mdosu

yeah, I'm kicking myself that I didn't wait for this deal. I applied for the card in July. I called and they won't retroactively give me this promo.

Any reasons why you chose Premium? You must have tons of status points to roll over every year, I noticed you're gold.

I chose the basic card, b/c theoretically if I fly myself and companion once a year, I come out ahead with the $150 companion ticket.

I pretty much will never expect to pay for a full fare flight again on VX, other than for the use of that companion ticket.

I estimate I'll travel about twice to 3-times a year on VX. Once on full fare/companion, and twice on Elevate redemptions.

LarkSFO

My primary program is United - Recent years a Plat or 1K.

As my secondary program, it is hard to qualify for Gold on VX, so I do find the opportunity to earn status points through spend attractive.

Waived change / cancellation fees might also come in handy. I need to learn the details of how exactly this works. UA's Same Day Change (SDC) policy for elites is best in class - If VX gets closer to this standard they would likely earn more of my business.

dathinker

I also received an offer with 20k for a regular card. However, when I click on the Apply button, landing page says that I would get 10k. Would I still get 20k when I sign up?

mctrees02

Was this a targeted offer? I just status matched over in anticipation of VX at DAL and would love to pick up this offer rather than the stock 10k/15k.

Thanks!

mdosu

Targeted. But I don't think it matters.

I wasn't aware of this offer until my friend forwarded me an email. The email url link had a unique designation noting the bonus offer. However, when you click on the link, it simply links to the current credit card page with 10k offer. I would just call Comenity with the offer in hand and ask them to either apply over the phone or get some type of assurance.

My friend btw, just simply clicked on this offer and applied. So she has to wait about 1 billing cycle to see fi she got 20k. (assuming she spends the required amount in 1 billing cycle).


here's the link btw, note the unique ID's on the URL and how it differs from the standard click on the credit card offer:


https://www.virginamerica.com/elevat...&rrid=27349465

mdosu

read my comment above, I think you should call them to confirm.

mdosu

so something weird happened with my elevate bonus points. I already got my sign-up spending bonus of 10k points, and I got my 4k points signing up additional authorized buyers.

But after my 2nd billing cycle, a week later I was give another 1k bonus points, categorized as "Visa Card - Bonus Points". This is the same category as my 10k and 4k bonuses. I'm not complaining, but I don't recall signing up for any other promos other than authorized buyers.

Anyone else knows what's going on? I'm not going to call, in case they figured out it was an error and retract it. But if it's a repeatable bonus, I want to hit it up again!

mdosu

I got my companion ticket email today.

Title says: Enjoy $150 off your companion ticket

But email says:

Congrats on earning your sign-up bonus offer. As promised, here is your code to take $50 off the purchase of your next round-trip flight on Virgin America. Follow these three easy steps to book your trip by September 30, 2015.

There's also a picture that says $50. But the Terms and Conditions mention $150.


anyone else have this issue? Obviously, this is a quality/attention to detail issue at Virgin America or Comenity.

SJLandsverk

I was curious about that; I have not received any companion ticket coupon yet.
Hopefully soon.

BTW- I've had the card since it 1st got offered by the new issuer and have never had a problem with them posting points or making payments. The fact that they hit my Equifax instead of Transunion or Experian was a pleasant bonus. They may not be Amex, Chase, etc. but it's nice to have a different issuer and the service is pretty acceptable, if not good.

mdosu

My companion ticket issue was fixed. Same code, they just adjusted the wording in the email to $250. They said it'll take 8-weeks from the payment of the annual fee till you receive this promo code.

Wendigo

Thanks for that. I called Comenity - they don't do phone apps and the CSR said that the offer expired August 31st. That written, we've all seen credit card offers live on well past their official death date.

I'd like to apply to the 30K Premier (I've been crunching some numbers and this card is seriously undervalued) but I'm leery of going through the link and waiting to see if I got the 15K or 30K months from now.

Any other data points would be greatly appreciated.

Wendigo

Not to beat a seemingly dead horse, but I've exhausted all informational avenues with Comenity and VX is no help with respect to landing the 30K offer. I know this is a lesser used card, but I'm of the opinion that people haven't quite run the math on the implications of elite status points rolling forward and how that can be turned into perma-elite status with very minimal spends.

In any event, if anyone has any tips on getting the 30K offer, I'd be grateful.

mdosu

sorry...but for the outgoing bonus offer, I think it was a targeted promo, so I think you missed out.

What is your question on status points? Based on my read, if you have the Premium card you can earn up to 15k status points in a single year from the card usage if you spend $30k, and those points are counted against the threshold for Silver or Gold status levels for that year. Any additional points then carry over to the following year.

In summary, it's a easy way to gain status points without actually flying. Is it worth the $150 fee? Not for me b/c I don't fly more than 2 times a year on VX, and I have no reason to want to build status points b/c I got the card for these reasons:

1. the free companion ticket (+$100 value netting out the annual fee, e.g. I come out ahead), getting the Premium card nets out to zero if you use the companion ticket every year, and you lose $150 if you don't use it.
2. I want to build elevate points so that I will almost never pay for VX flights (and Hawaiian Airline/Virgin Australia)
3. free baggage

I say, if you're hesitant, I think the best travel card out there is the Barclay's Arrivals premium card which accounts to 2.2% cash back on travel categories. I computed that VX card is about 2.6% CB for the cheapest flights, and phases down to 2% for the most expensive flights, but it limits you to VX.

So if you fly VX often, and you tend to fly coach and lowest fares, then the standard card is for you as 2.6% is a killer deal on CB. If you fly VX often, but tend to fly First Class or pay high prices for fares, then I would actually use the Barclay's card.

Note, Elevate also just opened up an online shopping portal and if you use it for the base 1 point for $1 spent and use your VX card, you're earning even more CB in airfare dollars:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/virgi...ng-credit.html

Wendigo

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, I stopped flying VX for a while and didn't get targeted. I'll punt to next year and hope it resurfaces. I wasn't asking questions about status - I was actually making a definitive statement: people don't seem to realize how easy it is to achieve status with very minimal spend with this card and the rollover capability. By Year 2, you should have perma-elite status as "unneeded" status points continuously roll forward.

Already have a Barclay Arrival +. I did a two year number crunch and the VX actually crushes it head to head.

The Elevate Portal is intriguing. We'll see how competitive it is.

mdosu

Yep, Premium card buys you permanent Status for $150 per year.

The shopping portal is not competitive by itself. Shopdiscover or ebates are better. It's only competitive if you also pair it with your VX card. But it is a good way to keep your elevate points active.


Barclay's Arrival + would be my next card.