Virgin Atlantic 75k miles (up to 90k) with $12k spend

[RamboAroundTheWorld]

https://www.applyonlinenow.com/USCCapp/Ctl/entry?sc=VACAU8&cm_mmc=US Email-_-Cheetahmail Email US-_-USCC Acq-_-90k 1214#b

• 20,000 Flying Club bonus miles after your first retail purchase
• 50,000 additional Flying Club bonus miles after you spend at least $12,000 in qualifying purchases within 6 months of your account open date
• Earn up to 15,000 additional bonus miles upon anniversary
• Earn up to 5,000 Flying Club bonus miles when you add additional authorized users to your card
• Earn 3 miles per $1 spent directly on Virgin Atlantic purchases and 1.5 miles per $1 spent on all other purchases

 

[FlyingExplorer]

Thanks for sharing. What are the best uses of these miles?

 

[RamboAroundTheWorld]

Best use is really dependent on what you're trying to do. You can pretty much transfer them anywhere. Some people like ANA. Some Delta. Some Hilton.

 

[RamboAroundTheWorld]

Thanks for sharing. What are the best uses of these miles?

From our very own @BigHabitat

http://saverocity.com/bighabitat/12-5-14-amex-gift-cards-2-pts-virgin-america-elevate-portal-thats-like-4x-membership-rewards-points/

How much are Virgin America Elevate points worth?
I don’t know exactly. They don’t seem to get a lot of coverage. The Points Guy calls them at 1.5-2.3 cents per point. There’s no commentary so I don’t know how he got that, but based on previous posts I think that’s based on redeeming for Virgin America flights which seems to use a fixed-value system like Southwest.

I’m not a Virgin America elevate point expert by any means, but it seems like you can do much better by booking selected partner airlines..

Here’s a few sample deals I found from their redemption calculator on their website. You have to call to book awards on partner airlines, so I don’t know how challenging this will be, but check out these deals:

How about Bali to Singapore for 6000 points + $27 round trip on Singapore Airlines… (OK, 17k for First Class… but good luck getting that!)

Ok, you got to get to Singapore, I know… so how about Frankfurt to Singapore R/T for 40k miles:

Alright, I get it. You need to get to Frankfurt too. How about 20k round trip…

OK, you may need to find your own way to New York… but once their 66k plus about $200 to fly Singapore Airlines to Bali… that ain’t bad.

There seem to be some other good uses too, like:

• 6k round trip (+$11.20) intra island trips in Hawaii (Hawaiian Airlines)
• 20k round trip (+$11.20) west coast cities to Hawaii (Hawaiian Airlines)
• 6k round trip (+$51) Singapore to Bangkok (Singapore Air)
• 40k round trip (+51) San Fransisco to Hong Kong or Seoul (Singapore Airlines)

 

[36902BRF]

I got in on this back in August I think when the deal last rolled around. Signed up both wife and myself. A couple of notes. Before you guy too excited about the various partners there is a thread on FT dedicated to folks attempting to redeem Virgin Atl. miles on other carriers and some can be pretty tough to pull off, also note that you pretty much have to call in for redeeming awards on other carriers. Not a major deal but not as easy as some carriers where you can at least to some redemptions on other carriers online. Also though I have not confirmed myself rumor is these are churable. Finally Virgin Atl. is a lot like British Airways where taxes and fees on their metal, at least to London will be considerable. This essentially means these are pretty pointless for economy redemptions to London though Upper Class redemptions are an ok use (taxes and fees are $1100-1300/round trip for Upper Class).

 

[RamboAroundTheWorld]

Approved after calling the Spanish reconsideration line at 1-866-865-7843

 

[Abbazappaplant]

After doing this deal previously, i can honestly say that it is not worth it. Big PITA factor with the spend. Converted to hilton after reading about the headache of partner redemptions and while i got a biatload of hiltom points, doing a full 12k was a waste of spend.

I should add, i say this because i think the normal spend requirement is a better deal from the regular offer.

 

[ctbarron]

This card is churnable. I get it because I have family in LHR, and VS usually has excellent economy and premium economy availability out of IAD (upper class availability blows), so it's a cheaper way to get 4 people to LHR.

Taxes/surcharges from the east coast to LHR in economy are about $450 per person. More than US airlines (usually under $200) but less than BA ($700-$800). VS has decent award sales a couple of times a year (usually Sept and sometime in the late winter) that lowers the cost a bit.

The main problem in partner redemption is the inability to search online. You have to call in, wait forever while the agent searches, try again for alternatives, etc. Painful.