TWO WEEKS LEFT: Is the new offer from Virgin’s credit card a reason to collect Virgin Points?

Until 4th March, you can get a special sign-up bonus with the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card.

As well as the standard 15,000 Virgin Points sign-up bonus, you will receive DOUBLE POINTS (3 per £1) on your first £5,000 of spending, or whatever you spend by 14th April – whichever comes first.

As well as reminding you about the card bonus, I thought it was worth looking more broadly at whether there is an opportunity, even for someone without a Virgin Flying Club account at the moment, to build up a pile of points from scratch quickly?  And should you?

It is not up to me to tell you if this is a good idea FOR YOU or not.  However, this article sets out a few reasons why you might want to consider it.

As a reminder:

• The £160 Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card has a sign-up bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points, earns 1.5 points per £1 and comes with a 2-4-1 or upgrade voucher for spending £10,000 per year

• Apply by 4th March and you will also receive double points (3 per £1) on your first £5,000 of spending, or whatever you spend by 14th April, whichever comes first

• There is no special offer on the free Virgin Atlantic credit card, which has no bonus at all

• The cards are issued by Virgin Money so it is very unlikely that you will be conflicted due to having any other cards from the same bank

• The 2-4-1 and upgrade vouchers are valid on CASH tickets as well as reward tickets

• The cards have no foreign exchange fees when used in the Eurozone

Our full article on this bonus offer looks at the benefits of the two cards in detail.  I recommend you read our main Virgin Atlantic credit card article here.

Click for an article which will help you decide which of the two Virgin Atlantic credit cards is best for you.

You can apply for the cards here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard:

The representative APR is 26.9% variable.

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard:

The representative APR is 69.7% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 26.9% variable.

Why is it worth thinking about building up a Virgin Flying Club balance?

Reason 1:  Diversification

British Airways can fly you to pretty much anywhere that Virgin Atlantic can. However, that doesn’t mean they can get you Avios seats when you want them.  Having a balance in another programme gives you more chance of getting seats on the dates you want them.

Both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic allow one-way redemptions, so with a Virgin Points balance you could mix and match a trip as availability allows.

Since Virgin Atlantic joined SkyTeam earlier in 2023, it has opened up redemption opportunities across a range of airlines:

• Aerolíneas Argentinas
• Aeromexico
• Air Europa
• Air France
• China Airlines
• Czech Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Garuda Indonesia
• ITA
• Kenya Airways
• KLM
• Korean Air
• Middle East Airlines
• SAUDIA
• TAROM
• Vietnam Airlines
• Xiamen Air 

China Eastern will be added at some point. Our full article on how to spend Virgin Points on SkyTeam partners is here.

Reason 2:  Availability

Virgin Atlantic now has GUARANTEED availability for Virgin Points on every flight.

You will find two Upper Class, two Premium and eight Economy seats opened up as soon as booking commences (5am, 331 days out). Further seats will be added later depending on how full the flight is looking.

This matches what British Airways offers, except in Business Class (BA offers four Club World seats, Virgin Atlantic offers two Upper Class).

It is clearly better to have access to pots of BOTH Avios and Virgin Points than to have just one pot on hand if you want to fly to a particular destination.

There is an online tool – seatspy.com – which can instantly show you Virgin Atlantic reward availability for a full year in a split second.  You can compare it easily with British Airways availability.

Reason 3:  The Virgin Atlantic credit cards also have the option of an upgrade voucher

If you don’t want to take the 2-4-1 voucher from the Virgin Atlantic credit cards, you can get a voucher to upgrade a flight instead.

This is a very useful benefit for the solo traveller. It can also be used by a couple, upgrading one leg each of two return flights.

The voucher can be used to upgrade either cash or reward tickets. However, you need reward availability to be showing in the higher class before you can do it.

Last November I flew to New York on an Upper Class flight, with the upgrade voucher reducing the cost from 95,000 Virgin Points to the Premium Economy price of 35,000 Virgin Points (+ taxes) – a considerable saving.

Extra taxes would be due, unfortunately, especially when upgrading from Economy to Premium as you will face the higher rate of Air Passenger Duty.

The spending criteria for earning the 2-4-1 voucher or the Premium Economy upgrade voucher is:

• £10,000 in a card year on the £160 Reward+ Mastercard (sign-up bonus 15,000 points)
• £20,000 in a card year on the free Reward Mastercard (no bonus)

Reason 4:  If Virgin Points don’t work out, you can transfer to Hilton Honors or IHG One Rewards

Rare among airline schemes, Virgin Flying Club lets you transfer points out into Hilton Honors (1:1.5) or IHG One Rewards (the Holiday Inn etc scheme) at 1:1.

If you found yourself struggling to use your Virgin Points, you could move them across.  It isn’t amazing value but it gets you out of a hole.

Remember that neither Hilton or IHG have UK credit cards open to new applicants. With Hilton, for places that take American Express, you would be better off earning Hilton Honors points via the (free in Year 1) American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which earns 2 Hilton points per £1 spent. There is no other route to earning IHG points with a UK credit card, unless you qualify for HSBC Premier and get their £195 World Elite Mastercard.

Reason 5:  The Heathrow Clubhouse

The Virgin Atlantic lounge at Heathrow, for Upper Class passengers, is widely regarded as one of the best airport lounges in the world. Eat a proper meal in the restaurant, chill out in the audio or TV rooms or do one of many other (admittedly ‘boys toys’) activities.  It is well worth trying once in your life. The jacuzzi may be long gone but it is still a fun place to hang out.

Here is my review of the Clubhouse at Heathrow from the reopening party in July 2021.

Reason 6:  It is easy to collect additional points

It is now almost as as easy to collect Virgin Points as it is Avios. As well as the credit card points (and, erm, actually flying on Virgin Atlantic or a SkyTeam partner), you can earn from:

• Tesco Clubcard (with occasional transfer bonuses of 10%-20%) which is no longer an Avios partner

• American Express Membership Rewards (so the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold bonus is worth 20,000 Virgin Points – a great return on a free card)

• Heathrow Rewards

….. as well as all the major hotel schemes.  As I wrote here, some major hotel chains do not give Avios but do offer Virgin Points.

Conclusion

So, there are a few things to think about here.

Virgin Atlantic is a hugely different proposition to how it was a couple of years ago. There are now 12 GUARANTEED Virgin Points seats on every flight, and you also have the entire SkyTeam airline alliance to redeem on too.

The credit card voucher offers perks you won’t get from a BA Amex card:

• the ability to upgrade a flight, as well as redeem for a 2-4-1 ticket

• the ability to upgrade or get a 2-4-1 seat on a CASH flight ticket

If you live near Manchester, you also have the benefit of being able to use your points and credit card vouchers for a direct flight from the north to certain destinations. Las Vegas from Manchester is returning for 2024.

The main Virgin Atlantic credit card website is here.  You need to apply by 4th March to qualify for double points on spending (valid to 14th April or £5,000 of spend, whichever comes first).

Disclaimer: Head for Points is a journalistic website. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. Recommendations are based primarily on the ability to earn miles and points. The site discusses products offered by lenders but is not a lender itself. Robert Burgess, trading as Head for Points, is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as an independent credit broker.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points):

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points. 

(Want to earn more Virgin Points?  Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)