Virgin Money Flyer 60,000/High Flyer 120,000, $129 flight voucher, annual fee $64/289

[sjk]

Do points for Virgin Money cards show up online soon after the transaction (a la Amex MR), or do you only find out whether something has qualified for points when you receive your first statement?

 

[RAM]

Do points for Virgin Money cards show up online soon after the transaction (a la Amex MR), or do you only find out whether something has qualified for points when you receive your first statement?

Have a look (search) for my earlier post about the pitfalls of what counts and WHEN it counts.

Oddly enough even though they had to 'clear' a transaction (call them up and et it approved) - they processed it 3 or 4 days later which meant it missed the statement.

Several phone calls and they eventually honoured the points for that the last month.

Anything that is currentyly (or in most cases was once) Govt owned does not qualify. Have not tried Qantas spending but that would be worth checking.

Bus/train tickets = no.
Virtually every type of utility = no (power, water, gas, and oddly enough many but not all phone companies).

Read their T&Cs very closely.

 

[jas0nt]

How does one manage to minimise interest expense on purchases if they have a balance transfer on the card? Having a balance transfer means any purchase I make will be charged interest immediately, yet I need to spend $1.5k a month to get the points... Would it just be a case of 'zeroing' out the purchases as soon as they settle on the CC? If so, I assume the delay in Bpaying into the account still means a small amount of interest would still be charged?

 

[PDog]

How does one manage to minimise interest expense on purchases if they have a balance transfer on the card? Having a balance transfer means any purchase I make will be charged interest immediately, yet I need to spend $1.5k a month to get the points... Would it just be a case of 'zeroing' out the purchases as soon as they settle on the CC? If so, I assume the delay in Bpaying into the account still means a small amount of interest would still be charged?

I *think* that any repayment you make offsets the lowest rate first? So even if you bpay the equivalent of your spend immediately, that will reduce your interest free balance & leave you paying interest on your new spend.
Check your T&C, but I think a BT is only valuable when you don't use the card for new spend.

 

[jas0nt]

Nope, the highest interest balance will be paid first, i.e the purchases I made... see this link - What is a credit card payment hierarchy?

I'm thinking I'll just make a $1.5k purchase once a month and keep a lookout when it's settled, and BPAY the $1.5k on the same day.

 

[PDog]

Nope, the highest interest balance will be paid first, i.e the purchases I made... see this link - What is a credit card payment hierarchy?

I'm thinking I'll just make a $1.5k purchase once a month and keep a lookout when it's settled, and BPAY the $1.5k on the same day.

That’s great news! My info was only 6 years out of date... sorry!

 

[Ufens]

Nope, the highest interest balance will be paid first, i.e the purchases I made... see this link - What is a credit card payment hierarchy?

I'm thinking I'll just make a $1.5k purchase once a month and keep a lookout when it's settled, and BPAY the $1.5k on the same day.

Just be careful with this - don't pay off your first month's purchases until you receive your first bill. I assumed I could pay them off as soon as the transactions settled, but these payments were instead applied to my balance transfer amount. The months after that seemed to work as you describe, but it had me confused for a while trying to work out what they had done. I contacted them with a complaint and they refunded me most of the additional interest charged, which I was happy with.

 

[mokuni]

What I did was I bought and spent the $3k per month for 3 months, and on the last month, I prepaid my monthly spend, before initiating the BT. I was able to get the 120K bonus and also 0% BT for 15 months, and not get charged 0.01 of interest.

 

[jas0nt]

Just be careful with this - don't pay off your first month's purchases until you receive your first bill. I assumed I could pay them off as soon as the transactions settled, but these payments were instead applied to my balance transfer amount. The months after that seemed to work as you describe, but it had me confused for a while trying to work out what they had done. I contacted them with a complaint and they refunded me most of the additional interest charged, which I was happy with.

Thanks, I got confirmation that my BPAY payments made a day after my purchases have cleared the purchase balance only. Not sure what happened with you but I'd kick up a stink if you haven't... Did they offer to put that payment into your purchases bucket rather than the balance transfer bucket?

 

[ajd]

Dammit, first statement issued today... and I was a couple of hundred dollars short of the $1.5k minimum spend, which I was going to fix today or tomorrow, as I thought I had another day or two to get there. Citibank certainly goes out of their way to make qualifying for bonus points difficult, I would be much happier with a $4.5k over 3 months qualifying spend... ($1.5k/month spend, for me, unlike most on this forum, requires me to actively go out of my way to get there - I am not a high spender.)

And irritatingly, the next two months I'm going to spend quite a while overseas, where I would much prefer to use my ANZ card with no forex fee. At least I have a few high-value purchases that I've been meaning to make in the next month or so.

Oh well, time to get the remaining 40k, claim my voucher, and get out of there...

