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65,000 Mile Sign-up Bonus for Bank of America Virgin Atlantic Amex

by on April 5, 2012 · 55 comments

in Bank of America, Credit Cards, Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic launched a new bonus offer on their Bank of America American Express card with the potential to net new cardholders 65,000 bonus Flying Club miles (application link) when they meet certain spend requirements). This beats the usual 50,000-mile bonus for getting this card–the extra 15,000 miles from the anniversary bonus when you meet the spending requirements.

•20,000 bonus miles after your first purchase
•25,000 additional bonus miles after you spend at least $2,500 in qualifying purchases in the first 90 days
•15,000 Anniversary bonus miles after qualifying purchases–you get 7,500 miles by spending $15,000 within the year, and 7,500 more if you hit a threshold of $25,000 in spend.
•5,000 bonus miles when adding two additional Cardmembers
•1.5 miles for every $1 spent on purchases
•3 miles per $1 spent directly with Virgin Atlantic
•Tier points that help you ascend to or maintain Silver or Gold status (note: you can only earn two Tier points per month)
•$90 annual fee, not waived
•1% foreign transaction fee

Virgin has plenty of airline partners to use these miles on, including its latest partner, Virgin America, as well as Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, BMI, Gulf Air, Jet Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, SAS, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, US Airways and V Australia.

Remember, you can also transfer Virgin Atlantic miles to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio, so that 65,000-mile bonus equates to 130,000 Hilton HHonors points—enough to spend three nights at a Category 6 property like the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, or two nights at certain Waldorf Astoria properties like the Trianon Palace Versailles and the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund.

Not too shabby, even with the $90 annual fee, especially if you know you might have a lot of spending coming up and want to consolidate it on one card to score those extra 15,000 anniversary miles. Plus, for those of you who, like me, might be a little heavy on the Chase credit card applications lately and need to wait a while before your next application, this might be a good option to score a decent bonus in the meantime since it’s a Bank of America card.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author.s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.

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  • greek2me

    TPG- How many cents/mile do you estimate Virgin Atlantic miles are worth?

  • Phil

    what’s new about this – it has been around for months if not years? I got one for my wife in last app-o-rama a few weeks ago and one for myself several months ago. Links have been changing around but not sure how this is classed as “new”

  • Ralph

    You only get the 15k anniversary bonus if you spend at least $25k on the card…not very feasible for most people

  • Ralph

    The actual language about anniversary bonus – “7,500 anniversary Flying Club miles will be posted to your Flying Club account when you spend a minimum of $15,000 in net purchases within the anniversary year with your Virgin Atlantic Card. An additional 7,500 anniversary Flying Club miles will be awarded when you spend $25,000 in net purchases within the anniversary year with your Virgin Atlantic Card.”

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Wany-May/100001163367215 Wany May

    Actually, considering that you have to spend $2,500 in 90 days to get the 25,000 bonus points.
    There are at least the extra 3,750 to 7500 points one will finally receive from the application
    If one counts the anniversary 15,000 pts by spending $25,000, there is the other 37,500 to 75,000 pts.
    However, $25,000 is a lot if not too much.

  • HT

    We need an intro to how to redeem virgin atlantic miles..

  • thepointsguy

    It’s new because it wasn’t available earlier this week and I’ve never really written about it

  • thepointsguy

    1.2ish?

  • thepointsguy

    Yea increased spend requirements are becoming more and more standard on offers unfortunately

  • Jm

    I disagree.. it has been around for a long time. I applied for it a week ago in fact, and has certainly been around for a few months before that

  • Travisair

    Thanks for the info! I sure hadn’t heard about this offer. – Only the one for 50K after the same spending requirements. For 65K, I might have to give this card the go.

  • http://twitter.com/Bcos17 Bob

    I tried to get them to match me since I got the card for 50k in Feb. They told me to shove it

  • http://www.havepointswilltravel.com/ Have Points Will Travel

    I got this card recently too. I’m going to try and contact BofA but @Bob seems not to have had much luck. Worth a shot since this bonus offer is better than what I originally received.

  • Matthew Smith

    Agreed. I read this more as a 50k card. I think a $25k annual spend would be better used on BA or some of the others that have valuable companion passes, elite status, etc. for the high spend. $25k for 15k Virgin miles is a bit of a tough sell.

  • Tanya

    Brian – Both my husband and I will be applying for this card. Can we later combine our points when transferring to Hilton? Thanks!

  • tassojunior

    This is the same offer that’s been around for a couple years. The links never went dead. Gotten it twice.

    It’s really 50K sign up bonus- 20K+25+5 for 2 AU’s.

    The other 15K is for spending $25K.

    Best way to get VS miles is every Hertz or Avis rental earns 1K.

  • Asar

    Is this card ‘churnable’?

  • Phil

    Yes. Not sure what the exact time frame is.

