The New VS Amex Card (US only)

[honey lamb]

It doesn't say anything about how the tier points are earned - just mentions it in the pre-amble [?]

[mitchja]

From the US VS web site

In addition to earning miles, you'll also earn tier points. You get one tier point per $2,500 in purchases (maximum of 2 per month) and additional tier points when you fly Virgin Atlantic Airways.

It looks to be a Black card benefit only though.

Regards

I so called it: 'The only thing I can think of is a Virgin Atlantic credit card for the U.S. or something.'

I should get a prize. [:D]

Well, it's about time this happened. I'd rather see it be Visa, like the BA card, but I guess you can't have everything. Though I'm definitely not complaining [;)], I think it's a bit weird, like some of you said, for them to have tier point rewards. The BA visa doesn't have this, and as far as I know the CO one doesn't either.

I wasn't going to post in this thread but after reading some of the comments made I can't understand what all the fuss is about. Why do some people feel shafted? I certainly don't.

Amex cardholders here in the UK have been able to earn miles for a long time now so why is it such a big deal now that the card is being offered in the US? Yes, the benefits are great and, yes, you get to earn tier points. So what? So what if we can't earn tier points over here? Did anyone ever expect to do that? I don't think so. Isn't this about different market situations?

[RichardMannion]

$90 Annual Fee - must have forgot the UK version was £45.

What an absolute f*ck-up by the highest magnitude - I can live with the earn rate on the $:£ differences as that's always been the case when it came to AmEx. But TP's? Bonus miles on renewal?

What was the context for the planning meeting? 'How best can we piss off our UK customers?' - There was a need to create an equivalent card, not one that makes the UK one look inferior on every aspect and dilute the Au memberbase. $40k spend in a year to get Gold, and then $30k per year to renew - stupidity from every angle.

Good luck to anyone trying to redeem rewards in the future, it's like the Delta days all over again. They might as well have thrown in a couple of Upper flights when you hit $1000 of spend.

[Nottingham Nick]

Originally posted by Strawberry Muppet
Why do some people feel shafted? I certainly don't.

See if you still think the same when you can't find a seat in the Clubhouse, and there are no reward flights to be had. [;)][:D]

Nick

So how is it $40K spend to reach Gold? By my calculations you'd have to spend $100K to reach Gold. Besides, you can only earn a maximum of 24 tier points on the credit card in one year so you'd still need to fly in order to earn an extra 16 to reach Gold.

[RichardMannion]

Originally posted by Strawberry Muppet
So how is it $40K spend to reach Gold? By my calculations you'd have to spend $100K to reach Gold. Besides, you can only earn a maximum of 24 tier points on the credit card in one year so you'd still need to fly in order to earn an extra 16 to reach Gold.

Sorry that is my mistake, I thought it was 1 TP per $1k, but it's $2500. You could get the other TP's by flying another partner airline [}:)]

But as a Gold, I'd only need to do one revenue PE flight per year and get the rest of the TP's via spend on my card. Not sure how VS benefits there. At best if they were on a 1% cut of the spend, thats $600 out of the $60k I'd need to spend to get the other 24TP.

Originally posted by Scrooge

In the end it comes down to one thing.

VS needed to address the fact that her in the US it is hard to earn miles without flying. They are also looking at grabbing a little bit of the US FF market to help with the trans Atlantic routes in J, in order to breed some loyalty they need to offer a CC, as BA do, joining up with VX would not hurt either.

Well said. It is quite clear that this deal is in order to entice UA/AA/DL/CO J fliers over to VS. If in the long run this increases passengers in J for VS and subsequently profits then surely this is a good thing.

It does suck if your not American but I am sure our American friends have felt aggrieved for years.

For me this is the final nail in the coffin for my fee paying UK VS amex.I'll keep the free white card but adios to the black plastic.Reward availability (which is limited much of the time) is only going to get even tighter (if not impossible on certain routes).I think it's an insult to have a lower fee, offer a greater miles earning ratio, renewal bonus and tier points to boot for the US version and not offer even anything half decent to the UK customer base.
I've sent my rant to customer services and suggest everyone else who is feeling disgruntled does the same.

There is a fine line between providing benefits while remaining profitable, and that line shifts from market to market. Too many benefits and you lose money. Too few benefits and you do not attract new customers.

The important point is that the line shifts from market to market. My initial reaction after reading the annoucement is that there are not enough benefits for this to be a success in the US. I do not see any reason for me to switch from my current cards at this time.

Now if they can promise that they can fund my Virgin Poker account from the US, then I would definitely sign up!

Originally posted by DragonLady
Reward availability (which is limited much of the time) is only going to get even tighter (if not impossible on certain routes).I think it's an insult to have a lower fee, offer a greater miles earning ratio, renewal bonus and tier points to boot for the US version and not offer even anything half decent to the UK customer base.

Jesus H. Christ. Do you really think there will be so many new Gold members all rushing out at once to redeem their miles on VS flights?[ii]
Americans certainly won't be jumping on the bandwagon to pay VS' fuel surcharges that's for sure.

