Contents
The Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard from Bank of America has an offer for up to 80,000 Flying club bonus miles. You get 60,000 points after spending $2,000 within the first 90 days of account opening. I value these 60k points to be worth around $900.
Additionally, you can earn up to 15,000 points every anniversary after qualifying purchases and 5,000 when you add additional cardholders to your account. Potentially, you could up to 80,000 points in total, which would be valued at $1,200. With a $90 annual fee, the bonus will cover the card’s cost for 13 years!
For the avid Virgin Atlantic flyer, the Virgin Atlantic credit card is a fine choice. It offers high earning potential and bonuses for big spenders. All these perks more than make up for the card’s annual fee.
There is one big drawback that many aren’t aware of before getting this card. Flights booked with your Flying Club miles can incur abnormally high surcharges. This can be several hundred dollars to over a thousand. This is the case with a few other airline credit cards, but certainly isn’t the norm.
If Virgin Atlantic is not your primary carrier, consider another airline-branded card or a general travel rewards card instead.
*The Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard is issued by Bank of America. Bank of America also offers great sign-up bonuses for its Checking/Savings accounts.
CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED® CARD
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card currently has an offer for 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Redeeming the 60,000 bonus points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, which is praised by users, will get you $750 in value towards travel. The 60K bonus points are worth $750 because you get 25% more value whenever you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Even better, strategize with Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer partners to potentially get even more value. Each point can be worth up to 2 cents apiece (60k points = ~$1,200). Read more on this here.
Virgin Atlantic Card 60,000 Bonus Miles Offer
Take advantage of the Virgin Atlantic card’s 60,000 Flying Club bonus miles offer. My valuation puts these 60k miles at around $900 (more on that below).
To qualify for the first 60,000 miles, charge at least $2,000 to your card within the first 90 days of opening your account.
You’ll earn 15,000 Flying Club bonus miles every anniversary after spending $25,000 within the year.
You can earn another 2,500 miles for each of the first two authorized users added to your card.
Here are some ideas on meeting the spending requirement.
What Are Flying Club Miles Worth?
Like many other airline-branded cards, the value of your miles depends on how you use them. On average, each Flying Club mile is worth $0.015. That’s well above the industry average of $0.01 per mile.
When you’re ready to redeem your Flying Club miles, you have a variety of option, including:
- Flights and upgrades with Virgin Atlantic
- “Miles Plus Money” (award flights paid with miles and cash)
- Gift or transfer miles to another Flying Club member
- Chauffeur service
- Treatments at Clubhouse Spas
- Spending with partner brands (more on that below)
To get the best value for your Flying Club miles, use them for award travel with one of Virgin Atlantic’s partner airlines. I don’t recommend redeeming for flights with the carrier itself because Virgin Atlantic has high fees and surcharges mentioned earlier.
Virgin Atlantic Card Top Features
Big spenders qualify for bonus miles, depending on how much you charge to your Virgin Atlantic card in one membership year:
- Spend at least $15,000 and receive 7,500 bonus Flying Club miles
- Spend at least $25,000 and receive another 7,500 bonus miles
That’s a grand total of 15,000 bonus miles, worth about $225.
If you hit $25,000 in annual spending on your Virgin Atlantic card, you also qualify for your choice of:
- One cabin upgrade from Economy Classic to Premium on an award flight, or
- One matching companion fare in the same cabin class on an award flight.
Although the companion fare is free, you still have to pay any applicable taxes, fees, charges and carrier-imposed surcharges.
Make purchases abroad without worrying about foreign transaction fees with the Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard.
Bottom Line
The Virgin Atlantic World Elite MasterCard could be an amazing airline credit card. But the rewards program is lacking oomph. Although its rewards rate might seem impressive, Virgin Atlantic charges high fees and surcharges on top of its award travel.
To make the Virgin Atlantic card a worthy consideration, you would have to be very dedicated to flying with the carrier. Otherwise, check out general travel rewards cards for better value.
| OFFER LINK | OFFER | OUR REVIEW |
| Chase Business Complete Banking℠ | $300 Cash | Review |
| Chase Total Checking® | $225 Cash | Review |
| Chase Secure Banking℠ | $100 Cash | Review |
| TD Bank Beyond Checking | $300 Cash | Review |
| TD Bank Convenience Checking℠ | $150 Cash | Review |
| HSBC Premier Checking | $450 Cash | Review |
| Axos Business Checking | $100 Cash | Review |
| Aspiration Checking | $150/$200 Cash | Review |
| Ally Invest | Up To $3,000 | Review |
| Betterment | Up To 1 Year Free | Review |
| BlockFi | Up To $250 BTC | Review |
| Voyager (code BH5F1A) | $25 In BTC | Review |
| TradeStation | $100 Bonus | Review |
| Coinbase | $10 In BTC | Review |
| Robinhood | Free Stock | Review |
| Motley Fool | Stock Advisor Discount | Review |
Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Disclaimer: These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, credit card issuer, hotel, airline or other entity. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post. It is not the bank advertiser's or any other entity's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.