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Virgin America Elevate Program Review

Gabi Logan

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July 2, 2020

Who Is Virgin America Elevate Good For?

Depending on where you live or where you usually fly, you might never have the opportunity to fly Virgin America, let alone fly it often enough to use its frequent flyer program.

For passengers in the areas in the airline serves, however, the award-winning airline became a fast favorite when it first debuted in 2007 with it fashionable flight attendants, mood lighting and on-demand service.

As the airline begins to operate out of Dallas, from gates it picked up in the US Airways and American Airlines merger, and expands its operations from its usual east-to-west-coast non-stop flights with new flights from the Northeast to Vegas and Fort Lauderdale this fall, the possible applications and inherent value of Virgin Americas elevate points are on the rise.

PROGRAM	ALLIANCE	CURRENCY
ELEVATE	NONE	POINTS
POINTS TRANSFER PARTNERS
MEMBERSHIP REWARDS
AIRLINE PARTNERS
Emirates Hawaiian Airlines	Virgin Atlantic Singapore Airlines	Virgin Blue

In the Elevate program, you earn five points per dollar spent on airfare, so if you’re always buying the cheapest tickets possible, this program is probably not a great fit for you. But if you value style, comfort, service and convenience and aren’t afraid to spend a little money on it, Virgin America Elevate can be a great fit.

Hubs:

San Francisco International Airport (headquarters)
Dallas Love Field (new as of Oct 13, 2014)
Los Angeles International Airport

How Can You Use Virgin America Elevate Points?

Since Virgin America has a cash-based earning system, rather than the usual miles-flown formula, it should come as little surprise that redemptions are also valued according to the current cash value of the desired itinerary at the time of booking.

Though Virgin doesn’t have an official fixed value for its points, and in practice they come out to a value of 2.1-2.6 cents per point. You can use your points to book any seat on any plane, though the number of points required seems to push the redemption to the lower end of the cents per point range on more in-demand flights.

You can also use your points to book flights on any of Virgin Americans partners at very low redemption rates, though all partner flights must be booked by phone and many carry high fees and surcharges, unlike Virgin America flights.

Virgin America has also recently joined a program called Virgin Limited Edition, which allows people with hundreds of points sitting around to use them for stays at exclusive properties and resorts that could usually not be booked with points, such as Sir Richard Branson’s private island in the Caribbean.

Program Perks:

All tickets are one-way bookings
Very low taxes and fees, usually $5 or less per one-way
Ability to transfer points from one member to another

Bookings Quirks:

No ability to hold award reservations
$100 change fee for main cabin bookings
Additional $100 point redeposit fee
Points expire if there is no activity on the account in 18 months

Best value awards:

If you use your Virgin America points to book Virgin Atlantic flights to Europe, you’ll pay the same (unfortunately high) fees and taxes, but the number of miles required is the lowest of any airline for transatlantic flights: just 25,000 in economy and 30,000 in premium economy, which is Virgin Atlantic’s business class alternative.

Award travel from San Francisco (SFO) to London (LHR)

Class	Points	Taxes & Carrier Imposed Fees	Airline Name
Economy	25,000	$475	Virgin Atlantic
Premium Economy	30,000	$790	Virgin Atlantic
Upper Class	50,000	$910	Virgin Atlantic

Worst Value Awards:

Since all Virgin America award bookings are tied to the current cash fare of a particular flight, the worst value award tickets come when flight prices are especially high. For Virgin, this is usually the case with last-minute flights during holidays and weekends, so if you’re looking to get away on a Virgin Award at a time like that, you’ll have to look when seats first open up or expect to spend double or triple the points.

The Good Stuff: Upgrades and Elite Status

Since Virgin uses two cabin planes and doesn’t count its main cabin select as an intermediary class, it’s possible to upgrade award tickets directly from the main cabin to first class. Upgrade fees are based on the destination and range from $39 to 399.

