THought I'd chuck in my opinion
I think the VS CC is actually a bit pants to be honest; I think most of that comes down to the fact that its adminsitered by the monkeys we know as MBNA.
I carry one of the cards, the free version just as a backup in case a merchant doesn't take AmEx, fortuantely AmEx acceptance is signigicantly better than it was when I first go my card in 2000 (hell even McD's take it.... [:I]). So I get the 1 point per £. But then when you compare it against other airline affinity cards it is not the best out there. Its unusual to see that you don't get a bonus for using your card to purchase tickets from VS.
Who remembers the real true VS Card - the AmEx Gold charge card which gave 2 MR points per pound spent, and 4 points for every £ spent with VS. Came with the other usual Gold card benefits. Yeah true it didn't come with the companion vouchers, but I've let two of these expire already. Its a well discussed point about how best to use these - the BlackCat rule applies! Personally the only good use of it is in conjunction with an S fare. Given that as a FC Au I get a companion voucher, and so does Sarah - moot point really.
I've found the service from MBNA to be poor, if I were paying the £80 fee I would be really screaming. Only last week did they send me a letter to tell me after a review of my account they were slapping up the interest rate by 9%!! Phonign them to question it, had it reduced by 5% within 30 seconds, and back down to the old rate within 5 minutes (and a manager intervention).
The BA AmEx is quite good - I really like the way that you use the companion voucher in conjunction with a mileage redemption. The qualifying rate is lower too - starts at £10k/year spend.
Look at the
BMI card also issued by MBNA2 points for Gen spend, and 4 points for BMI spend. 20,000 miles bonus too upon sign-up.
Overall it depends on what kind of person you are and your spend, for me it is my AmEx as it gives me the most points per £ spent (esp with spend with VS). The companion voucher is of no use. I agree with what was said earlier about the transfer time from AmEx to VS - it is very quick.
I hold my points within the AmEx MR system, and transfer them over when needed or there is a promo on (like the current 10% bonus on VS transfers). Also gives me flexibility to move the points into another program if there is a special on - helped get me two seats on Cocnorde a few years ago by keeping them in MR. There are a number of routes of getting seats on VS via reward, so if CO have a transfer bonus on or promo, makes sense to look at it from that angle.
Thanks,
Richard
{mcuth: edited to shorten link}
:D
