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What are travel credit cards, and how do they work?
Travel credit cards are financial products that offer various rewards and benefits geared towards frequent travelers. They typically earn you points or miles for every dollar spent on eligible purchases. These rewards can be redeemed for flights, hotel stays, car rentals, and other travel-related expenses. Travel credit cards may also include perks like travel insurance, airport lounge access, and no foreign transaction fees.
How do I choose the best travel credit card for my needs?
Choosing the best travel credit card depends on your travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences. Consider factors like the type of rewards offered (points, miles, or cash back), the card’s annual fee, sign-up bonuses, earning rates, redemption options, and additional travel perks. Analyzing these features will help you find a card that aligns with your lifestyle and offers the most value.
What are the benefits of using a travel credit card over other types of credit cards?
Travel credit cards provide unique advantages for travelers, such as earning rewards specifically tailored to travel expenses. Additionally, many travel credit cards offer travel-related perks like free checked bags, priority boarding, and travel insurance. Some cards also waive foreign transaction fees, making them ideal for international travelers.
What is a sign-up bonus, and how can I qualify for it?
A sign-up bonus is a promotional offer provided by the credit card issuer to entice new cardholders. To qualify for a sign-up bonus, you usually need to meet specific spending requirements within a certain timeframe after opening the account. The bonus can be in the form of points, miles, or cash back, and it’s a great way to jump-start your rewards earning.
Do travel credit cards charge foreign transaction fees?
Not all travel credit cards charge foreign transaction fees. Many of the top-tier travel cards waive these fees, making them ideal for international travel. However, it’s essential to read the card’s terms and conditions to confirm this before using it abroad.
How can I maximize the rewards earned with my travel credit card?
To maximize rewards, use your travel credit card for everyday expenses and large purchases. Take advantage of bonus categories and special promotions to earn more points or miles. Consider combining your travel credit card with loyalty programs to stack rewards and get even more value out of your purchases.
Virgin Atlantic’s loyalty program, Flying Club, is a funny old beast. The Richard Branson-led British airline is impressive in its own right, but Flying Club remains divisive.
For those who know how to wrangle the powers of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partners, it’s an intrinsic aspect of their points and miles strategy. But for those unaccustomed to its ways, its quirks are a major put-off.
In this guide, we’ll be taking a look at the best redemptions you can make—both on the airline itself and with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partners.
What is the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club?
As you’ve probably deduced, Flying Club is the loyalty program for Virgin Atlantic. The British airline is a popular one, flying to over 40 destinations worldwide. It’s particularly popular for transatlantic routes.
Flying Club, like all programs, has its pros and cons. But there’s an argument that Flying Club may be the most extreme example of this.
What’s great about it?
At the top of the list is the ease with which you can earn Flying Club points. Virgin allows transfers from almost every credit card issuer out there. American Express, Chase, Citi, Capital One, Bilt, and even Marriott all allow points to move into Flying Club accounts, making it accessible to almost everyone.
On top of the ease of earning, the Virgin Atlantic Fly Club partners list is extensive. As a member of SkyTeam, Flying Club has access to airlines like Delta, KLM, and Korean Air, while independent partnerships with ANA, LATAM, and SAS all provide high value.
Combine that with some of the most incredibly low rates you’ll see in the points and miles world, and you have what appears to be the makings of a winner.
There’s just one problem…
What’s not so great about it?
Virgin Atlantic is notorious for passing its fees and surcharges. That means that even when you see those rock bottom points rates, the cash requirements can decimate the value you hoped to gain. It’s not uncommon to see fees soar over $1,000 in many cases.
The confusing thing is, that this is often still “good value.” It depends on your perception of what is in front of you. But I’ll get to that later on.
Thankfully, there are still some incredible redemptions to be made, so let’s dive into the best Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partners and the sweet spots to be exploited.
A note on value
In some of the scenarios below, I’ll mention taxes that may seem frustrating when you’re in search of “free flights.” I do explain the points value in one example, highlighting that even though you’re paying more in cash, you’re getting more for your points.
This is an important concept within points and miles, and something you need to consider in the long run.
It comes down to real value versus perceived value.
If your goal is to save money in the purest way possible, opting to avoid paying $300 in taxes may be the right call. But if you’re trying to take your points as far as they can, and are in a position to pay a little in cash, then opting for the lower points with higher taxes is often the better option. Consider what those points could do for you in the future.
For example, in the scenario below, I offer a flight worth 12,000 points plus $155 in taxes. The other option is 31,000 points plus $5. The points value of these flights are 3.1 and 1.7 cents, respectively. By paying the $155 in taxes, your points are worth more and you have 19,000 left for future use. Those 19,000 are enough to grab a one-way flight to Europe in many cases, so the $155 you paid hasn’t just saved you money on the flight you take, it’s covered another flight in the future.
