NEW: Get a huge 36,000 Virgin Points bonus with the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card

Virgin Atlantic has launched a special offer for its Virgin Money-issued Reward+ credit card and it is the strongest bonus we have seen for a LONG time.

You will get 36,000 Virgin Points if you spend £3,000 within 90 days.

This is paid in two parts – 18,000 points after your first purchase and 18,000 points if you hit the £3,000 spend target.

You can apply here.

Previously had the card? Virgin Money will give you a new bonus if you cancelled your previous Virgin Atlantic card more than six months ago.

You CAN apply if you currently have the free Virgin Atlantic credit card. This is due to a rule change which we covered here.

You CAN apply and get the bonus if you are currently a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s Virgin Atlantic credit card.

There is also a special bonus on the free Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card. The usual bonus of 3,000 points is doubled to 6,000 points. However, it makes far more sense to pay the £160 fee and pick up 36,000 points from Reward+.

You can find out more about the benefits of the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card in this article.  The free Virgin Atlantic credit card is examined here.

The offer ends on 13th October.

Are Virgin Points still worth collecting?

If you are a regular reader, you can’t help but have seen the discussion in the last year over Virgin Atlantic’s move to dynamic redemption pricing. This makes ALL seats available for redemption, but at often stupid points prices.

You should ignore this, and focus on Saver availability.

Saver seats ARE still available, costing no more than seats cost under the previous structure. There are plenty of Upper Class reward seats to/from New York for just 29,000 Virgin Points each way for example.

The snag is that there is no longer guaranteed ‘Saver’ availability. Virgin Atlantic used to promise 12 reward seats per flight at the equivalent of ‘Saver’ pricing, and now it doesn’t. This is less of an issue for the flexible traveller but makes life difficult for, especially, anyone with school age children.

This analysis gives some recent examples of good and bad routes for Upper Class redemptions.

There are other way to use your points, of course. There are flights on partner airlines – which haven’t changed in price – and other redemption options such as the Virgin Red box at The O2 in London. I recently redeemed Virgin Points for SAS flights back from Norway after a family holiday.

To be honest, with such a huge bonus on offer, I’d be tempted to get the card, bank the points (which will never expire) and decide what to do with them later.

You could also top up your 36,000 Virgin Points with a 1:1 transfer from American Express Membership Rewards, using the big sign-up bonuses currently on offer there.

Pay no foreign exchange fees in the Eurozone

If you are looking for a good reason to apply – apart from the bonus – this is it. 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 spending in Euro (in the EEA), Swedish Kronor or Romanian Lei. This saves you 3% on your purchases and you earn Virgin Points on top. The 3% fee applies to transactions in all other currencies.

Note that some Euro-accepting countries are not in the EEA, eg Monaco.

Here is the exact wording from the summary credit agreement:

“Non-Sterling Transaction Fee (for foreign currency transactions): 2.99% of transaction. We will not charge this if the transaction is in Euros, Swedish Kronor or Romanian Lei and it takes place in the UK or European Economic Area (EEA)”

It appears that all EEA countries are included based on my experience, even if they are not in the Euro. I wasn’t charged any fees in Norway last month, for example. Don’t take my word for this though.

What are the key features of the Virgin Atlantic credit cards?

These are very attractive cards. Here are the details:

The free card – the Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

The free Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card is a Mastercard which earns 0.75 Virgin Points per £1 spent.

The representative APR is 26.9% variable.

If you take out the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card by 13th October 2025:

• you get 3,000 Virgin Points after you make your first purchase on the card in the first 90 days

• you will get an additional 3,000 Virgin Points if you spend £1,000 in the first 90 days

This is a total of 6,000 Virgin Points.

You receive an annual voucher worth up to 150,000 Virgin Points when you spend £20,000 in a card year.

The paid card – the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

The £160 Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card is a Mastercard which earns 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 spent. 

