When I first qualified for Silver in October 2016, they sent me a Silver card to replace the Blue one (which thy sent me after my first flight after joining the programme a few years ago). When I lost Silver at the end of December, I got an email (actually the first email I opened in 2018) telling me about the virtues of Blue and that I would not get a new card. Now I am back to Silver (28 days of blue, there shame of it.....) and the 'welcome' email did not mention any cards. Mrs t, who kept her Silver stratus, did not get a new card. All in all, it seems that the 'virtual cards only' programme is well on its way (although there has been sporadic mention of cards being issued). I am therefore not holding my breath when I make Gold in 3 weeks time.