GOOD NEWS: Virgin Atlantic permanently increases the sign-up bonus on its credit cards

There is good news today on the two Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard credit cards.

Virgin Atlantic has permanently increased the sign up bonuses on the cards.

The new higher rates are already showing (you can apply here).

The bonus on the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard goes from nothing to 3,000 Virgin Points.

The bonus on the £160 Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard goes from 15,000 Virgin Points to 18,000.

I think both of these changes are symbolically interesting.

On the free card:

By putting some bonus – albeit not a huge one – back on the free card, it creates a positive reason for people to apply. It also closes the gap with the free British Airways American Express card and the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard, both of which offer 5,000 Avios.

There is no spend target to hit. Your bonus is triggered with your first purchase, as long as it is within 90 days of acceptance.

The representative APR is 26.9% variable.

On the paid card:

On the paid card, moving to 18,000 Virgin Points means that you are ‘paying’ under 1p per point when you factor in the £160 annual fee. I think this is an important mental barrier to cross.

There is no spend target to hit. Your bonus is triggered with your first purchase, as long as it is within 90 days of acceptance.

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

Remember that you can now have BOTH Virgin Atlantic credit cards

Following a rule change, you can now have both of the Virgin Atlantic credit cards.

If you have the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard there is good news. Following a recent rule change, you can now apply for the Reward+ card too.

It’s not quite as simple as it sounds.

There is no ‘special’ application route. If you hold one of the Virgin Atlantic Reward credit cards, you can simply go to the application page here and apply for the other one.

(The only way to apply is by doing the ‘eligibility check’. You can’t go directly to the application form.)

If you pass the eligibilty check, you can complete your application. If you are accepted, you will receive the card and the sign-up bonus.

Note that you must not have applied for any other Virgin Money card in the last three months.

However, please note ….

There are a couple of things to note here.

• You are NOT swapping one card for the other. Unless you later choose to cancel your existing card, you will have two Virgin Atlantic credit cards.
• You are NOT transferring your credit limit from the old card to the new card. You will get a fresh credit limit on the new card. You will be rejected for the second card if Virgin Money does not wish to increase the overall amount of credit you hold with it. There is no process for shifting your credit limit from one card to the other.
• You are NOT transferring your ‘spend to date’ towards the annual companion and upgrade voucher to your new card. You will be starting from scratch towards the £10,000 or £20,000 of spend needed to trigger the voucher. You can, of course, keep spending on your existing card as well to earn the voucher on that one.

If the three points above are an issue for you, you can either cancel your existing Reward card before applying (but you risk being stuck with no Virgin Atlantic cards if you are rejected) or potentially reduce the credit limit on your existing card first in order to improve your chance of acceptance.

Remember that the Virgin Atlantic cards have no FX fees in the Eurozone

Whilst you will struggle to find any mention of this on the card website, the Virgin Atlantic cards are the only travel rewards credit cards which offer a partial respite on FX fees when travelling.

You pay no FX fees on in-person spending in Euro, Swedish Kronor or Romanian Lei.

(Reports from HfP readers suggest that some other European currencies also go through with no FX fees. For regulatory reasons I won’t mention these as they are not ‘official’ benefits.)

This saves you 3% on your purchases and you earn Virgin Points on top. The 3% fee applies to transactions in all other currencies.

Conclusion

It’s good to see Virgin Atlantic taking positive steps to improve its two credit cards, especially with the recent downgrades to the British Airways American Express package.

In a day or so we will update our master article comparing the two Virgin Atlantic cards and helping you decide which would work best for you. This includes a detailed look at how the annual 2-4-1 or upgrade voucher works.

You can apply for either of the Virgin Atlantic credit cards here.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (December 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 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is increased to 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 30,000 Virgin Points. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card from American Express is increased to 80,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 80,000 Virgin Points! The spend requirement is changed to £10,000 in six months for this offer. Click here to apply.

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.)