Virgin Atlantic Airlines 65,000 (50,000) Card Link [Active Again].

Posted by Noob Master on Jul 12, 2012 in Bank of America, Credit Cards, Hilton Honors, Miles, Uncategorized | 8 comments

Yo Yo Yo, I had a couple readers let me know this past weekend that the Virgin Atlantic 65,000 (55,00) application link was dead. BOO.

Try this on for size – Link: Virgin Atlantic Amex from Bank of America [BTW - I don't receive a referral for the Vigin Atlantic rewards credit card, but I wish I did.]

I have blogged before about the Virgin Atlantic card and it’s 65,000 sign-up bonus (most likely 55,000 sign-up bonus), because it’s a nice deal, and it’s a rewards card option that isn’t issued by Chase. There doesn’t seem to be too many of those these days.

Most people sign up for the Virgin Atlantic card with the plan of transferring “Flying Club” miles to Hilton. Why? Because Flying Club miles transfer 1:2 into Hilton. After meeting your spend and transferring, the 50,000 Flying Club points will become 100,000 Hilton HHonors points. Magical.

And although Hilton has devalued its award program, there are some really nice redemption options if you have status with Hilton, or if you hold the Amex Hilton Surpass Card (#6). If you do, you will be able to take advantage of “Axon” discounted redemption rates. These rates are only available for category 5-7 Hilton properties and your stays must be in increments of 4 nights. Four nights at the standard rate in a category 7 hotel would normally be 200,000 Hilton Hhonors points. Wowzer. But if redeeming through Axon, the 4 nights would only be 145,000. Not too shabby. 

Back to the Virgin Atlantic Rewards Card

The card comes with 20,000 Flying Club miles on first spend, another 25,000 when you spend $2,500 in 90 days, and an additional 5,000 if you add an authorized user. For big spenders, there is a bonus of 7,500 Flying Club miles when you spend $15,000 in one year, and another 7,500 bonus miles if you spend $25,000. Not worth it for me.

A cool perk is you will earn 1.5 Flying Club miles for every $1 spent. That’s nice of them. And you will earn 3 miles per $1 spent on Virgin Atlantic. However, the annual fee isn’t waived for the first year. Sad face.

Here are the full bullet points:

• 20,000 bonus Flying Club miles after 1st purchase with Bank of America Virgin Atlantic card
• 25,000 additional bonus miles after spending $2,500 within 90 days (3 months)
• 5,000 additional miles for adding 2 authorized users to your account
• $90 annual fee not waived for the first year

BEWARE: If your credit isn’t in good condition, Bank of America will approve you for a lower level card and you will only get a 10,000 miles sign-up bonus. Bogus.

Overall, this is a pretty solid card that offers some opportunity for miles diversity. Recently, I have dedicated all my hotel point earning efforts into Hyatt (via Ultimate Rewards) and Starwood (via the SPG card), and would still start with those two groups. But since I have been burning points and I already have the Hyatt Visa, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and SPG card, it’s time for me to focus on Hilton a little bit. There will be a Hilton HHonors point generating card in my next app-party, and it just might be the Virgin Atlantic card.

Have questions? Comment below or email me. I don’t bite.

— Noob Master