Purchase fees add up pretty quickly with that many VGCs, but would work.
With points should be a wash.
But you don't pay a 3% transfer fee (Plus extra points)
But my concern with suggesting this route is that it can lead him into more trouble. Also, it's not as easy as it used to be to unload vgc and if he's going the MO route he might be better off with GC Mall and TCB (which if he hits hard enough could solve his whole issue in the first place).
There's a plethora of options available. But it seems to me he has a cashflow or spending issue more than he has a debt issue.