 

[RAM]

Dammit, first statement issued today... and I was a couple of hundred dollars short of the $1.5k minimum spend, which I was going to fix today or tomorrow, as I thought I had another day or two to get there. Citibank certainly goes out of their way to make qualifying for bonus points difficult, I would be much happier with a $4.5k over 3 months qualifying spend... ($1.5k/month spend, for me, unlike most on this forum, requires me to actively go out of my way to get there - I am not a high spender.)

And irritatingly, the next two months I'm going to spend quite a while overseas, where I would much prefer to use my ANZ card with no forex fee. At least I have a few high-value purchases that I've been meaning to make in the next month or so.

Oh well, time to get the remaining 40k, claim my voucher, and get out of there...

One way to reach the goal is to buy the 5% discounted Woolworths e-giftcards. They last for 3 years from date of purchase - can be used for supermarkets, petrol, BSW et al and most Woolworths petrol stations.

As you can then buy giftcards from Woolies for another 25 different stores/Apple/prepaid mobile recharges etc - it is a very useful and rewarding way of making your $1,500/month total.

 

[Dr Ralph]

As you can then buy giftcards from Woolies for another 25 different stores/Apple/prepaid mobile recharges etc - it is a very useful and rewarding way of making your $1,500/month total.

I think this advice should be tempered. For many this option has already been removed by Woolworths updating their software and for others the end is nigh. Do not buy eWISH cards hoping to convert them to other gift cards is my advice.

 

[RAM]

I think this advice should be tempered. For many this option has already been removed by Woolworths updating their software and for others the end is nigh. Do not buy eWISH cards hoping to convert them to other gift cards is my advice.

Is it to convert them into physical W gcs or any gcs that the software change has impacted?

I've been unable to convert to physical gcs since as far back as late 2016 (I think it was) but had no issue recently with JB Hifi for example at the same stores.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Is it to convert them into physical W gcs or any gcs that the software change has impacted?

I've been unable to convert to physical gcs since as far back as late 2016 (I think it was) but had no issue recently with JB Hifi for example at the same stores.

If you read the Woolworths gift card thread (Woolworths gift card thread) you'll see its for all gift cards. The issue has been extensively discussed, including store locations and self checkout vs staffed checkout options. If you can still do it then make hay whilst the sun shines. The opportunity to continue to do so will end very soon for everyone. I'd be concerned about anyone buying large amounts of WISH cards in the hope of doing this in the near future.

 

[ajd]

One way to reach the goal is to buy the 5% discounted Woolworths e-giftcards. They last for 3 years from date of purchase - can be used for supermarkets, petrol, BSW et al and most Woolworths petrol stations.

As you can then buy giftcards from Woolies for another 25 different stores/Apple/prepaid mobile recharges etc - it is a very useful and rewarding way of making your $1,500/month total.

I think my backup plan is to buy Coles giftcards, and then just use them for buying groceries.

 

[RAM]

I think my backup plan is to buy Coles giftcards, and then just use them for buying groceries.

Hopefully at 5% off....

 

[vlvh]

My advice for those trying to hit the $3k minimum spend per month is to log into your virgin money portal at least one week before your billing cut off date and click on the "Messages" icon to send a message to Virgin Money and confirm your current spend is eligible.

I asked if my current spend of $3.3k was eligible for the 40k bonus points that month. Virgin Money were able to get back to me in less than 24 hours (only about 8 hours in fact) and pointed out that a specific transaction I had was not eligible (motor registration), and that any transactions that were still pending were not eligible.

Don't leave it up to chance! Confirm with them at least a week before and you will still have time to put through additional transactions. Remember to do this at least a week out to ensure the pending transactions go through. Per their website:

* What is an Unbilled/Pending transaction?

An unbilled or pending transaction occurs when the transaction is still being processed. This will generally take 3 to 5 business days, however it may take up to 10 business days. While pending, the transaction amount is deducted from your available credit balance.

 

[jas0nt]

My advice for those trying to hit the $3k minimum spend per month is to log into your virgin money portal at least one week before your billing cut off date and click on the "Messages" icon to send a message to Virgin Money and confirm your current spend is eligible

Good tip. They have been very responsive to my messages lately (response in 24 hours) and it doesn't hurt to have a confirmation.

 

[BillytheFIsh]

I just hit the end of my first 3 months and all went according to plan. Approval was straightforward and 3 x 40k bonus + each month's spend points credited without problem or intervention.

I usually avoid Citibank unless the deal is too good to turn down, but they've done well this time.

 

[mokuni]

Ive previously applied for the High Flyer card (closed in Mar 18) and thinking of opening the Platinum. Ive searched everywhere, and cant seem to find the info I need. Would I be able to quailfy for the 20K x3 if I did? I should be able to right as the T&C says:

60,000 bonus Velocity Points offer is available to new approved Virgin Australia Velocity Flyer Card account holders who apply by 31 October 2018. 20,000 bonus Velocity Points will be awarded for every month $1,500 or more is spent on Eligible Transactions for 3 months from card approval.

I'm technically new as I was previously a new approved Virgin Australia Velocity High Flyer card account holder? Am I correct?