Elevate Status Levels and Perks

Like Elevate points, status points are awarded based on how much you spend on your flight, to the tune of 5 status points per dollar spent.

Earn points toward Status when you fly with Virgin America

You can also earn status points on partner flights, but only 10-80 percent of the miles flown depending on the airline and fare class of your ticket.

Each subsequent level includes the perks of the previous level unless stated otherwise.

Silver: 25 percent bonus points, complimentary seat selection, complimentary upgrades to Main Cabin Select 12 hours before departure, priority check-in, priority baggage handling, priority boarding, priority security screening, 2 passes to the Virgin America Loft at LAX, call center fee waived, take 25 percent off one non-refundable Main Cabin ticket per year, one complimentary checked bag
Gold: 100 percent bonus points, complimentary upgrades to Main Cabin Select 24 hours before departure, 3 passes to the Virgin America Loft at LAX, take 25 percent off two non-refundable Main Cabin tickets per year, 3 complimentary checked bags, reciprocal benefits with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia,

Associated Credit Cards

Virgin America issues two Visa signature cards through Barclays, the black Virgin America Visa Signature Card and the silver Virgin America Premium Visa Signature Card.

Both cards offer:

3 points per dollar spent on Virgin America
1 point per dollar on all other purchases
1 free checked bag for the cardholder and a companion
$150 off a companion ticket each year
Points don’t expire

Virgin America and Virgin America Premium Cards

The key difference between the two cards is in points and fees. The Premium card carriers a higher annual fee ($149 vs. $49), but it confers 15,000 bonus points rather than 10,000 and waived change and cancellation fees on cash and award tickets.You also have the option to earn up to 15,000 status points per year with the Premium card at a rate of 5,000 status points for ever $10,000 in purchases on the card. Cardholders can also carry any extra status points forward to the next year.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

UGC Disclosure: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

The Alaska and Virgin America Merger Impact on Partner Airlines

Andy Shuman

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July 22, 2020

Update on Alaska and Virgin America merger

The recent merger of Alaska and Virgin America has created America’s fifth largest airline. We know that Alaska is going to drop the Virgin America brand, but that was originally supposed to happen in 2019. It’s apparently been moved up. Virgin America’s Elevate program is now scheduled to end on January 1, 2018. Its airline partnerships will begin dissolving even earlier.

Virgin American ceases cooperation with its former partners — Virgin American is ending its current airline partnerships now that it has merged with Alaska

Virgin America Ends Partnership With American Express

The good news is that you will be able to redeem your Elevate points until January 15, 2018, even after the program is no more. The bad thing is that Virgin America will end its partnership with American Express Membership Rewards on October 31, 2017, and Alaska is not an Amex transfer partner, so this door will close as well.

It’s not like the transfer ratio is lucrative; it’s 2 Amex MR points for 1 Elevate point, which is hardly a good deal. But you can transfer your Elevate points to Mileage Plan with a 30 percent bonus for an unspecified time during the post-merger period. That makes it a somewhat better value proposition. Basically, if you transfer 10,000 Amex points to Elevate, then transfer Elevate points to Mileage Plan, you will end up with 6,500 miles. Depending on how much you value Alaska miles, it might not a bad deal.

Don’t transfer your points too soon though as there could be a transfer bonus before the end.

Not Just for West Coasters

While it’s true that the Alaska cards will mostly benefit those who live on the West Coast where Alaska has a huge footprint, there is a good reason why Mileage Plan is so popular. It has incredible award values and a huge number of partners including American Airlines.

Alaska Partnerships — Alaska has a large network of partner airines

What is Life Going to Be Like After Virgin America?

Virgin America loyalists will certainly miss the ambience. Alaska is a traditional airline, while Virgin America is quirky, edgy and chic. To win over Virgin America fans, Alaska is implementing some design changes. As Alaska’s president Ben Minicucci said, “We’re going to infuse a little bit of red into blue and maybe, make it a little bit purple.”

