Virgin Atlantic credit card

Advice please. Have a VA black credit card which we were going to downgrade to White in November. Noticed the current 18000 miles offer for new holders. We were downgrading as I wasn't sure the fee was worth it- however is 18000 miles worth the new fee of £140 to apply for one for the wife?

I have the gold Amex for the bonus points and the SPG card both of which I may cancel next year- I'm just not sure with a little one onthe way in dec whether keeping the virgin card is worth it. (although have had lots of advice from you guys that travelling with babies is GREAT!)

Thanks, JB







(if this needs to be moved to another forum grateful if a mod could oblige- I have no idea where my iPhone is parking this)

topic moved out of Clubhouse by mod so that more people can see it and (hopefully) help OP.... Nick

[Neil]

You can't downgrade as such, you just have to cancel your black and apply for a White. Remember that miles can only go in to a FC that has the same name as the card holder.

Well, 18,000 would normally cost you £285 to buy, so it's not a bad deal if you really want the miles.

But... do you have the Amex Preferred Reward Gold card? (not sure from your post)

If so, you may be able to refer your wife to apply for the same card. That would get you 12,000 MR points and she would get 22,000 if she spent £1,000 in three months. I think the card fee is £70 for the first year. So you'd gain 34,000 miles between you for £70!

Another option might be to refer your wife for an Amex Platinum. If that worked you would get 22,000 MR points and she would get 42,000 if she spent £1,500 in the first 3 months (which is also the condition for the Virgin black card bonus offer). Cost of Amex Platinum is £300 (includes Priority Pass and travel insurance). So you'd end up with 64,000 between you for £300.

(these ideas may not work if she already has Amex cards or if I have misunderstood which Amex you have, etc. -- obviously depends on your situation)

HTH

My husband got the black one a year ago and has currently got 230,000 miles by using it

A while ago I cancelled my black Virgin MBNA Amex card because it wasn't worth the fee to me personally anymore.

I said to the chap at MBNA that I wanted the white card instead & he allocated the miles offer that was then running to my FC a/c. y)

R-P

For me the Black VS card gives great benefits because I buy a lot of VS tickets and so get 4 per pound. I am pretty sure that if I use my regular AX I only get 1 per pound and 2 per pound for everything else.
If you are buying 'stuff' anyway then it is a great way to get lots of extra miles.

How about going the other way? Do you need to re-apply for a black card (I'd imagine so) - and can you take your current miles to a new black account?

[Neil]

How about going the other way? Do you need to re-apply for a black card (I'd imagine so) - and can you take your current miles to a new black account?

It's the same - you can't upgrade a white to a black, you just have to apply for a new black card.

Not quite sure what you mean about the miles, as they are deposited in to your FC account every month, you just close your account once the last months miles have been posted.

Have new MBNA Amex cards got Expresspay built in to them? I see it's in their pics, but is it worth 'losing' my card to get a replacement?

[Neil]

Yes, I got an email the other day saying they now have contactless (or whatever it is called) technology on new cards. I'm due a new card in October so will see what it is all about then.

Our new VS black card is contactless - tried to use that feature for the first time over the weekend at McDonalds, but the terminal said 'Security check, use chip/pin'... maybe it will work contactless-ly next time.

Thanks. It's a useful feature and makes it easier to use the card when buying my daily caffeine fix

Our new VS black card is contactless - tried to use that feature for the first time over the weekend at McDonalds, but the terminal said 'Security check, use chip/pin'... maybe it will work contactless-ly next time.

exactly the same thing happened to me. was so excited about just waving my card around and taking the food, but no had to input my pin.

not too many places seem to have the contactless bit though so it might not be such a good thing

Yeah mine doesn't work contactless either!

Nor mine!

The cards are contacless enabled if it has the logo on the front.
Bear in mind that some card payment terminals aren't fully enabled for contactless yet. It's the same as years ago when Chip and Pin was introduced, it took time for all retailers to be upgraded to the new technology.

Paul

just had a lady in the clubhouse trying to sell me one of these, haven't they seen what's going on in the city at the moment!!!! ?|

[Neil]

just had a lady in the clubhouse trying to sell me one of these, haven't they seen what's going on in the city at the moment!!!! ?|

Not quite sure what that has to do with it. It is a great tool for mileage earning, with some very good bonus sign up miles, and if like most of us on here who use it, you pay the balance off in full each month, it is no different to paying cash or debit card.

Our new VS black card is contactless - tried to use that feature for the first time over the weekend at McDonalds, but the terminal said 'Security check, use chip/pin'... maybe it will work contactless-ly next time.

exactly the same thing happened to me. was so excited about just waving my card around and taking the food, but no had to input my pin.

not too many places seem to have the contactless bit though so it might not be such a good thing

Went to McD again last night :0 and same again - the terminal recognizes the card as being contactless and then says 'security check - use chip/pin'.

Just had a new white card sent to me (though existing one not due to expire until November) and it is one of the contactless enabled cards.

Certainly not something I asked for though