Good explanation of the voucher Matt. I like how you can use them on cash tickets as well, good timing for the video as I was thinking about getting the card!
Thanks for that Matt. One other reason I keep an eye on the virgin voucher, is that being based in the north, BA tend to fly the destinations we look for as a family from Gatwick, whereas Virgin do have a flight network from Manchester. Driving to Gatwick is a pain and any vouchers that can get me to the Caribbean or Florida are helpful. 👍
Thanks for this Matt. Honestly it sounds like a right faff. The whole thing about only earning with your credit limit each month (even if you pay it down mid-month) puts me right off it. Plus the fact you can only get the full value out of the voucher if you have status with them. Will stick with the BA/avios cards.
I can't tell if I got an abnormally low initial credit limit - my declared income from being a TH-camr isn't great!!!! - or whether its the norm.... If it is the norm, then faff is the right word!
Thank you for making this. Yours is the only watchable video out there about these Virgin cards! I've got the free one at the moment just to mop up something when AmEx is not accepted (I am not currently eligible for Barclays Avios card). They have now added a progress tracker toward your voucher, but it isn't up to the standard of the AmEx one. The points only update at statement time, and as far as I can tell, there's no breakdown at all of how they were earned!
I saw that a tracker was now available - I surrendered my card when I got my voucher. It's only a 6 month wait until you can reapply so if there's a knockout welcome bonus anytime soon I may go around again but I found it tricky to get good value out of the Virgin voucher I had.... I think I got good value in the end but it was a struggle!
Always appreciated! Doing good here - off on another trip tomorrow which is always exciting... Making sure all my batteries are fully charged - you know the drill!
The detail in your vids are extremely valuable, i didn't know the regular card gives you a voucher so now i know i must have a voucher (which is extremely un-valuable 😝)
Very sensible advice.... There's one thing BA does which is really good, but I don't want to make a video about it in case they realise its too good and remove it.... Multi-partner awards chart is all I'm saying....
I've been sitting on my Virgin companion voucher for some time. Cannot decide where to use it. Don't have enough for a points-based redemption in Upper Class for two of us, as it's a '2 for 1.5', and don't have enough status to redeem in Upper Class! So premium economy it will have to be. Though I understand Premium is a very good product on VA. Whatever the case, I think I much prefer the Amex/BA voucher - I am carefully considering where to spend my next one... eyeing up a redemption with Iberia to somewhere in Central America! Hope you are having a nice Easter weekend, Matt. Best wishes.
Thanks - a great summary of where things stand. Virgin can be great but its expensive.... And Virgin Premium is indeed good but its not perhaps as good as Virgin would have you believe.... And Iberia can also be great but they're half the price!
Hi Matt, thanks for the video. I also watched your video about the Barclay premier baking Avios rewards and Barclaycard Avios plus. In it you mention the cost of both, but you get an additional £5 rebate if you do have both.
Thanks - great name by the way! Human Turnip meant Graham Taylor back in my day... You do indeed get £5 back for having both Barclays products these days...
I think Virgin are becoming more and more competitive, I’m definitely considering about getting Virgin card just to have another option. The problem with the cards is the amount of spending can be quite high in order to achieve anything. I’ve stuck with one card to Spend on and earn points, and try to maximise by looking out for avoids offers at Sainsbury’s. I’m hate small print makes it confusing, thanks for the clarity..
The cards all cost money so you need to be certain to be getting value out of whatever card you've chosen to use.... But there can be great value if you get it right!
Hmmm. I'll have to look into getting one of those. The no-fee for some foreign transactions makes it a competitor for Clarity. One certainty is that I need to rebalance the credit limits on my existing cards. I've just had the kitchen done - a kitchen! Avios earned? Nil. My bronze-star is in the post. Virgin Holidays: I've used them a few times, but they seem quite expensive these days.
Virgin thinks they're premium so try to price accordingly.... If you can put £30/40/50k a year through credit cards then this one is well worth having in the arsenal
Great work, Matt - another excellent video. Hoping to inform your next episode, perhaps you could suggest the best, or rather cheapest, way to achieve silver status with the British Airways Executive Club. New to this Avios and Tier point business, that would be super helpful. Cheers, D
With some work you can get TPs in bulk for £2 each so silver should be £1,200 or less... Take a look at 5 days in Sofia off season which as a BA holiday should be 320 tps.... Start from Man/gla/NCL and that could be 480...
