There has been quite a lot posted about this card in this thread and rightly so, because
with the 100k Velocity points currently on offer, it represents pretty amazing value. I only signed up for this card because of the 100k bonus Velocity points - if the bonus points weren't so valuable I wouldn't have bothered. I also should admit that I'm unlikely to keep this card beyond the first year as for me the Plat Charge / Edge combo is a better fit - but as with a lot of things, it's horses for courses (my preferred cards might no be yours)
So who would this card be good for? Quite a lot people probably (perhaps that is why it is so popular), I would suggest it would be ideally suited to those who:
- Want to cash in on the sign-on bonus of 100,000 Velocity points - I value Velocity points at 2.0c+/pt - so this alone, to me, is worth $2000! For an annual fee of $349, I think WOW probably sums this up pretty well! Can I apply for five of these please? If you were going to buy Virgin / Singapore Airlines or Etihad Business or First class ticket and use these bonus point instead, you could easily double that, $4000+ value for a $349 outlay!
- Virgin / Velocity flyers that want a good value premium card with some quality perks!
Apart from the massive sign-on bonus, the best points (bad pun intended!) of this card are:
- The free return VA flight each year - that alone easily pays for the annual fee - destinations list here - value $400+ to me
- Two VA lounge passes each year - value to me around $65+ (some may value them more, others less)
- Two entries to the very nice SYD AMEX lounge (I recommend it!) - value to me around $80+ (some would value this more highly for sure!)
- Domestic and international travel insurance - I wouldn't want to put a value on this - it depends so much on your travel patterns
- A traveler friendly points earning profile (ie up to 3 pts / $ on travel spend)
The points earn structure of this card is really well suited to those that fly Virgin, enjoy eating out or want to earn a good dose of points on their foreign currency spend. The points earn structure on this card is a follows:
- 3 points per $1 spent at restaurants in Australia and on Virgin Australia spend
- 2 points per $1 spent on airlines, accommodation, other travel and foreign currency spend
- 0.5 points per $1 on govt charges, utilities and telcoms etc - the AMEX usual - you often use Post BillPay (and / or PayPal) to boost this to a much more exciting 1pt/$1
- 1 point per $1 on everything else
In summary, I found it impossible to resit the
100,000k Velocity points on offer for the $349 annual fee. When you take into account the free return flight on offer it is really 100,000k VA points for nothing (or better). Don't forget to qualify for 100k bonus points you need to spend $2000 on the card within the first three months. Until the end of July AMEX is offering referrers (me in this case) 60k points for each referral - even without that I'd still recommend the card - it's all about the 100k bonus points!
Not throw wet blanked on the party, but I want to stress that whilst applying for great credit card offers, like this, can be great value (and even addictive in its own way) - it isn't for everyone - please only apply for credit you can afford! No sign-on bonus, however lucrative, is worth a lifetime of debt!!
For anyone kind enough to use my
Referral Link - my heart felt appreciation - I'll certainly be putting any referrals to good use!