  • RakSiam

    Definitely been around a long time…or at least a virtually identical offer was available last year. There’s a pretty extensive thread on FT. It’s really only 45K for most people unless you have people who you are willing to add as users, then it’s 50. Or do you all use some sort of trick to get around that? Like give them names of other people but then have the cards sent to you so you can hold onto them? I have almost gone for it a couple of times since I don’t have any BoA cards any more.

  • Phil

    It is definitely not new. No big deal, i just got excited when it came up with “new” Virgin Atlantic offer and when I read it’s the same offer that has been available for a couple of years now

  • Ted

    This is the same offer as late last year (Oct/Nov) when Million Mile Secrets first posted it… Links may have changed but many people have been able to get it over the past months and sometimes gotten up to 80k bonus miles (not including anniversary miles) due to some “glitch.” I personally “only” received 52500 after the first purchase, spend, and additional users requirement, a 2500 extra.

  • Gianpaolo

    I actually just booked 2 tickets SFO to LHR in Upper Class for 100k points each (brought some over from Amex MR). There was a fair amount of taxes, but I think the points still ended up being worth 5 cents at least.

  • Geoff

    Do they charge the annual fee right away (a la USAir Barclay’s card) or after one year? I guess Barclay’s does that because there’s no spend requirement to get the bonus.

  • Dan

    I added my dog, no joke.

  • Dan

    When they’re that huge, it’s an easy pass. From a marketing standpoint, the banks need to incentivize spend that they would not normally get. Sure, that anniversary bonus is nice *for people who already would spend that kind of money on that card.* But it’s not going to sway people who otherwise wouldn’t. It’s a complete waste of marketing $.

  • Dan

    That specific offer code might be “new” but it is exactly the same one that is up at Million Mile Secrets, and has been for several months.

  • Milezjunkie

    What’s the VA : US Airways transfer ratio? That might be a good option.

  • PJ

    pls anybody know the ratio from Virgin Atlantic to Virgin America ?

  • PJ

    anybody knows if you can use this Bank of america Amex VA card to purchase Amex gift card in order to meet the spend?

  • PJ

    yes 50K with 1st pruchase seems a good deal ; with 300o spend in 3 month , i doubt i can get it done in the old fashioned way unless i can buy amex gift cards or get help from amazon payment which i always think it is a bit “not too natural”

  • TravelShooter

    “for those of you who, like me, might be a little heavy on the Chase credit card applications lately and need to wait a while…”

    possible Sunday question or if anyone here can advise:
    Been at this ~1 yr., ~8 CC’s without issue, but today got snail mail from
    Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Card sayin’ I was rejected for too many CC applications or other issue.
    (I applied for Chase Premier Card same day, not Preferred — already have that)
    Can someone post link to TPG’s related advice or otherwise help.
    Vaguely recall reading that saying the “right” thing in phone call often works?
    (but “right” = ?) regards

  • PJ

    not too often I cannot follow what people try to say :(
    basically it is a 50K offer with TWO users and spend is 2.5K in 3 months. there is no doubt I will never spend that much to get the anniversary bonus miles :) 7500 to spend 12,500 over 2,500 is NOT that much bonus at all
    IN the last year, I dont think I spent more than 15 K in order to collect those signon bonus from BA ( 2.5k spend) Southwest(1st purchase) Hyatt ( 1st purchase) Sapphire Preferred (1st purchase) United (1st purchase) Satrwood (4.5k) Amex Platinum ( 100k for 1K spend) GPR ( 1K ) Amex Blue ( .5K) Hawaii ( 1st purchase).US airways ( 1st purchase) citi aa visa ( 1.5K) citi amex ( 1.5 K) etc…

  • PedroNY

    Btw, 130000 HH points is good for four (4) nights with AXON6 Award, most people who want to redeem should get the Hilton Amex.

    Cheers,

    PedroNY

  • Brian L.

    I’d like to see one was well. VS gets a lot of flack for its fuel surcharges, but with 1.5 miles per dollar in spending, it could be a good program for someone who wants business class to London & gets most of their miles from CC spending.

  • HT

    not only redemption for VS though, but also its partners! It seems to haves a substantial list.

  • Elena

    You can always use your AMEX to purchase gift cards in a supermarket or staples. I recently tried to buy a gift card at Stop & Shop and they said it’s cash or debit only now. I know Rite Aid (pharmacy) has the same policy as well. I was able to charge gift cards to my AMEX at staples though. I’m sure that most stores will eventually have the cash/debit policy for gift cards.

  • Fasfkl

    My Teddy bear literally has 7 credit cards to his name. Hell my cousin got one for Metta World Peace

  • DKDK

    SAME here. IT is NOT new at all. I just applied last week and got it in mail today. TPG just disappointed me.

  • Ram

    first of all this is a 45k bonus deals only, secondly just 2 nights at hotel stay with 65k?
    looks like a terrible deal.

