Barclay’s issues a Virgin America Visa Signature card that I’ve written about before because of Virgin’s incredible award chart. This card has never had an eye-popping number as the sign up bonus, but the 20k point sign up bonus at the time was deceptively good because of some redemption options for Virgin America points on Hawaiian Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.
Hawaiian
Virgin Atlantic
Well that 20k point sign up disappeared, and the normal 10k sign up bonus returned.
But now there are two different sign up bonuses floating around: 20k and 10k + a free roundtrip. Both are intriguing, but which one is right for you?
20k Elevate Points
This page about an expired Virgin America/Visa Signature/USA Ski Team promotion has an application link to a 20k Virgin America offer after first purchase.
- 20k Elevate Points after first use
- $150 off a companion ticket each year
- 3x points on Virgin America purchases
- $49 annual fee
The $150 companion discount is actually worth about $150 too. The terms and conditions allow the discount to be applied to pretty much any roundtrip ticket purchased at least 14 days out.
10k Elevate points + a Free Roundtrip
Barclay’s has temporarily sweetened the normal 10k offer to include a free roundtrip ticket on Virgin.
So this offer breaks down like this:
- 10k Elevate Points after first use
- A free roundtrip flight anywhere Virgin America flies until 7/11/13 (blackout dates apply) after $1,000 in spending in the first 90 days
- $150 off a companion ticket each year
- 3x points on Virgin America purchases
- $49 annual fee
So this offer is identical to the 20k offer in every way except that this offer has an extra free roundtrip and 10k fewer points, plus this offer requires $1,000 in spending to unlock all components of the bonus.
Which is more valuable: 10k Elevate points or a free roundtrip on Virgin America?
Elevate points are worth about 2 cents. Here are a few screenshots showing a roundtrip from Los Angeles to Boston on Virgin and its cost in cash versus points.
Using the MileValue Mile Value Calculator, this itinerary gets 2.07 cents worth of value per point.
That means an extra 10k points is worth $207. That makes the free roundtrip pretty clearly the more valuable perk if you can use it well, since cross country trips normally cost $300 or more.
Can you use it well?
The free roundtrip code comes 4-6 weeks after spending the $1,000. That means you will get the code around April or May if you get the card and meet the spending requirement immediately. That would give you about two months to fly a roundtrip anywhere Virgin America flies.
Opportunity Cost
The opportunity cost of a card is what you give up to get it. When you get a great American Express personal card, that means you can’t get a different American Express personal card until later.
But this card is issued by Barclay’s, which has only two or three cards worth getting. That means there isn’t much opportunity cost to getting this card.
Which Card for You?
If you want to use your Virgin America points on one of its partners like Hawaiian, Virgin Atlantic, or Virgin Australia, then you want the version with as many points as possible, the 20k sign up bonus.
Application Link: Virgin Atlantic Visa Signature with 20k points
If you want to use your Virgin America points on Virgin America and you want to take a roundtrip flight between May and July, you are better off with the 10k points plus free roundtrip.
Application Link: Virgin Atlantic Visa Signature with 10k points and free roundtrip on Virgin
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I have earned millions of points, primarily though credit cards, to travel the world in first class for pennies. This blog will show you how to earn and redeem points to do the same!
I believe this is the beginning of the end of the free point party. Blame it on airline consolidation. It’s only a matter of time before cc sign up bonus’ goes the way of inflight smoking. And then God forbid, we will have to pay for travel. The nerve of some companies
I’m loving these miles since I first got the card as I am getting around 4 cents per mile for every redemption.
Awesome!
Hi! So can I get the 20k Virgin America points –> transfer to Hawaiian miles and then use it for Virgin Atlantic (i.e. NYC to London) ? i.e. 20k points
With the 2 Hawaiian miles cards (Bank of America and Bank of Hawaii) = 70K points
Therefore I only need to transfer 10k from Membership rewards to fly from the East Coast to London?
You cannot transfer Virgin America points to Hawaiian miles ever. You can use Virgin America points to fly Hawaiian flights.
So, can I apply and get approved for a Barclay’s USAirways MC AND a Virgin Atlantic Signature Visa at the same time (assuming my credit is excellent, and also assuming I currently have a USairways MC with the 10K anniversary bonus about to post)? Or should I wait until after it posts? Or should I go for just one personal card? Thx.
If you’ve had a Barclay’s card open for more than six months, you can get many Barclay’s cards at once. Rookie Alli will have a post on this soon.
Great analysis as usual. Thanks for distilling it down to the simple decision criteria.
will you get credit if I sign up for club carlson card through your portal? I have an upcoming stay and think I can make great use of the card as long as it is good in europe (i.e. no additional fees). I’d love to replenish my club carlson points and I certainly won’t be doing it in the US. Wouldn’t mind your thoughts on that one. I have a 6 night stay spread over 10 days. I figure I’ll spend at least $500 to $1,000 at Club Carlson hotels.
Thanks!
No I wouldn’t get anything, but don’t take that into account. I certainly don’t take that into account when I recommend the card as one of the best out there.
Do you know what the taxes/fee structure would be to use the Virgin Atlantic points on Hawaiian Air? From Hawaii to Tahiti for example? I tried to figure it out…having some trouble. It seems like Virgin Atlantic charges some hefty fees for their award redemptions…
Never-mind, I found it! http://www.virginamerica.com/vx/redeem-with-hawaiian-airlines
FYI, application link at bottom of the blog entry says Virgin *Atlantic* for each offer. Do you mean Virgin America? That’s what comes up when you click on link. It’s pretty confusing to those of us who haven’t used Virgin. Thx.
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