Comenity Capital Virgin America Visa Signature Review (Discontinued)

Updated January 11, 2014.

The Facts:
Virgin America credit cards used to be issued by Barclays.  We had a review for that product.  In late 2013, the relationship between Virgin America and Barclays suddenly ended and now a relatively unknown bank - Comenity Capital is the new issuer of Virgin America credit cards.  There are two versions which we compare side by side here:

Virgin America Visa Signature

• Annual Fee: $49
  
• Signup Bonus: 10,000 points
  
• Rewards: 3x Virgin America and 1x everywhere else
  
• Other Benefits: Free first checked bag.  $150 off a companion ticket each year in form of a discount code.  20% discount on RED in-flight purchases.  Points don't expire for card holders.
  

Virgin America Premium Visa Signature

• Annual Fee: $149
  
• Signup Bonus: 15,000 points
  
• Rewards: 3x Virgin America and 1x everywhere else
  
• Other Benefits: In addition to all benefits of the regular $49 Virgin America Visa, the Premium version has two unique features - 1) earn 5,000 status points for every $10,000 spent on the card, up to a total of 15,000 status points each year, and you can roll over any additional status points above annual qualification; 2) no change or cancel fees.

• Best Use of Elevate points: Elevate is the frequent flyer program of Virgin America.  The overhaul of the program in 2012 made it more flexible and competitive. If you redeem the points on Virgin America flights, the points have fixed value: 1.6 cents on Friday/Sunday flights and 2.1 cents on other flights.  In this regard, the card is very similar to Chase Southwest Airlines Visa.  However, in the 2012 overhaul of the program and later, Virgin America added several partners for redemption - Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, Hawaiian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and Emirates .  In this way, Elevate points work more like traditional airline miles and may generate more value.  One thing to note is that except for Hawaiian, partner redemption comes with big fuel surcharge but many scenarios still prove to be worthy.  Another thing to note is that Singapore Airlines does not release any of its business class or first class seats on its new longhaul products to any of its partners (including Star Alliance).

The Math
If you make use of the $150 off companion code every year, you will come out ahead paying the $49 annual fee on the regular version.  If you need to change or cancel a Virgin America flight at least once a year or you value their status points, it is then wise to spend an additional $100 a year to upgrade to the Premium version.

For general spending, if you use the points wisely, you receive a 2.1% return rate, which is pretty much on par with Fidelity Amex or Barclays Arrival.  If you pay for your Virgin America flights to earn 3x, carrying one of the Visa cards makes even more sense.  Finally, the ability to redeem on partner flights adds flexibility and potential value to the cards.

The Conclusion
The $49 Virgin America Visa Signature is a great card to carry for Virgin America flyers, with a competitive fixed value return or flexible partner redemption, and the $150 off companion code which may very well cover the annual fee.  If you value the no change/cancel fee feature and/or status points, it is wise to spend an additional $100 a year to upgrade to the Premium version.