Thanks Matt, your a legend - Very stupidly, I have just booked a 5 day holiday travelling from Manchester to Marrakesh, via LHR. My departure date is March 29th. The only issue is that my Tier point year ends April 8th - is there anyway I can carry these 480 points over to next year? (He writes with his fingers crossed, but thinks he already knows the answer).@@MattsPlanet
Cheers Matt - I have found a five night trip that departs Manchester, via LHR, to Marrakesh, for £1200. It leaves on Sunday 24th March and returns Friday 29th... This would get me 480 Tier points. BUT, and this is the Beyonce of all Butts, my TP year ends on April 8th - would these TPs be wiped when the 8th of April comes around? I am heading to Bordeaux in May and if these TPs are still in effect, this should take me beyond the 600 Tier points I need to achieve Silver. What are your thoughts? @@MattsPlanet
Brother, you need to back door the virgin flights book a KLM Air France flight operated by virgin then log in as yourself. Cheaper flights initially and then you can boost cabins internally
Great video Matt, whilst I am not eligible to apply for these cards, I am guessing that you can't use them on a mixed carrier award to cut down on the taxes and fees? Say for instance booking a mix of Air France/KLM and Virgin originating in Paris or Amsterdam and then connecting onto London with a VS voucher applied all in the same ticket?
I have to say that virgin is quite similar to BA in the sky (BA dormitory aside), but the Lounge is significantly more premium, with proper mixed drinks and plated restaurant style food available via waiter service.
Hi Matt, great sage of all things tufor / twofor / 2for. Is it possible to book a flight for 3 people using a single booking reference while using a twofor voucher for 2 of the 3 travellers - the 3rd paying the cash price? The reason being that as a silver club member it simplifies seating together. Also If I book a Glasgow to New York flight and have to connect in London does the twofor apply to the whole booking or just one leg of the trip. If it only applied to the London to New York leg then I obviously am taking a risk on my Glasgow to London leg if it arrives late as it will be on a different booking reference. I really appreciated your prostate cancer video as coincidentally over the same period I was diagnosed Gleason 3+4. I am now on Prostap prior to radiation treatment starting in 3 months. I’ve read all the comments several times and found them very reassuring. Thanks for sharing. Malcolm
Thanks so much Malcolm. My next PSA test is this week and I'll feel much more reassured if it hasn't moved much. All the best for the treatment.... Having a nice trip to look forward to will help! I've never done it but I believe you can book 3 as you suggest - you'd need to call to do it. If it ends up as two transactions they will be able to link the bookings for seat selection purposes. And a connecting flight into LHR can be included - I did Dub-lhr-bos on one booking with an amex twofer. Cheers!
Thanks Matt. Be great to get the 2for and a 3rd person on the one booking and linked to a connecting flight. I didn’t think it was likely so that’s great. Will be my 1st use of 2for. I got into this tier point run lark thanks to your vlogs and added 480 tier points in December with a Glasgow - London - Malta business class 5 night stay. Malta is such a great place to visit. I used to have Silver when when flying on business many years ago - l’m a fellow accountant, E&Y or AYMM as it was then. Anyway my wife and I have already made great use of the lounge access and seat bookings and have lots of trips planned for the year ahead. I’m 67. Two years ago my PSA was 4 and I should have went for examination but I didn’t - big regret. In December is was 6.7 and I did get examined. A MRI; Bone scan; biopsy showed that prostate and vesicle had cancer but it hadn’t spread anywhere else - big relief. The prostap injections should reduce the PSA towards 1 within the next few months and I will then commence radiotherapy of 20 daily 2 minute high energy beam of x-rays that should kill all the cancer cells. All being well I then continue with 3 monthly prostap injections and 6 monthly PSA tests for many years. I consider myself lucky and like you I feel I ‘own’ the cancer and definitely feel better knowing about the situation. Happy travels and Cheers Malcolm
Hi Matt, As you are well aware, I do not fly Ba or Vs, but listening to both of your cards ( ba amex and the virgin card ) for some reason the Vs card seems to be a little more attractive? Just feels a little less rigid as the Ba amex? Hope you are doing well! As always, great video, different league really! Thomas.
