VS USA - Second Class Citizens?

Congrats to VS on launching the new MBNA/Amex card ... for the UK market! What about your loyal FC members on this side of the pond? [:?]

Originally posted by bostonbrit
Congrats to VS on launching the new MBNA/Amex card ... for the UK market! What about your loyal FC members on this side of the pond? [:?]

I thought Amex was American Express?

You can have the useless AMEX if we can keep the MC[:(!]

Originally posted by jerseyboy
I thought Amex was American Express?

Is that sarcasm? Anyway, yeah, it's American Express, but only UK residents can get the VS CC.

Is often the case that customers in other countries than the home country get a raw deal - witness the number of AA competitions and special offers only available to US residents, not even Exec Plat ... one of the reasons I left AA's customer base ...

[Scrooge]

It's funny,I was going to start a thread like this when it was announced that yet again the US FC members get nothing,but I figured I had done enough moaning of late.

However,yes your right,we get left out again,oh well,BA cc here I come.

Originally posted by jetwet1
However,yes your right,we get left out again,oh well,BA cc here I come.

While I totally agree with everything you are all saying about US VS customers not getting such a good deal (not to mention those VS customers who live in County Cork!), I think it is fair to say that not all of us brits are too impressed with the move to Amex. I, for one, will also be moving over to BA with my credit card.

Originally posted by bostonbrit
Congrats to VS on launching the new MBNA/Amex card ... for the UK market! What about your loyal FC members on this side of the pond? [:?]

American express is nothing to do with MBNA thats the point i was trying to make

Originally posted by jerseyboy

Originally posted by sailor99

Originally posted by jetwet1
However,yes your right,we get left out again,oh well,BA cc here I come.

While I totally agree with everything you are all saying about US VS customers not getting such a good deal (not to mention those VS customers who live in County Cork!), I think it is fair to say that not all of us brits are too impressed with the move to Amex. I, for one, will also be moving over to BA with my credit card.

whats the diffrence between the new VS Amex and the BA Amex? is there better rewards or somthing?
Cheers wayne

Yes. There is a separate thread on it.

IIRC one of the captial one no hassle cards gives you points and then you can convert those points to miles on various airlines, one of which is VS. I remember because my parents were looking to replace our BA card with that.

Originally posted by jerseyboy

Originally posted by bostonbrit
Congrats to VS on launching the new MBNA/Amex card ... for the UK market! What about your loyal FC members on this side of the pond? [:?]

I thought Amex was American Express?

Yes. Amex = American Express. A little while ago, Amex started licensing its brand to banks/credit card issuers - in much the same way as Visa and Mastercard. Until this change of policy, you could only get an Amex card from Amex. MBNA - one of the largest credit card issuers in the world (and now owned by Bank of America) was one of the first (perhaps even THE first) to start issuing Amex cards.

It's funny though. A US-owned company does a deal with a UK-based airline to create/provide co-branded cards, without the US being included in the deal. Sucks. [V]

[Scrooge]

Hence with any luck BA will be giving me "free" flight's in the years to come.

Originally posted by jetwet1
but I figured I had done enough moaning of late.

Hey, don't stop moaning - I like to feel I'm not alone in that respect

I can easily see why people in different countries get hacked off when they can't get a certain product - for instance, I'd rather like to be able to buy CDs from Walmart (oh yes) - much cheaper than the UK - but they 'only accept cards with US addresses'. Seems we're all penalised in some way...

[Scrooge]

That is a bad argument as Walmart does not conduct any business in the UK except for Asda.

VS conducts business in both countries using the FC name in both coutries but offers different benifits depending on where you live.

While I agree that there should be benifits tailored to each country based on different tastes I do feel that the base offers should be the same.

For instance though in most cases the M+M UC is a bad deal,we in the states can't even book this.

Originally posted by VS-EWR
IIRC one of the captial one no hassle cards gives you points and then you can convert those points to miles on various airlines, one of which is VS. I remember because my parents were looking to replace our BA card with that.

Yes- I have a Capital One, No Hassle Rewards Business card- which earns points which can be spent with VS. I believe its $1=1pt, but I'm not sure what the levels are to redeem them- it would be nicer of course if we had a card that earned straight mileage.

Capital One No Hassle Miles Rewards Card (Mouthful):

Earn 1.25 miles for each dollar spent
Fly Any Airline
No Blackout Dates
No membership fee
Variable purchase rate, currently 13.9%

Mile Breakdown:

The number of miles required by the Cardholder for travel redemption will depend on the cost of the itinerary chosen by the Cardholder at the time of redemption. The mileage requirement is as follows: 15,000 miles are required for tickets up to $150; 35,000 miles are required for tickets from $150.01 up to $350; 60,000 miles are required for tickets from $350.01 up to $600. For tickets over $600 in value, the required number of miles will be determined by multiplying the cost of the ticket times 100 (ex. $768 ticket requires 76,800 miles). (Subject to change at a later date)

Originally posted by jetwet1
That is a bad argument as Walmart does not conduct any business in the UK except for Asda.

And Asda is a pretty big chain here....

[Scrooge]

Yes it is,but your argument is wrong,they will give everyone the same offerings no matter where you are from.

If anyone's interested, I emailed Virgin a couple days ago about US residents ever getting the credit card. This was their response:

At present this offer is not being extended outside the UK. Your suggestion will be passed to the relevant department and will be noted. I thank you for taking the time to contact Virgin Atlantic.

I'm hoping it actually does get passed on and just doesn't get lost in the great garbage heap of emails.

""Your suggestion will be passed to the relevant department and will be noted. "

So the Capital One card is a piece of junk then. I'm happy with getting points on Amex and transferring them to VS, have never had a problem and have booked quite a few award tickets.

Originally posted by jetwet1
That is a bad argument as Walmart does not conduct any business in the UK except for Asda.

I don't agree - if a company sells over the internet, then wouldn't you expect them to sell to someone who doesn't live in the US? I've seen some US-based sites who proudly proclaim 'we ship anywhere' - except that anywhere means only within the continental US....

US residents can already earn Flying Club miles with...

American Express Membership Rewards
American Express Starwood Preferred Guest credit card
Diners Club Mastercard

In what sense are we disadvantaged by not having the MBNA card?

dennis

[mcmbenjamin]

Originally posted by SW15 and 33134

In what sense are we disadvantaged by not having the MBNA card?

The earn rate is lower than the UK cards. Used to be slightly higher with AmEx proper but with the end of the US double points promos and 'Everyday Spending' deals, the MBNA VS AmEx wins on faster mile point (overall).

Sucks being a US FC member. There are benefits of being an overseas BA EC member....