Virgin Money is offering up to 60,000 Velocity Points plus and half annual fee for the first year for new cardholders of the Virgin Money Flyer Visa until 31 January 2024.
With a minimum annual income requirement of $35,000, this is a great option for those on lower incomes.
The Virgin Money Flyer along with the High Flyer Visa are the semi-official credit cards of the Virgin Australia Velocity program, and each year offer a $129 Virgin Australia flight credit with both cards.
The flight credit can be used for bookings on Virgin Australia flights in any fare type (including sale fares) or selected Virgin Australia Holidays’ packages anytime within 6 months of voucher issue date. For those who tend to fly with Virgin Australia often, this substantially offsets the annual fee of the card.
Digging into the details of the Velocity Flyer Visa
The Flyer Visa earns 0.66 Velocity points per $ spent up to $1,500 per month on all eligible spend, and 0.5 points per $ after you hit the cap.
If you are intending to use this card as your main points earning card, you are likely to come up against the cap on the card, so it’s worth being aware of this.
The Flyer Visa card also exclude some ‘government-related transactions’ from earning points, which includes ‘transactions with government or semi-government entities, or relating to services provided by or in connection with government (for example but not limited to transactions made at Australia Post, payments to the Australian Taxation Office, council rates, motor registries, tolls, parking stations and meters, fares on public transport, fines and court-related costs).
This is not ideal, as many larger transactions which would otherwise be good points-earners are ineligible. Bear this in mind if it will impact your ability to earn points from the card or being able to meet the minimum spend target for a bonus points offer. Do note however that there are other third party payment providers that will allow you to earn the full points on these types of charges for a fee, such as B2Bpay and RewardPay.
Card Details
| Card | Virgin Flyer Visa |
| Loyalty program | Velocity Frequent Flyer |
| Points earned from spend | 0. 66 Velocity Points earned per $ spent with 0.5 Velocity point earned after monthly points cap is reached |
| Points cap | 1,500 points per month |
| Travel benefits | $129 Virgin Australia credit |
| Included insurance | Transit Accident Insurance and Guaranteed Pricing Scheme (PDS) |
| Overseas transaction fee | 3.30% of the converted amount |
| Minimum income requirement | $35,000 |
| Mobile wallet | Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay |
| Annual fee | $129 p.a. standard annual fee |
Included insurances with the Virgin Money Flyer Visa
Additional supplementary cardholders are charged $39 per year, and the card also comes with the following insurances:
- Guaranteed Pricing Scheme
- Transit Accident Insurance
The full PDS of the insurances available with the Virgin Money Visa is here.
This guide references some of the benefits of insurance policies provided with this card. You should read the PDS and obtain independent professional advice before obtaining this product.
The Virgin Australia $129 flight credit with the Virgin Money Visas
The key takeaways are that:
- You’ll be able to use the credit on any booking made through the Virgin Australia website or over the phone, including all cabins and sale fares
- The credit is delivered via an email voucher in PDF form, on-request and is valid for six months. The on-request system is useful, as it allows you to pick when you start your six-month period from which the voucher will expire
- You can access this benefit after you have made a retail purchase in the two months prior to requesting your voucher
- You can use your voucher for purchasing Virgin Australia flights on any fare type (including sale fares) either through the Virgin Australia website or by calling them on 13 67 89, or selected Virgin Australia Holidays’ packages only by calling Virgin Australia Holidays on 13 15 16
- Here is the link to request your gift voucher
More details about the flight benefit are available on the Virgin Money website.
The Virgin Money & Citibank connection
Both the Virgin Money Flyer and High Flyer Visa cards are issued/administered by Citibank.
If you have recently taken up a Citibank offer, you may not be approved for the card. If you’ve ever used Citibank’s online account management system or experienced their customer service, you’ll be right at home with this account as it is a co-branded offering.
Apple Pay, Google Pay & Samsung Pay Support
Virgin Money cards support Apple Pay & Google Pay & Samsung Pay, meaning you can use this card on your smartphone for easier payments. Find out more in our guides for each of the compatible services.
Summing up: Virgin Money Flyer Visa
The Virgin Money Flyer Visa may still have its place in the market for points-earning consumers. It’s a shame the card no longer earns bonus points from spend with Virgin Australia as it reduced the card’s appeal for the committed Virgin Australia flyer.
The card is likely to be best suited to those who are looking for limited spend on a Velocity-earning Visa/MasterCard, and who will use the $129 Virgin Australia credit to offset the annual fee further.
https://virginmoney.com.au/bank-and-save/app-features/digital-wallet#tab-tabs_3
Based on the definition of ‘Eligible Transaction’ found in their Rewards Terms and Conditions https://campaigns.virginmoney.com.au/docs/credit-card/velocity-rewards-program-terms-and-conditions/#page=4, transactions on insurance are not specifically excluded from earning points.
I recommend giving Virgin Money another call, asking to speak with a manager, and advise them of the above clause and see what they say. Alternatively, ask them to provide you with the correct email contact and send them an email requesting clarification.
I understand that there are a lot of exclusions for the eligible transactions.
Eligible Transaction means any purchase excluding (but not limited to) Cash Advances, Balance Transfers, Special Promotions, BPAY payments, purchases of foreign currency and travellers cheques, transactions made in operating a business, bank fees and charges such as interest and ATM charges and government related transactions. Government related transactions include transactions with government or semi-government entities, or relating to services provided by or in connection with government (for example but not limited to transactions made at Australia Post, payments to the Australian Taxation Office, council rates, motor registries, tolls, parking stations and meters, fares on public transport, fines and court related costs)
In order to ensure that I can receive 25,000 bonus points for every month I spend $1,500 or more in the first 3 months, is there a way that I can check the transactions that I have spent is eligible transactions? – It seems like the rewards point page is only reflecting the total point earned after each statement cycle.
Thanks
Angel
Maybe I’ll call them tomorrow to doublecheck.
Always worth checking if in doubt (call line was very quick.)
Sounds a bit too good to be true but worth a try.
Did i read this correctly; that the bonus offer is not available for existing Virgin card holder , but no mention about previous cardholder? So if we cancel our Virgin card this month, we will qualify for the bonus points when we sign up again in say two months?