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Virgin Atlantic offers 30,000 bonus points on its Reward+ credit card – is it worth going for?
Virgin Atlantic is offering the chance to earn 30,000 bonus Virgin Points if you sign up to its Reward+ air miles credit card before 2 October.
Virgin Points can be spent on reward flights, seat upgrades and Virgin Atlantic holidays, as well as everyday purchases such as cinema tickets and wine.
Here, Which? takes a closer look at the offer, where 30,000 points can take you and whether Virgin Atlantic is a good provider.
What does the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card offer?
The Virgin Atlantic Reward+ lets you earn 1.5 Virgin Points for every £1 spent on the card. This means £100 spent on your credit card will earn you 150 points.
However, you earn double this amount on purchases made with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays, as you get a rate of three points per £1 spent. This means £100 spent with Virgin Atlantic on your credit card will earn you 300 points.
If you spend £10,000 in a year on the card, you can earn yourself a companion flight or upgrades. A companion voucher means you can take a friend or family member for free, so it's essentially a 2-for-1 deal.
The card has an annual fee of £160, which you’ll need to factor in against the benefits, and a representative APR of 69.7% (variable). The card is powered by Mastercard. Credit is subject to status and terms apply.
- Find out more:best air mile credit cards
How to get 30,000 bonus points
New customers can get 15,000 bonus points if they use their card once within the first 90 days. There’s no minimum spend on this purchase.
Virgin Atlantic is offering an additional 15,000 bonus points to anyone who signs for its Reward+ card before 2 October and spends £3,000 within the first 90 days of having the card.
The £160 annual fee isn't included in the £3,000 spend, and to get your points you’ll have to link your Flying Club number to your Reward+ credit card by 31 December.
It's also worth noting that there’s a cap on the Virgin Points you can earn each month based on your credit limit.
So if your credit limit is £3,000, you’ll earn points on the first £3,000 of card purchases in a month. If you spend more than that, pay it back and spend it again, you won’t earn points on that. Virgin Atlantic says it will reset the counter every month on the date of your credit card statement.
Where could 30,000 Virgin Points take you?
We checked several popular destinations to get an idea of how much each long-haul trip would cost you in points.
If you purchase a reward flight with your points, you’ll still have to pay taxes, fees, charges and carrier-imposed surcharges.
We found several return trips available for 20,000 points, including from London to New York, London to Dubai and Manchester to Barbados on the Virgin Atlantic's point calculator.
| Destination | Time of year | Economy seat cost | Premium seat cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| London to New York return | January 2024 | 20,000 Virgin Points and £285 | 35,000 Virgin Points and £538 |
| London to Dubai return | February 2024 | 20,000 Virgin Points and £270 | 27,500 Virgin Points and £440 |
| Manchester to Barbados return | March 2024 | 20,000 Virgin Points and £289 | 27,500 Virgin Points and £460 |
| London to Shanghai return | May 2024 | 25,000 Virgin Points and £283 | 45,000 Virgin Points and £485 |
Prices gathered on 7 September 2023.
How does the Virgin Reward+ credit card compare?
If you don’t fancy paying the annual fee, Virgin Atlantic does have another air miles credit card which is free. However, you'll earn fewer points per £1 spent.
The Virgin Atlantic credit card offers 0.75 Virgin Points for every £1 spent on everyday purchases. This means if you spend £100 on the card, you’ll earn 75 Virgin Points.
You get 1.5 Virgin Points for every £1 spent with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Holidays.
You’ll need to spend £20,000 in a year before you earn a companion voucher or seat upgrade.
The card has a representative APR of 26.9% (variable). Credit is subject to status and terms apply.
However, if you don’t want to fly exclusively with Virgin Atlantic, you could go for an air mile credit card that offers Avios or the ability to convert points with multiple airlines. We’ve compared how British Airways and American Express credit cards stack up in our guide on the best air mile credit cards.
Is Virgin Atlantic a good provider?
Which? surveyed thousands of credit card customers in April 2023 to find out how satisfied they were with their providers.
We also asked them to rate the companies across a range of customer satisfaction categories, from the application process right through to the ease of banking online and customer service.
Virgin Atlantic got a customer score of 71%, coming joint-15th out of 29 providers.
Customers gave it four stars out of five for its mobile app and three stars for its clarity of statement, customer service and transparency of charges. We didn’t receive a large enough sample size to rate its application process.
To find out how the Virgin Atlantic airline stacks up for long-haul flights against other providers, check out our survey of the best and worst airlines in 2023.
- Find out more:best and worst credit card providers
Should you get the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ card?
If you're a frequent flyer and regularly use Virgin Atlantic for your holidays, this card is a good way to earn rewards with your spending, and the bonus offer can boost your points balance quickly.
However, you'll still need to factor in the annual fee and, before signing up, you should estimate how much you'd need to spend to make it worthwhile and then keep track of your spending to make sure that you’re going to at least break even.
If you’re considering an air miles card and have a particular destination in mind, check that the card won’t cost more than if you were to simply buy the flight outright.
- Find out more: best credit card deals September 2023
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