Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
Bank of America has finally brought back an increased offer on the Virgin Atlantic Mastercard: now get 60K miles after $2K in purchases in the first 90 days plus 5K miles when you add two authorized users. That can be a solid deal if you’re in need of Virgin Atlantic miles, though unless you’re also planning to spend toward status you should probably consider the many transferable currency cards offering comparable or better bonuses right now.
The Offer & Key Card Details
| Card Offer and Details |
Quick Thoughts
The Virgin Atlantic Mastercard offers a better-than-most-airline-cards 1.5 miles per dollar everywhere. That sounds decent until you consider the fact that you could earn 1.5x everywhere with a Chase Freedom Unlimited and transfer to Virgin Atlantic whenever you want as long as you have one of the two personal or several business cards that can transfer to partners. Or you could earn 2x everywhere with the Citi Double Cash and transfer to Virgin Atlantic if you also have the Premier or 2x everywhere on the first $50K in purchases per calendar year (then 1x) on the Blue Business Plus (and those points could be transferred to Virgin Atlantic when advantageous).
I therefore only really recommend this card at this time if you will use it to spend toward Virgin Atlantic elite status. You can earn 25 tier points per $2500 spent on the card up to 50 tier points per month. Keep in mind that Virgin Atlantic now requires Silver status to book Necker Island with miles (though I believe that redemptions aren’t available at the moment anyway). If you’re using credit card to help pave your path to status, the card makes sense. Otherwise, I’d much sooner recommend bigger bonuses on the Amex Platinum Citi Premier, or other cards with points that could easily be transferred to Virgin Atlantic if and when you want.
H/T: Doctor of Credit
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Just got this one primarily for the tier point benefit (25/$2500 2x per month). Does anybody have experience to confirm it’s per calendar month vs. per statement period? My statements close around the 26th so want to make sure if I need to backend the spend as to not to miss the ‘cutoff’. Of course I contacted the online chat and the agent albeit was super nice didn’t know.
I hesitate to apply…I recently was declined for a different card from BofA due to “too many recently opened cards.” Is BofA starting their own 5/24 screening? If so, what are the parameters?
Bank of America Credit Cards BOA
App
Tips 3/12 Rule: Difficult to get approved if you’ve opened 3 or more cards with any bank in past 12 months (7 cards in 12 months for those with deposit accounts) To get same card again, some cards require waiting 24 months from opening. Others require waiting 24 months from closing. Consumer card applications: Limit 2 per rolling 2 months, 3 per rolling 12 months, and 4 per rolling 24 months. Hard inquiries are usually combined into 1 when initiated within 30 days but there have been reports of TransUnion not combining. YMMV. BOA appears to be enforcing a 5 personal card limit
As shown on Frequent Miler’s Best Cards page: https://frequentmiler.com/best-credit-card-sign-up-offers/#BOA