Thanks - at the end of the day the most important consideration will probably be the airline you prefer to fly on... Virgin would have you believe they're better but I'm not convinced.... And as you have to keep track of your spend on Virgin's card they are probably the more tricky to manage...
It's a very short lived initiative for UK residents only so probably not... I think KLM/AF are following Virgin in opportunistically trying to scoop up disgruntled BA loyalists after the changes to the membership years. But paying €399 to match my gold is not an attractive proposition for me, although I know a few people in the provinces have jumped on it...
Virgin is about the only airline from the Uk that I have not flown, you rightly say BA flys to a lot more destinations that I want to go to. Good luck to the virgins. But I’m a BA t**t lol😮
I'm going to PVG using mine with the sale on(36K + £560ish), as I'm then moving onwards towards to Tokyo with ANA, few days in Shanghai either side on the transit visa..... but can you explain why taxes for their longest flight to PVG is substantially cheaper than anywhere in the US for Upper Class?
I did look at PVG actually but wanted to try their newer products which don't get an outing on that route.... As for the cost, as a chunk of the cash element is Virgin's revenue, I guess supply and demand means they can't get away with the same levels of "fees" as they get away with on US routes... I know Hong Kong has strange rules about the fees than can be added to fares but I don't know if China has similar rules
If you have the free card and you only get a £1,200 limit a month it must make it impossible to achieve the £20,000 spend for the voucher unless you call up right away to get a higher limit?
Great point! I'd be on the phone to them straight away. Even if you can pay down the balance and out through a double spend to count towards the voucher, its still a right pain to manage every month
Hi matt....I'm looking at travelling to Orlando in 2026 with my two children. Is it worth me buying virgin points, I can buy 70,000 plus 40,000 bonus for £1k.
Virgin changed the entire basis of its redemptions - literally today - so I have no idea of what the price will now be on any given day.... I'd watch the blogs closely over the next few days to see what is happening...
Only if you use avios to buy nectar points.... Which was unwise before the devaluation as you should be able to do better than the 0.67p you were getting before this latest devaluation.... You'll definitely be able to do better than this 0.5p. I have never and would never use avios to get nectar points.... I suppose you might if you have millions of avios but even then....
@@streetspiritlondon if you don't have, you can purchase avios, (knowing how to find cheaper is an episode in itself, waiting for offers...) If you want to fly business class on holiday if you purchase avios cheap enough ot can work out less then half price of a cash fare ticket
Thanks for the info + video!
Thanks for watching!
I didn’t know about this, thanks for the informative video!
Hope it helped!
Good explanation of the voucher Matt. I like how you can use them on cash tickets as well, good timing for the video as I was thinking about getting the card!
Starting to wish I'd organised an affiliate link to the card! Next time....
Thanks for that Matt. One other reason I keep an eye on the virgin voucher, is that being based in the north, BA tend to fly the destinations we look for as a family from Gatwick, whereas Virgin do have a flight network from Manchester. Driving to Gatwick is a pain and any vouchers that can get me to the Caribbean or Florida are helpful. 👍
Good point - not a lot of choice ex-MAN but far more choice than BA offers!
Thanks for this Matt. Honestly it sounds like a right faff. The whole thing about only earning with your credit limit each month (even if you pay it down mid-month) puts me right off it. Plus the fact you can only get the full value out of the voucher if you have status with them. Will stick with the BA/avios cards.
I can't tell if I got an abnormally low initial credit limit - my declared income from being a TH-camr isn't great!!!! - or whether its the norm.... If it is the norm, then faff is the right word!
Thank you for making this. Yours is the only watchable video out there about these Virgin cards!
I've got the free one at the moment just to mop up something when AmEx is not accepted (I am not currently eligible for Barclays Avios card).
They have now added a progress tracker toward your voucher, but it isn't up to the standard of the AmEx one. The points only update at statement time, and as far as I can tell, there's no breakdown at all of how they were earned!
I saw that a tracker was now available - I surrendered my card when I got my voucher. It's only a 6 month wait until you can reapply so if there's a knockout welcome bonus anytime soon I may go around again but I found it tricky to get good value out of the Virgin voucher I had.... I think I got good value in the end but it was a struggle!
