Virgin 50000 points and 100 SCs Gold, 200SC for Plat(targetted & 7.5K spend)

[skywalkerLAX]

Update: Card arrived today, activation was relatively painless. Actually I did not experience ANY of the issues people report here with Virgin Money. Positively surprised... Now off to spend some money!

 

[DC3]

Update: Card arrived today, activation was relatively painless. Actually I did not experience ANY of the issues people report here with Virgin Money. Positively surprised... Now off to spend some money!

Yes, glad that it all worked out for you. As long as your calls to Citi fit with the script, you may not have any issues.

 

[skywalkerLAX]

Just read through the fine print... 3.3% foreign transaction charge !!!??? Are they NUTS ? :evil::evil::evil:

 

[drsmithy]

Just read through the fine print... 3.3% foreign transaction charge !!!??? Are they NUTS ? :evil::evil::evil:

That sounds pretty standard.

The only card I know of without a foreign transaction charge is the 28 Degrees MC.

 

[skywalkerLAX]

That sounds pretty standard.

The only card I know of without a foreign transaction charge is the 28 Degrees MC.

Standard? Wow... here some rates from my other cards:

Lufthansa Mastercard Germany 1.25%
Bank Branded Mastercard Germany 1%
HSBC Canada 2.5%
Mastercard USA 2%

But then again I probably don't plan to use the card much after the 7.500$ Minimum Spend...

 

[markis10]

Standard? Wow... here some rates from my other cards:

Lufthansa Mastercard Germany 1.25%
Bank Branded Mastercard Germany 1%
HSBC Canada 2.5%
Mastercard USA 2%

But then again I probably don't plan to use the card much after the 7.500$ Minimum Spend...

Standard for Australian issued credit product!

 

[serfty]

Standard for Australian issued credit product!

Yep, the 28°, NAB Gold banking, an HSBC product and a recent citibank product appear to make up the few publicly available "fee-free" cards when it comes to FOREX.

For 28° see here: http://www.australianfrequentflyer..../28-wizard-mastercard-cash-advances-6960.html

 

[skywalkerLAX]

Yep, the 28°, NAB Gold banking, an HSBC product and a recent citibank product appear to make up the few publicly available "fee-free" cards when it comes to FOREX.

For 28° see here: http://www.australianfrequentflyer..../28-wizard-mastercard-cash-advances-6960.html

Do you have any idea what HSBC Product that is? I would swap my Premier Mastercard in that case...

 

[Fruitcake]

I was not a recipient of the 'targeted' email but, after waiting until my status had upgraded to gold (I was silver at the time of the promotion being announced) I applied using one of the links posted earlier in the thread.

Last week, the day after my statement, I received 50,000 bonus points and 100 SCs.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Last week, the day after my statement, I received 50,000 bonus points and 100 SCs.

It's a beautiful thing huh - and those bonii are just the cream on the cake - the 4 x 2 4 1 flights can be sensational.

 

[serfty]

Do you have any idea what HSBC Product that is? I would swap my Premier Mastercard in that case...

I am not sure - it has been mentioned somewhere but I can't find it at the moment.

 

[markis10]

I am not sure - it has been mentioned somewhere but I can't find it at the moment.

None of their Credit Cards offer fee free OS transactions locally:

HSBC Credit Card, Classic,
Platinum, Platinum Qantas
Credit Card

3.0% of the total value amount of each such transaction

HSBC Premier and Premier with
HSBC Qantas Rewards

2.0% of the total value amount of each such transaction

 

[oz_mark]

Yep, the 28°, NAB Gold banking, an HSBC product and a recent citibank product appear to make up the few publicly available "fee-free" cards when it comes to FOREX.
http://www.australianfrequentflyer..../28-wizard-mastercard-cash-advances-6960.html

The Citibank product is a transaction account linked to a debit Visa, rather than a credit card (IME it works pretty much as it says on the lid)

The ING Direct Orange Everyday account has a flat $2.50 fee on overseas ATM withdrawals (haven't tested this, but everything else on the card has worked as stated).

 

[serfty]

None of their Credit Cards offer fee free OS transactions locally:
...

It may not have been a CC.

Something certainly was posted about and possibly verified. Maybe it's hidden on the Wizard thread.

 

[oz_mark]

It may not have been a CC.

Something certainly was posted about and possibly verified. Maybe it's hidden on the Wizard thread.

Most likely to be an HSBC Premier transaction account then.

 

[Simo]

I just got my points and also 200 SC's.

 

[scwappy]

It may not have been a CC.

Something certainly was posted about and possibly verified. Maybe it's hidden on the Wizard thread.

It related to opening an HSBC foreign currency account in USD, EUR, GBP etc and transferring funds into this. Use your 28 degrees mastercard overseas and over the internet convert your foreign currency back to AUD at approx the same time. (once a week or more)

Not a perfect solution but if you want certainty re the price you will pay for foreign currency , with a very low margin built into the exchange rate, I've found it works quite well. Cheaper than using those travel cards with much larger margins.

 

[djfuzz]

I just got my points and also 200 SC's.

Looks like I'll be waiting another month - but I've not received double points, so I'm assuming that means I'm down for this promo instead, fingers crossed.

 

[nlagalle]

Looks like I'll be waiting another month - but I've not received double points, so I'm assuming that means I'm down for this promo instead, fingers crossed.

Wasn't it both though? I thought double points and the sign on bonus..

 

[pagingjoan]

Thank you for the suggestion.
However, I think I will need a pause to regain my strength first, after the umpteen phone calls to and from Virgin Money to get to this point.

I'm hoping that once everything is in place, it will be smoother sailing.

I will be checking up again on the one month anniversary of activating the card, to make sure that the SCs and points are posted.
(By that stage, I should be feeling strong enough to call them once more, if necessary.)

To continue the saga of the Virgin Money offer:
Statement day came and went last week.
"No statements available" was the online message.
Interminable call to VM - again, and promises that the statement would be activated and printed that day.
Nothing.
Another call the next day, and another promise.

Still no statement, although I could see the transactions recorded on the website. The lack of a statement meant that the bonus points and SCs would not credit to my Velocity account, of course. Before finishing the call, I asked (yet again) for confirmation that the points and SCs would credit, once the statement finally appeared

The response: "No, you do not qualify for this offer."
Despite having verified that all was in order in several earlier calls.

I located the original emailed offer and read it out to the operator.
Response: "You will have to send that to VM to prove that you are eligible."

I could have responded in many ways but exhaustion again did me in.
Only enough strength to write down the email address by that time.

Emailed.
AND received an acknowledgement WITHIN FOUR MINUTES and a prompt coherent holding response just a few minutes later.

[The Statement actually appeared the next day and points were credited to my Velocity account - but no Bonus Points and no SCs.]

The VM rep and I then exchanged emails over the following days to sort out all the links and today, points and status credits have all been posted to my Velocity account.

It has been an incredibly frustrating experience since the November offer - but the VM rep has saved the day. I've sent thanks and congratulations.
Will hope never to have to resort to the telephone call centre again!

Best of luck to any of you still going through the process.