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#909481 by petewally1976
04 Sep 2015, 12:19
What are people's experiences of churning the Virgin MBNA credit cards? I was thinking of getting the white card now, bagging the 10k bonus, cancelling then getting the black card a year or so down the line (depending when there's a bonus on!).

Thanks.
#909485 by Neil
04 Sep 2015, 12:56
As long as your credit rating/risk is fine, then you will have no issue doing this what so ever. They are completely separate cards/accounts so no issue having both at once if you wanted to.
#909490 by Bretty
04 Sep 2015, 13:45
Yes, I had the white card, hit my target (couple of years ago now) and then applied for the black card and got the bonus on that and had both card accounts at the same time. I've just closed the white card as I don't use it.
#909497 by Bretty
04 Sep 2015, 14:24
I don't know if anyone has done that, but you'd be best leaving it at least 6 months since the last application, then probably be okay.
#909499 by Eggtastico
04 Sep 2015, 15:57
if you cancel, then you usually have to wait 6 months to apply again.

So White hit bonus
Black - cancel white - hit bonus
American Express - hit bonus (Amex points convert 1:1)
Apply for new white - cancel black & Amex - hit bonus
then you are on stop waiting for the 6 months to apply for another card.
Amex have a few cards though, so you could churn Amex.
#909506 by mrsw
04 Sep 2015, 19:54
I seem to recall from my reading of Headforpoints that MBNA tend to give you bonus points after a 2-year gap. I could be wrong though! I cancelled my VS black CC in June, and had Mr W apply for one. I was thinking about what to do once the year is up on that one, but thanks to this thread I think the white card might be the answer!

We are also churning the Amex gold (which I believe to have a 6-month gap requirement), and the BA Amex as well...

Would be interesting to see if anyone has any experience of re-applying within a certain period.
#909513 by Bretty
04 Sep 2015, 21:47
I've just today cancelled my gold Amex after my hubby got his a month ago and I collected the referral bonus. Mind, due to my card getting skimmed in SFO (I had it with me but never used it but it's a contactless card so someone must have skimmed wirelessly, and then several fraudulent transactions picked up and blocked) my hubby was accepted for his card and then it was immediately blocked after using it once! Anyway, I digress, all is well again and we're going to run his card for a while.

I've had the BA premium Amex for 3 months and due to booking our holiday in NYC and using it whilst in SFO I've had to slow down because I don't want to trigger the 241 voucher until the new year! I'm thinking a couple of years ahead for a special trip back to Japan that my hubby has hinted at. So for now we'll use his Amex gold and I'll reapply in 6-7 months. We'll keep working our way through to build up avios, I figure in the next 6 months we'll have enough for a reward in BA First with the 241. Our VS miles are doing well and since I've not burned any as hoped in the last few days will need to start planning more trips to use those miles!

Have used mainly the VS Black Amex but initially had the white one and got bonuses, plus generated a good few miles through shops away portal.

I've yet to find some of the travel sites like Expedia or Hotels.com on the BA gate365 portal. But that sometimes means I can double dip avios on the card spend and VS miles on the click throughs.
#909543 by blindman
05 Sep 2015, 14:34
So getting back on topic :)
Has anyone had experience of churning the cards and getting the bonus again?

Cannot see anything in the T&C's that prohibit this, so surely if they refuse to give you the points you can complain??

Mrs B closed her Black card in Feb this year, so just over 6 months, which seems to be standard for most cards so maybe worth a punt as the big bonus of 32,000 miles is back.

We (both) still have the White cards from the last promo and I closed my Black one in June so that's a bit too soon to churn.
#909544 by Maximus
05 Sep 2015, 15:08
From what I recall reading on Head for Points, unlike Amex who will award credit card & charge card bonus points if you re-apply for their cards 6 months or more after previously closing an account, MBNA are not so generous. The consenus seems to be that the bonus awarded on any given MBNA card is once per lifetime, but it is unclear. Some info can be found in the "Comments" of this article:

http://www.headforpoints.com/2015/09/05 ... ard-bonus/
#909550 by blindman
05 Sep 2015, 19:50
Thanks for the reply.

There's the problem though, alot of hearsay and "consenus" with no real proof.

Looking at the T&C's of the MBNA AAdvantage card it clearly states their bonus is a "one time..."

Same with Amex they clearly state you have to have NOT held various cards for 6 months prior.

