Virgin Atlantic Rewards+

I have recently became fond of The Virgin Atlantic Reward + credit card for several reasons. One of which is the recent joining of Virgin Atlantic with the SkyTeam air alliance. This came into action mid 2023. The other main reason is the great value of reward flights that Virgin Atlantic offer whether on flights operated by them or others from the SkyTeam alliance.

If you are a frequent Virgin Atlantic or SkyTeam traveller then this article will definitely be of interest to you.

The Virgin Atlantic Rewards + card is the paid version of the two Virgin Atlantic credit cards. Please read through for the key benefits and rates.

Key Benefits

There are many key benefits for the Virgin Atlantic Rewards + Card which are listed below:

  • The current welcome bonus is 15,000 Virgin Points  following your first card purchase. However, this bonus is a bit underwhelming right now as Virgin Money has done multiple offers in which the bonus was 30,000 points.
  • The Virgin Atlantic Rewards+ card is £160 charged annually on the first month’s statement.
  • Receive 1.5 points for every £1 spent on card purchases. This rate doubles when transactions are with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Holidays.
  • Free global wifi with Boingo.
  • Receive a reward after £10,000 annual expenditure. This reward can either be a Companion reward ticket or upgrading any booking by one cabin.
  • Cashback of different rates with various retailers.
  • If you have a Silver or Gold Flying Club membership, then you can use any worldwide Clubhouse when flying with Virgin Atlantic, Delta or AFKL International.

Rates and Fees

It is also important to highlight all the applicable rates and fees when applying to a Virgin Atlantic Rewards + Credit Card as it is also important to compare with other cards. The rates are as follows:

  • A representative Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of 69.7% is applicable which includes the annual fee. This basically states how much it will cost you to credit borrow over a year. The representative APR on purchases, and in the first year is 26.9% variable. This is based on borrowing of £1200. Always spend what you can pay and make sure to avoid paying these interest fees.
  • Annual Fee of £160.

Virgin Points

By now it should be clear what the standalone benefits and rates of the card are. However, I appreciate that the benefit from the Virgin Points may still be unclear.

The Virgin Points scheme allows you to redeem the points in multiple ways through the Virgin Red portal. The points can be redeemed as follows:

  • Redeem the points with Virgin Wine, Virgin Holiday and Virgin Voyages.
  • Use the points to save overall ticket price with Virgin Atlantic Reward Flights.

My personal preference when it comes to redeeming Virgin Points would be to use the points to redeem Virgin Atlantic reward flights.

Conclusion

In summary, the Virgin Atlantic Rewards + credit card is a great credit card if you travel with Virgin Atlantic or its partners. The companion voucher is a great benefit if you are travelling as a couple.

It is worth waiting until Virgin Money have a boosted welcome offer, such as the 30,000 points offer which was available until end of September 2023. This will further justify the £160 annual fee.

Based on the points discussed above, it should be clear that Virgin Atlantic Rewards + card doesn’t give flexibility when it comes to redeeming points and is more specific to Virgin Atlantic.

Therefore, your card needs might change over time and you might be interested in other cards that provide more specific rewards for other airlines and other cards that may provide more flexibility when it comes to redeeming points with several travel partners. These may be cards such as the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card or the American Express Gold Membership Rewards Credit Cards.