  • PJ

    When Chase Freedom rebates 5% on grocery; i do buy $1000 my favorite grocery gift cards for $950 to earn 4750 URs. Hopefully they will still let me use their grocery gift card to buy Sunoco Shell gas cards which are treated as cash at gas stations.

    i would not buy those gift cards to buy merchandises which are sold through credit card shopp malls at more than 5% off

    I was eyeing at buying amex gift card at http://www.bigcrumbs.com for 1.6% rebate.

  • PJ

    RIGHT for people who need to travel only on upperclass. For lowerclass travellers, 100K MR(=150K avios) gets you 6 r/t AA non stop coast to coast

  • PJ

    Whoever interested in this deal but bid ” pass” on Chase 50K( single purchase) +10K with HIGH spend is a bit backward.
    Reminding all : the 60K Chase United Explorer offer is still available to Mileage Plus member with >0 milies in account

  • KP

    ROFL, loved your response PJ!

  • freqflyercoll

    Agreed…I applied for this exact same offer two months ago, and it wasn’t new then either. The first that I saw of it was from Darius at Million Mile Secrets (not that he was necessarily the first ever to report it, it was just the first post I’d read about it).

  • WMG19910

    How are these difference than Virgin America’s Elevate Points?

  • Robin

    again this is 45k bonus not 65k. adding users spending more are for biz people.

  • PJ

    Do you have anyblem for paying fees to get 40K ? I do that 24/7/365

  • arcticbull

    2 nights at a Category 7, the top Hilton award category. You can really stretch that out if you have Hilton status with VIP awards, or with a Hilton Amex through AXON awards. 136,000 points gets you 4 nights at a Category 6 with VIP awards. With AXON you could stay 4 nights at a Category 7 for 145,000 points.

    Hilton’s award chart is arguably one of the more complicated ones, to be sure, but this is not a bad deal by any stretch of the imagination.

    This is quite similar to the sign-on bonus for the Hyatt Chase Visa. 2 nights at any Hyatt property in the world. It’s also “arguably” better than the Starwood sign-on bonus of 25-30,000 points, as their Category 7 properties require 30-35,000 points per night, and there’s no Cash&Points availability for Cat 7′s.

    Finally, the Hilton Amex will only net you 60K and the Citi Visa only 50K. You’re easily pulling in 2-2.5x the number of HH points. At Discover America they’re selling 100,000HH for $500. A good value for a single inquiry.

  • arcticbull

    Yeah… unfortunately I went through VS’s partners. There are few of interest. It’s harder now that it appears they’ve taken many of their partner award charts off their website : and replaced it with CALL US PLEASE. Thanks for nothing.

    Most of their partners charge obscene YQ and as such aren’t worth it. Their upgrade awards could be of interest, but they only let you upgrade from expensive premium economy and economy buckets. SFO-LHR-SFO is 2500+25K from PE, 1500+50K from E. Compare to BA’s $1800+25K on the same dates. And BA’s 100K bonus.

    Virgin America is interesting because apparently it’s a fixed-rate chart (short, medium and long-hauls regardless of price are 12.5, 17, 25K miles for a round, IIRC — again they took the chart off). You should look and see how many VX miles are required and if it’s more than what VS is charging, book through VS! Not sure if there are capacity controls.

    The only other one of any interest is US Air. 25/50K for domestic low level space, but only 80,000 to Europe in US’s Envoy suites (US charges 100K, but then you could be on LX/LH/OS/LO/AC/UA also). No YQ on US Air redemptions either. These seem to be of good value if you can find the space.

    TL;DR: Redeem for HH or US ;)

  • arcticbull

    Plus you get to combine the bonus! 130K from here + 60K from somewhere else = 5+ nights in a Cat 7. The other advantage of this card is you can, if I recall correctly — they may have changed this, funnel your Amex MR through VS into HH.

    Normally MR:HH is 1:1.5, but you can go MR:VS:HH at 1:2. Not much, but it’s something.

  • arcticbull

    It’s not a transfer. You use the VS miles to book flights on US directly by calling VS. They have their own award chart for US Air flights. US domestic is 25K VS, and first is 50K VS. To book a flights to Europe in business is 80K VS. That’s a good deal for US’s Envoy business suites product, as US normally charges 100K for it. Not sure about the other awards, they took their chart off their website.

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  • JP

    Looks like the links for BofA Virgin Cards are now dead…Anyone have a working link?

  • Luvcruises

    B of A is the absolute worst cc company I have ever worked with. I applied through your link and have been fighting to get the 25k miles after $2500. Spend in 90 days. Did it and didn’t get it. They are idiots there. They never address what I am asking. After faxing all the supporting documentation and three secures messages I am now told that 6300 miles were added to my account on 8/29. In checking, no they weren’t and what about the rest I am due.

    Sorry for the rant but I am frustrated and have wasted time to try to get what is due. Will never take out a cc with B of A again.

  • http://www.facebook.com/karl.l.mitchell Karl Mitchell

    Any idea how long this will run for. This is on my want list, but unfortunately I just completed a small churn recently.