A comment for comments sake from me, but I did watch it all! Hope you're doing well mate :)
Always appreciated! Doing good here - off on another trip tomorrow which is always exciting... Making sure all my batteries are fully charged - you know the drill!
haha indeed :) Have a good one mate and can't wait to see the results! @@MattsPlanet
Amazing I've just got mine will be making a 10k purchase so will get the companion voucher pretty soon x
Enjoy spending the voucher!
The detail in your vids are extremely valuable, i didn't know the regular card gives you a voucher so now i know i must have a voucher (which is extremely un-valuable 😝)
Spend £20k and the voucher is yours....
Nice one Matt - your excellent video proved that I am a virgin virgin even thought I have been twice to NYC on redemptions 😮
Thanks - worth taking a look at....
Never praise BA in public, they don't appreciate it, clearly evident by the fact that the next thing you know the perk is gone 🙈
Very sensible advice.... There's one thing BA does which is really good, but I don't want to make a video about it in case they realise its too good and remove it.... Multi-partner awards chart is all I'm saying....
@@MattsPlanetwhich is more oneworld related. BA did devalue JAL and Cathay redemptions last year for regional redemptions with no notice…
I've been sitting on my Virgin companion voucher for some time. Cannot decide where to use it. Don't have enough for a points-based redemption in Upper Class for two of us, as it's a '2 for 1.5', and don't have enough status to redeem in Upper Class! So premium economy it will have to be. Though I understand Premium is a very good product on VA.
Whatever the case, I think I much prefer the Amex/BA voucher - I am carefully considering where to spend my next one... eyeing up a redemption with Iberia to somewhere in Central America!
Hope you are having a nice Easter weekend, Matt. Best wishes.
Thanks - a great summary of where things stand. Virgin can be great but its expensive.... And Virgin Premium is indeed good but its not perhaps as good as Virgin would have you believe.... And Iberia can also be great but they're half the price!
Hi Matt, thanks for the video.
I also watched your video about the Barclay premier baking Avios rewards and Barclaycard Avios plus. In it you mention the cost of both, but you get an additional £5 rebate if you do have both.
Thanks - great name by the way! Human Turnip meant Graham Taylor back in my day... You do indeed get £5 back for having both Barclays products these days...
Very useful thank you
Thanks!
I think Virgin are becoming more and more competitive, I’m definitely considering about getting Virgin card just to have another option.
The problem with the cards is the amount of spending can be quite high in order to achieve anything. I’ve stuck with one card to Spend on and earn points, and try to maximise by looking out for avoids offers at Sainsbury’s. I’m hate small print makes it confusing, thanks for the clarity..
The cards all cost money so you need to be certain to be getting value out of whatever card you've chosen to use.... But there can be great value if you get it right!
Great video Matt! I just wanted to point out that both United and Delta let you earn 1 PQP/MQD (respectively) per 100 miles used for an award ticket.
Thanks - is that the same rate you earn on a revenue ticket?
It’s a largely comparable rate. You’d normally earn 1 PQP/MQD per $1 spent on base fare/carrier-imposed surcharges
Hmmm. I'll have to look into getting one of those. The no-fee for some foreign transactions makes it a competitor for Clarity. One certainty is that I need to rebalance the credit limits on my existing cards. I've just had the kitchen done - a kitchen! Avios earned? Nil. My bronze-star is in the post.
Virgin Holidays: I've used them a few times, but they seem quite expensive these days.
Virgin thinks they're premium so try to price accordingly.... If you can put £30/40/50k a year through credit cards then this one is well worth having in the arsenal
I used a virgin voucher to get economy to premimum for 2x passengers back from antigua for just £10.
Can't argue with that!
Great work, Matt - another excellent video. Hoping to inform your next episode, perhaps you could suggest the best, or rather cheapest, way to achieve silver status with the British Airways Executive Club. New to this Avios and Tier point business, that would be super helpful. Cheers, D
With some work you can get TPs in bulk for £2 each so silver should be £1,200 or less... Take a look at 5 days in Sofia off season which as a BA holiday should be 320 tps.... Start from Man/gla/NCL and that could be 480...