Think long-term.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partners: All Nippon Airways (ANA)
Virgin’s partnership with ANA provides what many believe to be one of the most valuable redemptions in the world of points and miles. In the award chart shown, you’ll see roundtrip rates from different regions to Japan.
Based on the chart, it’s possible to fly from New York to Tokyo in business class for 120,000 points. A West Coast origin would set you back 105,000 points for a roundtrip. The rate used to be lower, but even with the increased rates, it still represents incredible value.
The big caveat in this case is booking the tickets. It’s not possible to book tickets online, so you’ll need to call Virgin directly to do so. The best way to do this is to check availability for ANA flights using United or Air Canada. Once you’ve found the flights you want, call the airline to confirm the award space. They may be able to hold the seats for you until you move points across.
If you can find availability, it’s a pretty epic deal. You’ll only pay around $350 in taxes and fees for the full thing in this case. These flights often sell for well over $10,000. I think it’s worth the fees.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partners: Air France/KLM Flying Blue
One of Virgin’s most valuable and reliable partnerships comes in the form of the joint loyalty program of Air France and KLM Flying Blue.
The best use of this partnership is to book transatlantic flights, preferably in business class. But economy flights can be great, too, even with the taxes.
Take a look at this economy rate from New York to Paris. It’s only 12,000 points plus $155. The $155 may seem frustratingly high compared to other airlines, but consider the cost of paying it in cash. KLM lists the flight as $536 when baggage is included. If we deduct $155 from $536 and divide by 12,000 we get a points value of 3.1 cents each. That’s still wonderful.
To compare, if you searched for a similar flight using United, we’d get a 31,000-point rate with just $5.60 in fees. Seems better right? You’re not paying $155. But if you do the same calculation, your points are only worth 1.7 cents each.
If we opt for a business class flight, we’re only paying 48,500 points plus $303 in fees. That flight would cost $2,987 on KLM’s portal, gifting us a points value of 5.5 cents. Again, paying those fees might hurt, but your points are technically getting more value.
It’s important to remember that KLM and Air France’s rates fluctuate heavily under a dynamic system. For this reason, it’s always important to check the rates there, too. For example, on the same January 9 departure, I found a 50,000-point business class flight and a 134,000-point business class flight with lower fees. In this case, the 50,000-point flight would get the edge as its value would be almost the same as the Virgin Atlantic redemption—5.5 cents.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partners: Delta SkyMiles
Delta’s SkyMiles remains one of the most frustrating programs on the market. It’s an airline millions want to fly on, but its brutal dynamic system means an economy (not a business class) flight to Europe could skyrocket well above 100,000 miles. That’s ludicrous.
Virgin does offer some help in that respect. It currently operates a three-pronged pricing system for Delta awards:
- Direct flights from the US to the UK
- Direct flights to Europe (not including the UK)
- Distance-based rates for destinations for the rest of the world including the US
The distance-based pricing means you can grab some solid domestic flights, but generally speaking, Delta could match these. On any given day, Delta could charge double the Virgin rate or less than the Virgin rate. You just need to check both programs so you don’t lose any value.
The best use of Delta’s partnership usually comes from direct flights to Europe. It’s possible to book a Delta One seat for just 50,000 points. Considering these often run well over 200,000 SkyMiles, that’s a big deal.
The hard part is finding availability. Delta has become increasingly flaky with its partner award availability and in this case, I struggled to find any seats. It is possible, but you need to be proactive. Keep an eye on message boards and other sites and pounce on newly released seats when they appear.
Super crumby developments also mean that taxes and fees have soared for these flights. You’re now looking at an insane $1,000 each way. You’ll also need to stay aware of peak and off-peak times to ensure the points rate doesn’t increase to over 70,000.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partners: Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand doesn’t offer quite as much value as some of the others mentioned, but in a pinch, it’s a great choice for travel to and within the Oceania region.
Intra-New Zealand flights and routes between there and Australia are the simplest to find, generally speaking. You can expect to pay around 15,000 points for a roundtrip within New Zealand while routes to Australia will cost around 20,000 in economy.
Availability for flights between the US and New Zealand is always impossibly low, so don’t put too much weight into finding something special there. If you hear of any openings, call right away and get a booking. It’s technically possible to book a roundtrip in business class from the US for 125,000 points.
Things to avoid
In general, avoid any route that connects to the United Kingdom. Virgin’s fees and surcharges are eye-watering in this situation. Some of the same redemptions highlighted above will suddenly have $1,000 tacked onto the price because of a short layover in Heathrow.
The only people who should consider these flights are regular business travelers who pay cash for these flights anyway. It’s still technically a good deal in this case, but for everyone else, give it a wide berth. If you’re hoping to get to the UK, check out our guide on flying to London in business class.
The point
It’s possible to uncover some tremendous sweet spots using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partners around the world. Whether you’re hoping to fly business class to Europe or grab a roundtrip to Japan, it’s an excellent way to grab high value.
by your friends at The Daily Navigator