At the end of the day if the benefits of this card was offered to UK residents we'd all be rushing out to get one pronto.

Get a grip.

Richard, if you only fly one PE a year, then what is the benefit of the gold?

BA Exec Club has 1/2 the TP requirement in most of the world outside of the US and UK. This has everything to do with the fact that people living in the US only have VS to ONE destination, so earning TP is pretty hard. Not to mention that the VS Au card isn't very useful inside the US. So I assume the Gold to Centurion and this is an attempt to increase the regular pax base.

VS extended my gold card by a year, and while it was the UK team that did that, I wonder if they would have if I live in London.

And yes, I am with baldbrit, I am not sure I am getting this card.

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by RichardMannion
$90 Annual Fee - must have forgot the UK version was £45.

What an absolute f*ck-up by the highest magnitude - I can live with the earn rate on the $:£ differences as that's always been the case when it came to AmEx. But TP's? Bonus miles on renewal?

What was the context for the planning meeting? 'How best can we piss off our UK customers?' - There was a need to create an equivalent card, not one that makes the UK one look inferior on every aspect and dilute the Au memberbase. $40k spend in a year to get Gold, and then $30k per year to renew - stupidity from every angle.

Good luck to anyone trying to redeem rewards in the future, it's like the Delta days all over again. They might as well have thrown in a couple of Upper flights when you hit $1000 of spend.

Now that would of been a good bonus !

And look, we get a free companion ticket as well, just like the UK cc, oh and the upgrade as well just like the UK card....mmmm you know what..I think THAT is unfair, What an absolute f*ck-up by the highest magnitude, There was a need to create an equivalent card, not one that makes the US one look inferior.

Let me see, what would we rather have, a free companion ticket and free PE upgrade or TP's....I know what I would rather go for actually.

I've always been curious that UK FC members get 'deals' we US FC members seldom see. As a longterm Starwoods Amex member I am totally ready to switch to VS. If I can get tier points with it (although wish I'd had this card before I charged my estimated fed taxes) so be it. It's not as though US FC members have a lot of opps to do tp runs.

My take is about time. Plus--it's 3 points for every VS mile charged...


cheers,

rr

Originally posted by RichardMannion
$90 Annual Fee - must have forgot the UK version was £45.

What an absolute f*ck-up by the highest magnitude - I can live with the earn rate on the $:£ differences as that's always been the case when it came to AmEx. But TP's? Bonus miles on renewal?

What was the context for the planning meeting? 'How best can we piss off our UK customers?' - There was a need to create an equivalent card, not one that makes the UK one look inferior on every aspect and dilute the Au memberbase. $40k spend in a year to get Gold, and then $30k per year to renew - stupidity from every angle.

Good luck to anyone trying to redeem rewards in the future, it's like the Delta days all over again. They might as well have thrown in a couple of Upper flights when you hit $1000 of spend.

One hundred per cent agree ... I am all for VS trying to find equitable schemes in its major customer territories, but this is like a smack in the face to those of us who go an extra mile to stay loyal. There are cheaper airlines, there are sometimes better ones but now VS seems to think that instead of class UK 1 v class none for everyone else (for CCs at least), it's now class US 1 and class UK 2 then class none. No wonder there are no events, special offers for Aus etc like there used to be, they've given all the budget to this - so come along, take the Zs, fill up clubhouse spa bookings but don't worry, you don't really have to fly VS that much to do it.

FC is in dire need of a new tier.

PS, I don't do credit cards, none of them, debit works for me so this is not a rant about Amex Centurion of MBNA VS Amex being worse off etc.

slinky: if you take the Zs, then you don't need this cad.

Outside of New York, there aren't that many US gold card holders, and of the people in SF I know that fly a lot, if they fly Virgin they use their CO cards instead, because the FC card is of little use to them.

If anything, I've never seen this amount of G availability during summer on VS19/VS20 before. I just snagged another one.

[Darren Wheeler]

Besides, I thought we were in the middle of a 'credit crunch'?

Perhaps it's all a cunning plan. Offer a fantastic deal on your new AMEX card, but then decline all applications as they are a bad risk. AMEX get no new debts, VS get the good publicity for offering such a great deal and UK punters get, ummm....

Originally posted by Strawberry Muppet

Originally posted by DragonLady
Reward availability (which is limited much of the time) is only going to get even tighter (if not impossible on certain routes).I think it's an insult to have a lower fee, offer a greater miles earning ratio, renewal bonus and tier points to boot for the US version and not offer even anything half decent to the UK customer base.

Jesus H. Christ. Do you really think there will be so many new Gold members all rushing out at once to redeem their miles on VS flights?[ii]
Americans certainly won't be jumping on the bandwagon to pay VS' fuel surcharges that's for sure.

At the end of the day if the benefits of this card was offered to UK residents we'd all be rushing out to get one pronto.

Get a grip.