There is no such thing for the Virgin Black or White

Back in the day I churned the MBNA BMI card countless times until they put in such a clause :)

I would assume that if they did not pay the bonus they would not have leg to stand on according to their T&C's
#909557 by Bretty
05 Sep 2015, 23:13
I certainly can't find anything in the T&Cs about this so I suggest you give it a try. Make sure you send a referral to your wife for an additional 3000 miles each. The link is buried in VS website so it's simpler to google "virgin Amex referral" or similar and then fill in the form. Let us know how it goes.
#909574 by blindman
06 Sep 2015, 11:08
I'll give this a go come October to give Mrs B a gap of 8-9 months since the closure of hers and also to be able to spend the £3K as we're working on other spends at the moment ;-)

Could be interesting.
#926748 by blindman
29 Sep 2016, 15:42
Bretty wrote:I certainly can't find anything in the T&Cs about this so I suggest you give it a try. Make sure you send a referral to your wife for an additional 3000 miles each. The link is buried in VS website so it's simpler to google "virgin Amex referral" or similar and then fill in the form. Let us know how it goes.


Mrs B and I have just churned the Virgin White card (signed up in the Club House for an extra 9000 miles) and all the miles have posted without fuss.

Just signed up for the Virgin Black again :D
#926751 by Bretty
29 Sep 2016, 17:04
So it can be done. Well done.
#926760 by MedwayControl
29 Sep 2016, 22:31
I opened a new Black Card in the clubhouse for the bonus 32K miles. The requirement was that I had my original black card open for at least three years so that i qualified for this bonus. All paid this month (in two transactions).

My partner has not had their black card for as long so didn't qualify for the bonus and therefore did not open another account.

The agent in the clubhouse said that you can have up to five accounts with MBNA at any one time - any mix of white and black. The key thing for the black card bonus is to have had the account for at least three years before they will issue a second bonus. I didn't ask if it was the same for the white.
#926768 by blindman
30 Sep 2016, 09:14
MedwayControl wrote:I opened a new Black Card in the clubhouse for the bonus 32K miles. The requirement was that I had my original black card open for at least three years so that i qualified for this bonus. All paid this month (in two transactions).

.

Interesting

I asked in the clubhouse about eligibility of opening both Black and White and (not surprisingly as she is probably on commission) the rep said there was no issue for either despite us both having the Black and White previously.

No mention of the 3 year requirement.

We only opened the White just in case there was no bonus as it was free so no loss.

I'll see what happens with the Black and report back. There is nothing in the T&C's that state this 3 year requirement.
#926834 by Moley
01 Oct 2016, 14:54
So what's the rule wth AMEX platinum? If I've designated my other half as the platinum supplementary holder, can I still refer them in their own right yo be a new main cardholder customer - or does the six month rule apply?

Separately, as a platinum holder, can I refer myself for a gold card and get the bonus?
#926874 by blindman
02 Oct 2016, 08:49
Moley wrote:So what's the rule wth AMEX platinum? If I've designated my other half as the platinum supplementary holder, can I still refer them in their own right yo be a new main cardholder customer -

Yes :D

Separately, as a platinum holder, can I refer myself for a gold card and get the bonus?

No


I do it ll the time.

Headforpoints has a good review on Credit cards.
#929708 by blindman
04 Dec 2016, 14:18
blindman wrote:
MedwayControl wrote:I opened a new Black Card in the clubhouse for the bonus 32K miles. The requirement was that I had my original black card open for at least three years so that i qualified for this bonus. All paid this month (in two transactions).

.

Interesting

I asked in the clubhouse about eligibility of opening both Black and White and (not surprisingly as she is probably on commission) the rep said there was no issue for either despite us both having the Black and White previously.

No mention of the 3 year requirement.

We only opened the White just in case there was no bonus as it was free so no loss.

I'll see what happens with the Black and report back. There is nothing in the T&C's that state this 3 year requirement.


Well I'm happy to say that I have received the full bonus for opening another Black credit card.
Opened this one 16 months after the last one closed.
#929713 by MarshMan
04 Dec 2016, 16:30
I've done pretty much the same as most. Originally opened the White account for a few months soon followed by the Black Card giving me the bonus miles on both accounts which was 30,000 miles in total.

I've had the BC now for several months which certainly pays dividends when booking flights or holidays within the Virign group. I've just paid fro a trip to Thailand (deposit) and upgraded one of my flights to Florida which has given me an additional 14,000 points due to the x4 bonus. I've now got a free PE upgrade when booking an economy reward flight.

A great way to earn those miles at a quicker rate.
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