Do you enjoy earning frequent flyers miles for every latte, lunch, train ticket and virtually everything else you buy? If you don’t – you should. Turning every day purchases into frequent flyer miles makes it easier than ever to earn lucrative travel rewards like upgrades, lounge access and “free” companion tickets to explore destinations all over the world – for less. Today Virgin Atlantic launched a new credit card with Virgin Money, and we’ve got the full scoop…
Byline John Nguyen/JNVisuals
Two Cards
Virgin Atlantic has launched two cards: a free version, and a premium version with additional benefits. Both Mastercard cards are offered by Virgin Money and anyone who currently holds the previous MBNA Virgin Atlantic card is allowed to apply for this new card and receive the new sign up bonus. Essentially, you can still use both cards and make them work for you, though it’s tough to beat the new earning rates of the premium card.
Sign Up Bonuses
The free version with no annual fee offers 5,000 Virgin Atlantic miles as a sign up bonus after your first purchase. The premium version carries an annual fee of £160 and comes with a sign up bonus of 15,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles after your first purchase (within 90 days). £160 for 15,000 points is always a great deal, but it’s the ongoing benefits we’re compelled by.
You’ll earn .75 Flying Club miles for every £1 spent on the free version, but a whopping 1.5 Flying Club miles for every £1 spent on the premium version. That’s the most generous earning rate of any non Amex UK airline credit card. With wide Mastercard acceptance, this could be a lucrative choice, especially as Virgin Atlantic partners with KLM, Air France and other airlines to give increasing value to Flying Club miles. We have an extremely useful, comprehensive list of clever ways to spend Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles, here.
Flexible Benefits
The thing that got us excited about this new card is the flexibility of the benefits. Cardmembers can choose between Heathrow or Gatwick Clubhouse lounge passes, a round trip upgrade to Premium Economy when redeeming for economy, or a 2 for 1, where the second person flies without needing to use additional miles – you just pay the taxes. These benefits are triggered when spending £20,000 in a year on the free version or £10,000 on the premium version. There’s one interesting catch, which you’ll read below. All cardmembers will receive access to Virgin Money lounge around the UK for refreshments, wifi and other perks on the go.
This credit card takes an interesting approach by offering increased benefits for Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Silver and Gold members. For cardholders hoping to use the 2 for 1 voucher when cashing in points, standard “red” members with Virgin Atlantic can only use it to book Economy. Silver members can use it to book Premium Economy and Flying Club Gold members can use it to book Economy, Premium or Upper Class. As a reminder, the 2 for 1 is only valid when you’re using miles, not for cash bookings.
A Clever Benefit Move
All cardholders can take advantage of the round trip upgrade to Premium Economy when booking a flight using points for economy – after meeting the spending requirement. These vouchers are valid for two years, so if someone earned one in one year, and a second voucher in the second year, they’d have two vouchers and could easily then book two round trip tickets using Flying Club miles in economy – and end up with two people flying round trip in Premium.
There’s no doubt that the Premium card will offer a better daily return on your investment. £160 a year is a lot of money, but the initial 15,000 points greatly offsets the first year cost. If you’re spending £10,000 a year and receive your choice of perk, it would be hard to argue against £160 for a round trip upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy. This card isn’t for everyone, but if you’re a Virgin Atlantic loyalist and are looking for ways to build your points – it’s the best new option out there. Full details, here.
This is the email I received from Virgin Atlantic last week.
“Every swipe’s an adventure with a Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard®. Because, as well as exceptional benefits and exciting insider privileges, you can earn up to 70,000 bonus Flying Club miles after qualifying purchases in your first six months – enough for two Premium return flights from New York JFK to London Heathrow (plus taxes, fees, charges and carrier imposed surcharges from $658).
How to get your 70,000 miles boost
Get 20,000 miles after you make your first purchase using your Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard®
Get 50,000 miles after you spend at least $12,000 on purchases within 6 months of your account open date
You’ll earn 3 miles per $1 when you spend directly with Virgin Atlantic and 1.5 miles per $1 on all other purchases.
This offer won’t last forever, so be sure to apply† for your Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard® before April 30, 2018.
The Flying Club team”
meanwhile in the UK – 15k miles and the audacity to charge £160 for that! L O L
I’ve held an MBNA Virgin Atlantic credit card for years and used it to avoid losing flying club miles if I don’t fly with them for more than 3 years. I’ve just done a pre-check with Virgin Money for their new card and it says I won’t be accepted. This means I have to fly with them otherwise I will lose all my flying club miles. How unfair is that?
Worst decision ever to take their “free version.” Card is constantly blocked, almost impossible to get through on the phone getting the standard “We are experiencing higher than normal call volumes” as if, employ more staff and treat customers with the respect they deserve, after all, they are paying your wages!