ENDS 10am MONDAY: Get 30,000 Virgin Points with the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card

UPDATE – APRIL 2025:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly directory of the top UK travel credit card offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Credit Cards’ menu above.  Thank you.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

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Virgin Atlantic has been running a special offer for its Virgin Money-issued Reward+ credit card but time is running out

You will get 30,000 Virgin Points if you spend £3,000 within 90 days.

This is paid in two parts – 18,000 points after your first purchase and 12,000 points if you hit the £3,000 spend target.

You can apply here.

The offer ends on Monday 18th November, but note that Virgin Money often pulls its offers during the day, not at midnight.

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 no special deal on the free Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card which has its usual bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points.

You can find out more about the benefits of the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card in this article.  The free Virgin Atlantic credit card, with no sign-up bonus, is examined here.

Are Virgin Points still worth collecting?

If you are a regular reader, you can’t help but have seen the discussion in the last fortnight 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 in 2025, for example.

The snag is that there is no longer guaranteed availability. Virgin Atlantic used to promise 12 reward seats per flight, 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 looks at how many Upper Class Saver seats are available – it’s not great.

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.

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)”

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.

The sign-up bonus on this card is 3,000 Virgin Points, paid after your first purchase. There is no additional special offer on this card.

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 18th November 2024:

• 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 12,000 Virgin Points if you spend £3,000 in the first 90 days

This is a total of 30,000 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.  30,000 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 from 30th October 2024. Any unused vouchers have also been replaced.

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?

Over the last couple of months we have 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.

Remember that 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.

Conclusion

30,000 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+.

It still isn’t clear, long term, how Saver reward availability will pan out. There are currently plenty of 29,000 points one-way Upper Class seats to/from New York JFK in 2025, 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.

This offer ends on Monday 18th November 2024 and it is likely to be withdrawn during the day, not at midnight.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. 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 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. 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.