Please don't blaspheme.Whilst I have no strong religous views, there may be others here that do.
The point I am making is that there is no equity between the two cards. It will be relatively easy to earn enough miles on the US card for G availability (plus all the other bonuses).
Why do I need to get a grip? I'm simply expressing an opinion.

No wonder there are no events, special offers for Aus etc like there used to be, they've given all the budget to this - so come along, take the Zs, fill up clubhouse spa bookings but don't worry, you don't really have to fly VS that much to do it.

FC is in dire need of a new tier.

I agree I think they do need another tier now. I can understand different countries having different benefits but the tier point thing just doesn't make sense. All people need to do if fly 8 returns on a partner to earn gold now, and some of these flights can be 20 minutes long!! Then they have the benefit of CH access and the bonus miles meaning more people in the clubhouses, arrivals and more competition for the spa treatments, I've even had problems booking a shave for our october flights.

Firstly, DragonLady, I apologise if I sounded harsh.

This thread has not been about discussing the card and its benefits (see thread title). This thread has turned into a platform for UK members to rant right from the beginning. Do I detect a hint of jealousness? Absolutely. Oh, they've been offered a better card than us, so that means we should have the same as well...blah, blah, blah...I mean what is the point of all this?

Everyone is entitled to express their opinions but this thread has pissed me off from the first page with all the moaning and ranting about sending complaints to customer services.

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by baldbrit
There is a fine line between providing benefits while remaining profitable, and that line shifts from market to market. Too many benefits and you lose money. Too few benefits and you do not attract new customers.

Exactly..look at it this way.

Hey Mr AA/UA/CO/US elite FF.....we want your business, but the only way you are going to be able to earn our pretty gold card is by flying a bunch of times, we have better seats, better IFE, our food sucks and we have a high fuel surcharge....now why don't you switch to us ?

In many ways this looks like a loss leader, but let's face facts...VS makes money on every mile earned, the more they can 'sell' world wide the better.

The US FF base is tiny compared to the likes of AA,DL,CO and UA, heck even BA.

Maybe it's a bone to the US FF base...or maybe it's move to try and get more $$$ up front...

Originally posted by RichardMannion

You could get the other TP's by flying another partner airline [}:)]

Thats right we could...

Let me see...well if your on the east coast you have CO and US, west coast HA and AS .....the world is my oyster.

Originally posted by willd

Well said. It is quite clear that this deal is in order to entice UA/AA/DL/CO J fliers over to VS. If in the long run this increases passengers in J for VS and subsequently profits then surely this is a good thing.

[y]

Originally posted by willd


It does suck if your not American but I am sure our American friends have felt aggrieved for years.

No, not at all, we loved the fact that for years UK residents got MPM fares in UC whilst we here did not (ok but every once and a while a good deal would come along)

We love the fact that getting a good clubhouse here is next to impossible.

We are gloating at the fact that it took two years longer to get a US CC in the first place...and that it is an Amex.

Originally posted by Strawberry Muppet


This thread has not been about discussing the card and its benefits (see thread title). This thread has turned into a platform for UK members to rant right from the beginning. Do I detect a hint of jealousness? Absolutely. Oh, they've been offered a better card than us, so that means we should have the same as well...blah, blah, blah...I mean what is the point of all this?

Everyone is entitled to express their opinions but this thread has pissed me off from the first page with all the moaning and ranting about sending complaints to customer services.

[oo]

In the defence of the UK cardholders, there has long been a thought that the cards were losing competitiveness and value - this kind of proves it I think.

As has been pointed to before, they are trying to attract US based customers who have the domestic airline's FF programmes as alternatives. They have to be treated as two different markets. This has always been the way, as when BA sold business class tickets in the early 90s from EU cities to JFK/IAD via LHR and automatically offered one/way on Concorde. This deal was not availalable to UK originating customers. Airlines, in particular, have to fight harder to gain customer loyalty from customers in the airline's non home countries.

I can only use Virgin if I am flying to London. They are useless for domestic travel and travel to almost any other city in the world (since I have no desire to connect at LHR anymore). So, if I am going to collect miles and earn status I will do it on an airline (or alliance) that I can make much more use of. Virgin have to offer a really good deal to make it anywhere near interesting to consider loyalty with them any more.

In addition, as far as redeeming miles goes, I can either spend 33,750 miles plus US$439.80 for an east coast - LHR Y reward flight and then get a connector to my european destination, or I can spend 50,000 miles and US$50 with UAL to fly directly to my European destination. If I am earning miles to take my family on vacation, this is a significant disadvantage for VS. This deal is not really targeted at the frequent US based J pax, who already earn lots of tier points and miles.

AF

[RichardMannion]

Dave, hear what you are saying but the companion benefit is of little value due to the need of L,B,Y,S,W or J. And as for the PE upgrade, oh yes what a benefit that is. They look great as headline benefits, but when you dig into the T&C's you see that there are of limited real use. Given you travel in UC, the only real benefit would be the companion Upper fare, and we all know that 2 Z's are 99% of the time cheaper than 1 J (and then there is the $600 of taxes due on the 'free' ticket').