Thanks Matt, your a legend - Very stupidly, I have just booked a 5 day holiday travelling from Manchester to Marrakesh, via LHR. My departure date is March 29th. The only issue is that my Tier point year ends April 8th - is there anyway I can carry these 480 points over to next year? (He writes with his fingers crossed, but thinks he already knows the answer).@@MattsPlanet
Cheers Matt - I have found a five night trip that departs Manchester, via LHR, to Marrakesh, for £1200. It leaves on Sunday 24th March and returns Friday 29th... This would get me 480 Tier points. BUT, and this is the Beyonce of all Butts, my TP year ends on April 8th - would these TPs be wiped when the 8th of April comes around? I am heading to Bordeaux in May and if these TPs are still in effect, this should take me beyond the 600 Tier points I need to achieve Silver. What are your thoughts? @@MattsPlanet
Brother, you need to back door the virgin flights book a KLM Air France flight operated by virgin then log in as yourself. Cheaper flights initially and then you can boost cabins internally
I have no idea how to do this! Sounds interesting, but what do you actually do?
Great video Matt, whilst I am not eligible to apply for these cards, I am guessing that you can't use them on a mixed carrier award to cut down on the taxes and fees? Say for instance booking a mix of Air France/KLM and Virgin originating in Paris or Amsterdam and then connecting onto London with a VS voucher applied all in the same ticket?
Has to be Virgin metal only sadly.... Maybe one day!
No you can't - has to be Virgin metal only. BA's Barclays vouchers are the same, and the Amex voucher allows a mix of BA / Iberia / Aer Lingus
I have to say that virgin is quite similar to BA in the sky (BA dormitory aside), but the Lounge is significantly more premium, with proper mixed drinks and plated restaurant style food available via waiter service.
It's a good point about the mixed drinks - it is a gaping omission from the BA First lounge
You can see a running total in the Virgin money app
You can now!!! Someone over there hopefully watched this video....
Hi Matt, great sage of all things tufor / twofor / 2for.
Is it possible to book a flight for 3 people using a single booking reference while using a twofor voucher for 2 of the 3 travellers - the 3rd paying the cash price? The reason being that as a silver club member it simplifies seating together.
Also If I book a Glasgow to New York flight and have to connect in London does the twofor apply to the whole booking or just one leg of the trip. If it only applied to the London to New York leg then I obviously am taking a risk on my Glasgow to London leg if it arrives late as it will be on a different booking reference.
I really appreciated your prostate cancer video as coincidentally over the same period I was diagnosed Gleason 3+4. I am now on Prostap prior to radiation treatment starting in 3 months. I’ve read all the comments several times and found them very reassuring. Thanks for sharing. Malcolm
Thanks so much Malcolm. My next PSA test is this week and I'll feel much more reassured if it hasn't moved much. All the best for the treatment.... Having a nice trip to look forward to will help! I've never done it but I believe you can book 3 as you suggest - you'd need to call to do it. If it ends up as two transactions they will be able to link the bookings for seat selection purposes. And a connecting flight into LHR can be included - I did Dub-lhr-bos on one booking with an amex twofer. Cheers!
Thanks Matt. Be great to get the 2for and a 3rd person on the one booking and linked to a connecting flight. I didn’t think it was likely so that’s great. Will be my 1st use of 2for. I got into this tier point run lark thanks to your vlogs and added 480 tier points in December with a Glasgow - London - Malta business class 5 night stay. Malta is such a great place to visit. I used to have Silver when when flying on business many years ago - l’m a fellow accountant, E&Y or AYMM as it was then. Anyway my wife and I have already made great use of the lounge access and seat bookings and have lots of trips planned for the year ahead.
I’m 67. Two years ago my PSA was 4 and I should have went for examination but I didn’t - big regret. In December is was 6.7 and I did get examined. A MRI; Bone scan; biopsy showed that prostate and vesicle had cancer but it hadn’t spread anywhere else - big relief. The prostap injections should reduce the PSA towards 1 within the next few months and I will then commence radiotherapy of 20 daily 2 minute high energy beam of x-rays that should kill all the cancer cells. All being well I then continue with 3 monthly prostap injections and 6 monthly PSA tests for many years. I consider myself lucky and like you I feel I ‘own’ the cancer and definitely feel better knowing about the situation. Happy travels and Cheers Malcolm
Hi Matt,
As you are well aware, I do not fly Ba or Vs, but listening to both of your cards ( ba amex and the virgin card ) for some reason the Vs card seems to be a little more attractive? Just feels a little less rigid as the Ba amex?
