Just saw on FM that AMEX brought back their 80K MR -> 50K VX points PLUS VX Gold promotion. Remember I did this last year and parlayed it into a a status match with AS to get MVP Gold. That promo has paid out handsomely. Here’s all I got from my 80K MR points:
- 50,000 VX points that I used to book 2 OW’s to Hawaii at a cost of 24K VX for 2 people
- VX Gold status, which I haven’t even used yet
- Alaska MVP Gold status match – this helped with the BA mistake fare to give me an earnings bonus on miles flown
- Four first class upgrades (2 came in handy for the Hawaii-Seattle return flight)
- 75,000 guilt-free JetBlue points
So while my AS Gold status is going to end this December, I plan on doing this for my wife this year, so that we can have Gold status for 2017. While I couldn’t find the details, I’m sure the status match is once per lifetime. You never know with these programs (they may change to status “challenges” down the road,) and so it’s best to take advantage of them while they are available.
If you do take advantage of this, make sure you do the AS status match AFTER 10/1 so that you’ll get Gold for all of 2017. If you do it sooner than that, you’ll only have Gold until the end of 2016.
looking for advice: i am not based in cali or Seattle so don’t have a lot of use of the virgin points. Though can possibly use it for an Hawaii flight. Also maybe at some point, hopefully before devaluing, Alaska and virgin america miles account will be merged. As far as Alaska mvp, that might be useful especially for the upgrades on delta. now i can sell my amex miles (80k) for $1050 or do the above.
That’s really a tough one. Only you can value how much benefit you think all of that is, and whether it’s better than $1050.
What do you personally value virgin point? Is 2 cent per mile an exaggerated estimate?
I’d value at 2c. I don’t fly VX often, but it seems helpful for when I use it on HA metal. I’m just banking that the points merge with AS 1:1.