Fancy a free flight? You have one last chance to pocket up to 25,000 Flying Club miles with this promotion from Virgin Money.
Anyone who applies for the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card before the end of tomorrow (14 December) will get a bonus 10,000 miles on top of the existing offer of 15,000 miles.
As ever, there are strings attached, but this is one of the most attractive ‘airmile’ offers we’ve seen for some time and is sure to be popular with those who love a cheap flight.
So should you apply? Read on to find out if it’s right for you.
But first, a vital bit of info: these cards, along with all airline and airmile cards, are only ever an option if you clear your debt in full every month.
If you can’t, these cards really aren’t suitable as the interest rates will more than wipe out any potential benefits.
How to get 25,000 ‘free’ Flying Club miles
As mentioned above, you’ll need to apply before Saturday.
Next, you’ll need to spend £1,500 within 90 days of opening your account.
That might sound a lot, but by putting things you were going to buy anyway on this card then clearing the debt immediately, £500 a month should be doable (as our writer can attest).
And that’ll secure your bonus 25,000 Flying Club miles; enough to cover a return flight to a few popular long-haul destinations (Havana, perhaps?).
Now that we’ve covered the headline offer, let’s look at the nuts and bolts of this card: you’ll earn 1.5 miles for every £1 you spend, which is pretty generous.
You can earn twice that (three miles) when you spend direct with Virgin Atlantic or on Virgin holidays, but that’s obviously not going to form part of your regular spending.
If you hit £10,000 spending in a year you’ll qualify for an additional perk of your choice, such as an upgrade to premium or a flight for a companion.
Crucially, this is a MasterCard, meaning it’s accepted in far more shops than any American Express airline card you might have your eye on.
The purchase rate on this card is 22.9%, while there’s a 2.99% foreign usage fee to watch out for.
There are a couple of minor perks, such as six months interest-free on balance transfer or money transfers, but both come with a 3% fee.
If you do need either of those, we’d highly recommend getting a dedicated balance transfer or money transfer card as these offers are frankly rubbish by comparison. Airline cards are purely for racking up miles and clearing the debt in full every month.
Because this is the premium version of the Reward card (we’ll cover the standard version shortly), there’s a chunky £160 annual fee.
The golden rule with these premium cards is they’re really only suitable if you can spend a hell of a lot on them (and pay it off in full of course), thus making getting sufficient benefit from the more generous perks to cover the fee.
Below is a summary of the key benefits: if you think it’s right for you, you can apply here.
Work out what monthly spend you can realistically put on the card and clear, then do the sums for yourself.
You might even find you just want to hold the card for one year (thus bagging the increased intro bonus) before closing it.
If the sums simply don’t add up, you could consider the standard version instead.
Apply for the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card here
I want a fee-free card. What can I get?
The Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card might have fewer perks, but it’s still a pretty competitive offer – and because there’s no annual fee there’s less risk involved.
With this, you get 5,000 miles as a standard offer, with an additional 5,000 bonus for applying by end14 December.
You’ll need to spend £1,000 in the first 90 days to qualify for that bonus.
It comes with the same purchase rate (22.9%), foreign usage fees and interest-free offers as the card above, but the key difference is you’ll get 0.75 miles per £1 spent (or 1.5 miles per £1 spent with Virgin).
So that’s half as generous on this front.
You’ll also need to spend a hefty £20,000 if you wanted the flight upgrade or companion ticket perk.
In summary, this card is clearly less generous, but if you’re a moderate spender then it’s far more suitable.
Bagging 10,000 ‘free’ miles up front is a great deal and if you avoid interest by clearing your debt each month there’s little risk involved.
Have a look at the key benefits below to see if it’s right for you and apply here if so.
What about rival offers?
If you don’t fancy either, or simply want to earn Avios (British Airways’ rival airmiles scheme), there are a fair few options.
In terms of upfront offers, perhaps the most obvious one to mention is the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Credit Card.
With this card, you’ll bag a similarly impressive 25,000 Avios as a welcome bonus.
The catch is you’ll need to spend a hefty £3,000 in those first 90 days, which is no mean feat.
The annual fee on this premium card is £195, which is a fair bit pricier than Virgin’s offer.
It comes with a 22.9% purchase rate and a 2.99% fee for using the card while abroad.
There are no interest-free offers on this card but, as we mentioned above, that shouldn’t really matter as that’s not what these cards are for.
You can see a breakdown of the key benefits below:
There’s always a catch with airmiles
As regular airmile cardholders will know, each scheme has its own pros and cons – a lot like supermarket loyalty schemes, really.
For example, Virgin Atlantic doesn’t really do short haul flights so you might struggle to use your Flying Club miles on your preferred destination.
Alternatively, if you’ve chosen to rack up Avios with a British Airway’s American Express card, you’ll be more limited in the number of shops you earn airmiles in.
Make sure you consider all angles before committing to one scheme over another (see our comparison here).
If you really can’t decide, you could go for one of the few cards that let you spend rewards across various schemes, such as the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card.
To view more airmile offers, as well as supermarket loyalty deals and more, visit our reward credit card comparison centre to find a card that suits your spending habits.