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Author - Sam
Updated: December 7, 2023 | Credit Card Review The Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard gives you rewards which are redeemable for flights, cabin upgrades and more.
- Credit: Good credit needed
- Max cards: Bank of America will only approve you for 2 Bank of America personal cards within 2 months, 3 Bank of America personal cards within 12 months, and 4 Bank of America personal cards within 24 months
- You cannot get approved for a personal Bank of America card if you have more than 5 Bank of America personal credit cards open
- BOA 2/6 cards in 12 months rule: Bank of America will not approve you for their credit card if you opened more than 2 cards in the past 12 months, even if it’s from other issuers. Unless you are a BOA bank account holder, then you can get approved even if you opened up to 6 cards in 12 months
- 24 month rule: The Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard may not be available to you if you currently have or have had the Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard in the past 24 month period. Based on these terms, it seems that you "may" not be eligible for a new card until your previous card is closed for a full 24 months
Apply for two cards: If you apply for one Bank Of America card and get approved, it is recommended to apply for a second card since Bank Of America is very good about approving for two cards, even within the same day
- Credit bureau: Bank Of America will usually pull your Experian credit report (If you freeze Experian then Bank Of America will pull your TransUnion credit report)
- Combining same-day credit inquiries: Credit inquiries for all Personal BOA cards for applications within 30 days will be combined
- Check application status: You can check your application status here
- Reconsideration: I don't have a direct line to Bank of America's reconsideration department. If declined, you can call the new accounts fraud department at 1-888-230-6262, and they can connect you to the reconsideration department
- Quickest way to get my card: You can request Bank of America to expedite your physical card by calling Bank of America customer service. Bank of America will in most cases not offer an instant credit card number for your new card.
- Downgrade options: You can downgrade the Virgin Atlantic card ($90) to any of the following cards: Bank Of America Customized Cash Rewards ($0), Bank Of America Travel Rewards ($0), Bank Of America Unlimited Cash Rewards ($0).
Get 7,500 bonus points after spending a minimum of $15,000 each cardmember year.
Get 7,500 bonus points after spending a total of $25,000 each cardmember year.
Get 15,000 bonus points after making qualifying purchases every anniversary.
Get reimbursed for up to $800 per claim (with a $50 deductible) if your cell phone breaks or gets stolen. To activate coverage, you need to pay your monthly cell phone bill with your Virgin Atlantic credit card. Max $1,000 or 2 claims per year.
Get one additional year to your original manufacturer’s warranty time. (Will only cover if the original warranty is for 3 years or less). Max $10,000 per claim, $50,000 per cardholder.
Get refunded if your purchase is damaged or stolen, up to 90 days from the date of purchase. Max $1,000 per claim.
Get coverage if you, G-d forbid, die in an accident while traveling or lose a limb, sight, speech, or hearing (on common carriers). Receive up to $500,000 in compensation.
Earn 25 complementary tier points every time after spending $2,500. Max 50 points per month.
The points can be used at approximately 1 – 1.3 cents per point to book award flights with one of the following Virgin Atlantic airline partners:
- Air France / KLM
- Air New Zealand
- ANA
- Delta Air Lines
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- Virgin Australia
You can book award flights using your Virgin Atlantic miles with Virgin Atlantic airline and the following of its partners here:
- Delta
- Air France / KLM
- South African Airlines
To book award flights with other Virgin Atlantic airline partners call 1-800-862-8621.
Virgin Atlantic has different award charts for its own flights and every airline partner.
As you already know, some frequent flyer programs are better fit to use on their own metal, while others are better for traveling on the partner airlines. Virgin Atlantic belongs to the latter group. Not that it doesn’t have good redemption values – it has great redemption values in Economy, but the draconian Virgin surcharges destroy that value and make Flying Club miles unusable on its own flights – at least if you have other choices.
However, used on some partner airlines, Virgin Atlantic offers terrific values (of course as long as you can find award space, which is true for all airlines, almost without exceptions).
Fly Delta One (Business Class) to Europe for 50,000 Virgin Atlantic points… if you’re lucky!
I try not to dwell much on availability in this guide because it’s a separate (and painful) topic, but I have to warn you that Delta One award space to Europe almost doesn’t exist. Having said that, if you can find it, you might even get one of these door suites, who knows! 🙂
This is Delta One award space to Amsterdam in March 2022 for two people. After that – nada!
I’m posting this screenshot just to prove that finding Delta One flights to Europe is not 100% impossible, so try it. This flight, for example, is on A-350 that features those famous suites with doors. Let’s hope things will get better, but who knows!
Europe is the only region not affected by the huge 2021 Virgin / Delta devaluation. All other regions aside from U.S. to Europe are off limits now (insanely overpriced!).
Fly to Japan on ANA in Business and First from 45,000 miles!
This is probably one of the best sweet spots in the history of frequent flyer programs. You can travel between the U.S. West Coast and Japan for 45,000 Virgin points in Business and 55,000 in First.
The rates from the East Coast aren’t much higher: 47,500 and 60,000 points respectively. The table below reflects the round-trip prices (one-way flights are allowed).
This is an incredible value, especially in First Class and it beats ANA’s own First Class prices.