Hope you are doing well!
As always, great video, different league really!
Thomas.
Thanks - at the end of the day the most important consideration will probably be the airline you prefer to fly on... Virgin would have you believe they're better but I'm not convinced.... And as you have to keep track of your spend on Virgin's card they are probably the more tricky to manage...
Will you be doing one on the newly announced Sky Team / BA status match, Matt?
It's a very short lived initiative for UK residents only so probably not... I think KLM/AF are following Virgin in opportunistically trying to scoop up disgruntled BA loyalists after the changes to the membership years. But paying €399 to match my gold is not an attractive proposition for me, although I know a few people in the provinces have jumped on it...
Very concisely put, Matt. Still, It's nice to be in so much demand from The Competition as a One World Frequent Traveller!
Virgin's approval & credit limit is very weird, tried twice for the reward plus but was denied but got the regular with 10k limit on the 1st try
The world of credit cards can be a bit opaque.....
Does Topping up premium bonds count towards the reward spending?
I'd be surprised if you could buy bonds with a credit card that earned points - but if you can then that sounds like a good way to get there!
@@MattsPlanet This is with Curve front end so I potentially don't hit the CA fees
How long do you have to spend the 20 grand before it resets ??? Is it 1 year
These are all done on an annual cycle so the £10k / £20k needs to be spent within that membership year
Virgin is about the only airline from the Uk that I have not flown, you rightly say BA flys to a lot more destinations that I want to go to. Good luck to the virgins. But I’m a BA t**t lol😮
They're worth a look!
I'm going to PVG using mine with the sale on(36K + £560ish), as I'm then moving onwards towards to Tokyo with ANA, few days in Shanghai either side on the transit visa.....
but can you explain why taxes for their longest flight to PVG is substantially cheaper than anywhere in the US for Upper Class?
I did look at PVG actually but wanted to try their newer products which don't get an outing on that route.... As for the cost, as a chunk of the cash element is Virgin's revenue, I guess supply and demand means they can't get away with the same levels of "fees" as they get away with on US routes... I know Hong Kong has strange rules about the fees than can be added to fares but I don't know if China has similar rules
If you have the free card and you only get a £1,200 limit a month it must make it impossible to achieve the £20,000 spend for the voucher unless you call up right away to get a higher limit?
Great point! I'd be on the phone to them straight away. Even if you can pay down the balance and out through a double spend to count towards the voucher, its still a right pain to manage every month
@@MattsPlanet i assume they want you to "Preload" with cash before purchase, so i.e. preload £1200 to get £2400?
@@speedendurance That wouldn't work for points earning but I assume it would work for the spend requirement
Is there any similar sort of card in the UK for Star Alliance?
I don't believe so...
Hi matt....I'm looking at travelling to Orlando in 2026 with my two children. Is it worth me buying virgin points, I can buy 70,000 plus 40,000 bonus for £1k.
Virgin changed the entire basis of its redemptions - literally today - so I have no idea of what the price will now be on any given day.... I'd watch the blogs closely over the next few days to see what is happening...
Nooooo....just heard Avios to nectar devaluations to 0.5p ....from 11th march
Only if you use avios to buy nectar points.... Which was unwise before the devaluation as you should be able to do better than the 0.67p you were getting before this latest devaluation.... You'll definitely be able to do better than this 0.5p. I have never and would never use avios to get nectar points.... I suppose you might if you have millions of avios but even then....
What is the third voucher earning card you had? (BA, virgin &?)
Amex. I actually would get a 4th voucher in a year from my Barclays Premier account - spending 5 a year is really challenging!
Oh my, how did i forget the Barclaycard, u just made a video about it the other week, time for revision i guess?
But all of these vouchers are absolutely useless if you don’t have a decent amount of avios points right?
@@streetspiritlondon if you don't have, you can purchase avios, (knowing how to find cheaper is an episode in itself, waiting for offers...) If you want to fly business class on holiday if you purchase avios cheap enough ot can work out less then half price of a cash fare ticket