel | 1:1 | Same day |
Read our full guide to how Capital One transfer partners work!
When it comes to using Virgin Atlantic miles, you've got some strong options. It's taken a hit in recent years due to a major devaluation, you won't find a better way to book Delta One suites.
While Delta regularly charges 200,000 SkyMiles or more for a one-way business class seat from the U.S. to Europe, you can book those exact same flights using just 50,000 Flying Club points. It doesn't get much cheaper than that.
Finding these Delta One flights can take some patience and flexibility as the airline has gotten incredibly stingy with releasing award space to partner carriers like Virgin in the last few years. But when it works, it's one of the best ways to get to Europe using points and miles – and one of the best ways to fly business class, period.
Read more:Â Save Your SkyMiles, Book Delta Flights via Virgin Atlantic
But perhaps the single best way to redeem Virgin Atlantic points is by booking business or first class on Japanese flag carrier All Nippon Airways, or ANA. While most other airlines charge 80,000 miles or more for a one-way flight in ANA business class, Virgin Atlantic's award chart for ANA redemptions carves out some unbelievable bargains.
You can fly from the west coast to Japan and back for just 90,000 miles in business class – or 110,000 miles roundtrip in ANA first class! From midwestern cities like Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) or as far as New York City (JFK), it's just 95,000 miles roundtrip in business class or 120,000 miles for first class.
That is, by far, one of the single best deals in the world of points and miles. It takes some extra work, as you'll need to call Virgin Atlantic in order to book these tickets so be sure to read our full guide on booking ANA flights via Virgin Atlantic. On the plus side, it's gotten even easier recently as Virgin Atlantic now allows one-way redemptions on ANA for half the cost of a roundtrip booking.
Check out our review of ANA first class!Â
Setting Up Your Virgin Red Account
Even if you already have a Virgin Atlantic loyalty account, you'll need to create a Virgin Red account in order to use this new Capital One transfer partnership. You can create an account here.
Don't worry: if you have miles in your Virgin Atlantic account, you'll be able to link it with your Virgin Red account during the sign-up process and any miles will show up in your Virgin Red account.
Bottom Line
Capital One just continues to improve its Venture Miles program.
On Wednesday, Virgin Red officially joined the Capital One transfer partner fold, and it is now possible to transfer Capital One Venture miles to Virgin Red – the overarching loyalty program of Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Hotels, and more.
Lead photo courtesy of Virgin Atlantic
Will Virgin Red also include booking on Virgin Australia?
It doesn’t look like Virgin Australia is currently a redemption option.