But while mood lighting and esthetics might be important to some, they don’t have a direct impact on passengers’ wallets. Most frequent flyers will find that Alaska Mileage Plan is vastly superior to Elevate for the following reasons.

1) Mileage Plan is a region-based program, while Elevate is revenue-based. Region-based programs often have more outsized sweet spots.

2) Mileage Plan allows a free stopover even on one-way flights and domestically.

3) Alaska has many more airline partners than Virgin America.

4) Mileage Plan offers great values to its customers, and Alaska makes consistent efforts to ensure its members are satisfied with their frequent flyer benefits. Whether it stays this way remains to be seen.

Still, there are some instances when Elevate members will be unhappy about the loss of the Virgin America program. Alaska one-way flights cost from 5,000 to 12,500 miles depending on the distance and regardless of the ticket price. Yet, Virgin America flights are tied to the cost of the ticket and are worth about 2-2.2 cents per point. So, short and super-cheap flights can cost very few points, especially when they are on sale.

How to Get Alaska Mileage Plan Miles

There are not too many options. There are two Alaska credit cards that are issued by Bank of America: personal and business. Both cards currently feature a 30,000-point bonus and annual fees are not waived for the first year. Aside from a sign-up bonus, Alaska cards have exceptional benefits that put other airline credit card featuresn to shame.

30,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 or more within the first 90 days (limited time)
Companion Fare: Buy 1 ticket, get 1 for just the taxes and fees ($0 fare plus taxes and fees from just $22) after you spend $1,000 or more within the first 90 days (limited time)
Get another Companion Fare: From $121 ($99 plus taxes and fees from $22) every year on your account anniversary valid on Alaska and Virgin America flights booked on alaskaair.com
Free checked bag on Alaska and Virgin America flights for you and up to six other passengers on the same reservation
Earn three miles per $1 spent directly on Alaska Airlines and Virgin America and 1 mile for every $1 on everything else
No foreign transaction fees
Annual fee: $75

This card has a number of fantastic benefits. The 3X earning scheme is unheard of for airline co-branded cards (Delta, American, and United cards earn 2X for air travel purchases). Then you get one free Companion Certificate and one $99 Companion Certificate, and you can use them on any published fares (there are no tricks or fine print).

Finally, you get free bags for up to 7 passengers including yourself, and you don’t even have to pay for the ticket with your Alaska card.

The Alaska Airlines Visa Business Card has identical features but it doesn’t have a free Companion Fare – only the $99 one.

Want an Alaska Card?Proceed With Caution

There used to be times when Bank of America gave out its cards like candy. People could apply for a card even while holding the same exact card over and over and over again. The Internet is full of stories of people who have applied for a few cards at a time and got them all eventually, complete with the sign-up bonuses.

Those times are over though. Nowadays, even if you have an excellent credit score, you have to be careful applying for all Bank of America cards, including the Alaska one. Here are a few tips, but remember that there are always exceptions, and following these guidelines doesn’t guarantee you will get the card – only that it will improve your chances.

Don’t apply for the Alaska card if you have another Alaska card.

Don’t apply for the Alaska card if you have too many other BofA cards (some suggest 3 to 4 max).

If you think you’ll need to cancel one of the BofA cards in a few months – call and lower your credit line, because it may become an issue in the future.

The Virgin America credit card that used to be issued by Comenity Capital Bank doesn’t accept new applications.

Of course, using credit cards and flying Alaska and Virgin America are not the only ways to rack up Alaska miles. You can fly on one of Alaska’s 19 partner airlines; shop via the Mileage Plan Shopping portal; dine with Mileage Plan Dining, or explore special promotions and other deals. You can also earn Alaska miles with its partner hotels, car rentals and cruises. And if you need to top up your Mileage Plan account, there is Starwood Preferred Guest. You can transfer your Starwood points to Alaska at a 1:1 ratio, and get an additional 25% bonus for every 20,000 points.

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