Bank of America Virgin Atlantic World Elite MasterCard
Updated June 12, 2021.
The Facts
The Math
The card comes with a $90 annual fee and some built-in benefits such as up to 600 tier points toward status and the enhanced anniversary award benefit with an annual $25K spending. If you value these benefits such that you are willing to pay the annual fee, this card has a lot of potential in earning on general purchases. If you spend $15K a year, you get 22.5K points plus the 7.5K bonus points, which essentially makes the card return 2 points per dollar spent. If you spend $25K a year, you get 37.5K points plus the 15K bonus points, which makes the card return 2.1 points per dollar spent. Then you need to value a mile more than one cent to beat our benchmark 2% cashback from cards such as Citi Double Cash.
It is a great card for Virgin Atlantic flyers, especially if annual spending is $15K or $25K. If you don't fly Virgin Atlantic, you need to factor in how many points you will be able to accumulate a year: from flying its partner airlines, spending on the credit card, and other sources. Also you need to evaluate Virgin Points, especially considering fuel surcharges and partner redemption.
The Conclusion
The Virgin Atlantic Black Card is great for Virgin Atlantic flyers and may also be valuable even to travelers who never fly Virgin Atlantic (but use their points on partners).
The Facts
- Annual Fee: $90
- Signup Bonus: 30,000 Virgin Points + $100 statement credit + 200 tier points (half way through Flying Club Silver status) after spending $1,000 within 3 months of new account opening, and an additional 5,000 Virgin Points after you add the first two authorized users to your account. Note that as usual, this offer is advertised as 50,000 Virgin Points as they count the 15K anniversary points once you spend $25K per year, which is an ongoing feature rather than signup bonus in our opinion. Historical best bonus: 65,000 miles (Virgin Atlantic change their frequent flyer currency name from "miles" to "Virgin Points" in 2020) with a $2,000 spending requirement in 2019; 75,000 miles with a $12,000 spending requirement for many times in the past years.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 3x Virgin Atlantic purchases, 1.5x everything else. You earn 7,500 bonus Virgin Points once you spend $15K a year and an additional 7,500 bonus Virgin Points once you spend $25K.
- Best Use of Virgin Points: Flying Club is the frequent flyer program of Virgin Atlantic which is not part of any of the three global airline alliances; however, Virgin Atlantic does maintain partnership with Delta, Hawaiian, Virgin America, Virgin Australia, Singapore, ANA, Hilton, and so on. The Virgin Points are generally valuable when redeemed on Virgin Atlantic or partner flights. Note that hefty fuel surcharges will be added to the awards on Virgin Atlantic metals, which need to be taken into consideration when determine the value of points. However, you could redeem points on partner airlines for lower fees. For a long time the points could also be transferred into Hilton HHonors points at 1:2 ratio, which was an attractive option; however, in early 2014, this ratio was changed to 1:1.5.
- Enhanced Anniversary Award Benefit: after you spend at least $25K in a membership year, you can choose from the two enhanced anniversary award options which expire after two years: A) One cabin upgrade for you when flying on an awards flight from Economy Classic to Premium, or B) One companion fare in the same class on an awards flight. The cabin into which you can redeem points is based on your Flying Club tier at the time of booking: Red Tier members may redeem points for Economy Classic and receive one matching companion fare; Silver Tier members may redeem points for Economy Classic or Premium and receive one matching companion fare; Gold Tier members may redeem points for Economy Classic, Premium, or Upper Class and receive one matching companion fare. You will need to pay applicable taxes, fees, charges, and carrier-imposed surcharges for the companion fare. Both travelers must be on the same flights and travel itinerary.
- Other Benefits: (1) Earn 25 tier points toward Flying Club status for every $2,500 spent on the card, up to a total of 50 tier points per month. (2) Waived foreign transaction fees with an embedded EMV smart chip.
- World Elite MasterCard Benefits: MasterCard Luxury Hotels & Resorts (a collection of 2,000+ luxury hotels worldwide that offer complimentary breakfasts for two, room upgrades upon availability, early check-in, late check-out, and a special amenity such as a certain amount of hotel credit up to $100 per stay, free internet, or welcome gift, etc.), MasterCard Travel & Lifestyle Services (offers for hotels, airfare, private jets, airport concierge, car rentals, chauffeured cars, cruise lines, tours, vacation packages, golf, sports and entertainment event tickets, etc.), complimentary ShopRunner membership (free two-day shipping and returns at participating stores), complimentary DoorDash benefits (3 months of complimentary DashPass membership & $5 off first two orders per month through 9/30/2022), monthly $5 Lyft credit after 3 rides each month, 5% discount for every HelloFresh order, $5 rewards for every $20+ Fandango purchase, the Dining Program (special amenities at participating restaurants), the Nightlife Program (exclusive access to and recognition at participating night clubs), Priceless Cities, Priceless Surprises, Priceless Causes, Priceless Golf, 24/7 World Elite concierge service, MasterCard Cellular Wireless Telephone Protection (up to $800 for a stolen or damaged phone as long as you charge your monthly cellphone bills to the card), MasterCard ID Theft Protection, etc.
- History: There used to be two versions of Virgin Atlantic credit cards: Virgin Atlantic Black Card and Virgin Atlantic White Card. Both were issued as Amex, before they were switched over to WEMC in 2013. Virgin Atlantic Black Card used to offer a free Regus Gold membership ($300 in value) for access to more than 1,000 business lounges worldwide, but this valuable partnership ended in May 2015. BofA started waiving foreign transaction fees on both cards in late 2015. In 2019, BofA rebranded the Black Card simply as Virgin Atlantic WEMC, changing the 50%-off Economy companion fare to the enhanced anniversary award benefit, and discontinued the White Card.
The Math
The card comes with a $90 annual fee and some built-in benefits such as up to 600 tier points toward status and the enhanced anniversary award benefit with an annual $25K spending. If you value these benefits such that you are willing to pay the annual fee, this card has a lot of potential in earning on general purchases. If you spend $15K a year, you get 22.5K points plus the 7.5K bonus points, which essentially makes the card return 2 points per dollar spent. If you spend $25K a year, you get 37.5K points plus the 15K bonus points, which makes the card return 2.1 points per dollar spent. Then you need to value a mile more than one cent to beat our benchmark 2% cashback from cards such as Citi Double Cash.
It is a great card for Virgin Atlantic flyers, especially if annual spending is $15K or $25K. If you don't fly Virgin Atlantic, you need to factor in how many points you will be able to accumulate a year: from flying its partner airlines, spending on the credit card, and other sources. Also you need to evaluate Virgin Points, especially considering fuel surcharges and partner redemption.
The Conclusion
The Virgin Atlantic Black Card is great for Virgin Atlantic flyers and may also be valuable even to travelers who never fly Virgin Atlantic (but use their points on partners).