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

If you take out the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card by 13th October 2025:

• you get 18,000 Virgin Points after you make your first purchase on the card in the first 90 days

• you will get an additional 18,000 Virgin Points if you spend £3,000 in the first 90 days

This is a total of 36,000 Virgin Points.

You will also benefit from earning a very generous 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 spent as your base earnings.

The fee is not refundable pro-rata if you cancel during the year.

You receive an annual voucher worth up to 150,000 Virgin Points when you spend £10,000 in a card year.

This offer makes the Reward+ card your best deal for Year 1

The Reward+ card is clearly the best deal, in my view, given the enhanced bonus.  36,000 Virgin Points easily offsets the £160 annual fee for the first year.

More importantly, once you have the Reward+ card, you are earning the superior 1.5 points per £1 whenever you shop.  You also trigger the annual voucher more quickly.

Big spenders should note that your monthly points earning is capped by your credit limit. What this means, in plain English, is that if your limit is £10,000, the maximum number of points you can earn per month is 7,500 on the free card and 15,000 on the paid card.

If you spend £10,000 every 10 days and then pay off your balance mid-cycle, you will not earn miles on your spending above £10,000. This is unlikely to be an issue for 99% of people.

How do the annual vouchers work?

Virgin Atlantic introduced a new type of annual voucher in 2024.

These vouchers are, thankfully, easier to understand than the old ones.

Your reward is triggered within 1-2 weeks of hitting the spending target.  The target is £20,000 in a card year for the free Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card and £10,000 in a card year for the £160 Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card.

If you have no elite status in Virgin Flying Club ….

…. your voucher will get you 75,000 Virgin Points off the cost of a companion ticket for a friend if you have booked a cash or redemption ticket for yourself.

Taxes and charges will be payable on the companion ticket.

A solo traveller will be able to use the voucher to save 75,000 Virgin Points on the cost of upgrading a Virgin Atlantic cash or reward flight by one cabin.

(Economy Light cash tickets cannot be upgraded. You need to book Economy Classic or Economy Delight.)

If you have Gold or Silver status in Virgin Flying Club ….

…. your voucher will get you 150,000 Virgin Points off the cost of a companion ticket for a friend if you have booked a cash or redemption ticket for yourself.

Taxes and charges will be payable on the companion ticket.

A solo traveller will be able to use the voucher to save 150,000 Virgin Points on the cost of upgrading a Virgin Atlantic cash or reward flight by one cabin.

(Economy Light cash tickets cannot be upgraded. You need to book Economy Classic or Economy Delight.)

New to Virgin Points and Virgin Flying Club?

Last year we published a 13-part series of articles on the best ways to spend Virgin Points – click here. Some of the earlier articles need re-writing following the move to dynamic pricing.

Whilst premium flights are clearly the best option (sorry to spoil the surprise!) you will find that there are plenty of other options available too.

Virgin Points convert into Hilton Honors and IHG One Rewards points

These cards are a good way of earning IHG or Hilton points from a UK Mastercard / Visa credit card.

The conversion rate into Hilton Honors is 2:3 and the rate into IHG One Rewards is 1:1.

There is a minimum conversion of 10,000 Virgin Points and conversions must be done by phone.

The sign-up bonus on the Reward+ card would convert into 54,000 Hilton Honors points or 36,000 IHG One Rewards points.

Conclusion

36,000 Virgin Points is a VERY strong sign-up bonus if you are confident of spending £3,000 within 90 days.

There isn’t a lot of value in getting the free card – at least for Year 1 – when there is such a good bonus on Reward+. This is despite the bonus being doubled to 6,000 Virgin Points.

It still isn’t clear, long term, how dynamic reward pricing will pan out. There are currently plenty of 29,000 points one-way Upper Class seats to/from New York JFK in 2026, however, so if you’ve always wanted to try Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic this would be possible with the credit card bonus.

You can apply for either of the Virgin Atlantic credit cards via this link.

The offer runs to 13th October 2025.