Chris T

I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what is the best option for me: I have excellent credit. I also travel in the US AND to Europe / UK a lot. I currently have an Amex Delta Skymiles Gold card for which I collect Delta airmiles.

I recently started an LLC for which I need a new credit card (and going forward will use this new card for 90% of my purchasing and travel).

I like to fly Virgin Atlantic to the UK and do so once or twice a year.

I've been trying to decide between the Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard and the Capital One Rewards card. Virgina At. Card gives me 1.5 Miles = $1. Capital One gives me 2mi = 1 'point'. HOWEVER, the actual 'value' of these points will vary depending on the cost of airline flights at the time of purchase, so they're not equivalent to the VA 'miles'. Also there's the varying taxes and fuel surceases on Virgin flights that tend to decrease the value of these miles.

My question is: which would be best for me if I primarily want to save up the most airmiles possible for Virgin Atlantic flights for me and my family. Keeping in mind that VA DO tend to sometimes alter their airmile requirements and have limited seats for air mile passengers (which makes it a Disadvantage to have the VA card…).

Your help would be most appreciated!

mia

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

I know what you mean, but it's reversed. The number of CapitalOne points (miles) required for a flight on any airline varies with the price of a ticket because their value is fixed at $0.01 each. The value of an airline mile does vary because the number of miles required for a flight is typically fixed, but ticket prices vary.

Are you planning to redeem for Economy, Premium Economy or Upper Class? Will you spend $25,000 per year on the new card?

You should also consider an entirely different strategy. You can earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles with cards issued by these banks:

• American Express - Any card which earns Membership Rewards (Everyday, Green, Gold, Platinum)
• Bank of America - Flying Club MasterCard
• Chase - Any card which earns Ultimate Rewards (Sapphire, Freedom, Ink)
• Citi - Any card which earns ThankYou Rewards (Premier, Prestige)

You could earn many more Flying Club miles if you apply for several of these cards, spend enough to earn the new account bonus, set aside until the renewal annual fee is due, see if the issuer will offer a generous retention bonus, otherwise cancel, and (in some cases) reapply for the same card a couple years later.

Chris T

From your answer can I take it then that the Capital One Rewards is not the best option for someone wanting exclusively (Virgin) airmiles?

I plan on usually flying Economy with the occasional upgrade to Premium Economy (Virgin). Might also transfer miles for my parents to fly Premium.

I'll prob spend over $50,000 annually on this card.

Re. other cards - Virign told me that my Delta Skymiles (I get with my Amex card) can also be used towards Virgin flights, but I'd have to book the flights ON the Delta site, and the 'cost' in miles for these flights would be Delta's own, and so impossible to compare to Virgin's cost. If I earned on Amex etc, would they be specifically in Virgin miles, or other miles which I then transfer?…

thanks!

mia

I think it's best to think of CapitalOne "miles" as "pennies" worth $0.01 each. They cannot be transferred to any other program. To buy a ticket worth $1,000 you would need to redeem 100,000 CapitalOne "pennies", which is the amount you would earn by spending $50,000.

If you spend $25,000 in 12 months on the Bank of America Virgin Atlantic MasterCard you would earn a 15,000 mile bonus. Therefore:

• Spend $25,000 Earn 37,500 + 15,000 = 52,500 Flying Club miles
• OR
• Spend $50,000 Earn 75,000 + 15,000 = 90,000 Flying Club miles

Are 90,000 miles worth more than $1,000 in your scenario?


American Express, Chase and Citi point can all be transferred into your Flying Club account and combined with miles earned by flying, from other cards, from the online shopping portal, etc. Points earned through those programs can also be transferred to many other airline and hotel programs, which is useful if your circumstances change.

Starwood hotel points can also be transferred to Flying Club. $20,000 credit card spend = 20,000 points = 25,000 Flying Club miles. There is no need to ever set foot in a Starwood hotel to use their credit card.

dukerau

Consider Chase Ink Plus or American Express Premier Rewards Gold. Unless you fly Delta domestic (and check bags) a lot, Amex PRG beats Amex Delta cards easily. Chase Ink's bonus categories are excellent. Both points transfer to Virgin Atlantic miles as well as several other programs that you might find useful.

Also, if you just want economy flights, it's tough to beat a 2% card - Citi Double Cash, Fidelity American Express, Barclays Arrival, Capital One Venture (my choices in that order).

mia

I would agree if we were discussing domestic USA economy flights, but we are discussing USA-Europe flights which are often ~$1,000. Miles are still valuable on such routes if you can earn more than one mile per dollar, and if the fuel surcharges do not approach the cost of a revenue ticket.

36902BRF

Make sure you understand the taxes and fees Virgin Atlantic charges on their flights transatlantic Like BA they can be quite significant to the point that in my opinion they aren't worth it for regular economy to me. I would run some numbers to make sure you understand the value you getting from your points.

Chris T

Thank you all for the advice.

Rather annoyingly I now realize that I actually need a BUSINESS credit card (not personal), so I've had to go back to square one!

The same basic question dogs me though: It seems like the 'any airline miles' cards (e.g CapOne Rewards) are worth very little compared to the regular air mile cards. But then those airmile cards loose their appeal when airport taxes and fees often comprise more than half the entire price of a ticket, thus rendering the miles worth a lot less than they appear.

I'm tempted to just go with a 2% cash back card (e.g. CapOne Spark Cash for business) which would earn me $960 cash annually for a $4,000 p/mo spend (average for me). This would totally cover one return transatlantic flight per year (equivalent to 50,000+ miles need with airmiles).

Does this make sense? Any other Business card recommendations from folks?…

thanks!

mia

This is true is you are determined to fly on Virgin Atlantic, but generally not on USA frequent flyer programs if you redeem for flights on their own aircraft. If you are primarily flying in Economy I cannot think of a reason to prefer Virgin Atlantic over other carriers. VS has a superior product in Premium Economy, and a competitive product in Business (Upper Class), but their Economy product is not special.

Chris T

Thanks Mia. What's your (and others') opinion about the Delta Skymiles Business card?

Good thing is with this one I can you use it for domestic flights (Delta) but also the miles can get me Virgin Atlantic flights also.

Any opinions about this card?..

mia

Delta recently and extensively revised the SkyMiles program. This is not the forum in which to research the topic. I suggest you spend some time in the Delta forum to understand how the program works now.

An alternative would be an American Express card which participates in Membership Rewards. Points can be transferred to Delta -or- Virgin Atlantic -or- to a number of other airline programs listed here:

http://www.membershiprewards.com/cat...sTransfer.aspx

Another alternative would be a Starwood Preferred Guest credit card, issued by American Express. Starpoints can be transferred to both Delta and Virgin Atlantic, and to the other airlines listed here:

https://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefe...em/travel.html

Scroll down and click: TRANSFER STARPOINTS TO AIR MILES >

...at which point you will need to login to see the list of partners.

If you are only interested in Delta and Virgin Atlantic I would choose Membership Rewards rather than Starpoints because the new account signup bonus will be larger, and because Membership Rewards transfer instantly to both of those programs. This means you can allow your points to accumulate at American Express until you are actually in the process of booking an award flight.