Virgin Money Anytime Rewards Card
Overall Rating
As a rewards card, this one ticks plenty of boxes: a reasonable annual fee, platinum perks and unlimited points. The Virgin Money Rewards program is flexible and offers fun ways to redeem points including gift cards, genuine cashback, Velocity Frequent Flyer points, travel partners and gifting points to a buddy.
What I love about the Virgin Money Anytime Rewards card
Virgin says this card is its highest-earning Virgin Money Points card because its other cards only earn through retail partners or Velocity points. It also comes with big bonus points worth $400 in gift cards or $360 in cashback.
At $149, the annual fee is fairly standard for a rewards card that doesn’t directly earn frequent flyer points. It comes with great extras that give it a platinum touch.
First I’ll break down the big-ticket perks of the card, and then look at how you can earn and redeem Virgin Money Points.
Bonus points: You can earn 80,000 Virgin Money Points when you sign up as a new cardholder and spend at least $3000 on eligible purchases in the first 3 months. You need to apply before 26 June 2024 to be eligible.
➕ What are eligible purchases?
Virgin Money’s terms say an eligible purchase is any purchase excluding “Cash Advances, Balance Transfers, Special Promotions, refunds and chargebacks, purchases of foreign currency and travellers cheques, transactions made in operating a business, and fees and charges such as interest and ATM charges.”
Bonus points on purchases: You can earn up to 20 bonus points per $1 (or a lump sum of bonus points) when buying from partnering retailers like Milkrun, Pet Circle, The Iconic, Menulog and LVLY.
0% balance transfers: For 12 months you’ll pay no interest on balance transfers you make within the first 3 months of being approved. After 12 months, the cash advance rate will apply to any leftover debt. Just note Virgin lets you transfer up to 80% of your credit limit and you need to apply before 26 June 2024 to be eligible.
Visa platinum extras: The Visa Platinum Concierge Service is on-call 24/7 to fulfil your whims, including making recommendations, bookings, appointments, gift ideas and deliveries. Visa Concierge can even book a custom trip with priority booking and discounts.
Other Visa benefits include Visa Offers + Perks, which gives you exclusive access to presale tickets to entertainment and sporting events, and discounts with partnering retailers.
Redeeming Virgin Money Points
The Virgin Money Rewards program gives you a ton of ways to use your points, and it's easy to figure out what your points can earn in the app (which is different to some programs that like to keep us in the dark).
Here are some ways you can redeem your points:
Points for gift cards: buy digital gift cards from brands like Amazon, Bunnings, JB Hi-Fi and Woolworths.
Points for cash: redeem a minimum of 500 points for cash that’s credited to your account (10,000 points is worth $46 cashback).
Pay with points: nominate a recent purchase and use points to pay it off instantly.
Transfer points to your travel program: use points to book trips with partnering travel groups or convert points to your Velocity Frequent Flyer membership.
Reserve travel: book your next getaway instantly with partnering hotels.
Share your points: you can transfer points to a friend with a Virgin Money Rewards membership.
What’s not so great
While you have an active balance transfer you won’t be able to access any interest-free days. That means any purchases on your card will be charged interest immediately.
If you’re planning on doing a balance transfer, just remember that you need to apply for it within the first 3 months to get the 0% p.a. for 12 months offer. But, since you won’t get the 55 days interest-free with an active balance transfer, it could be a good idea to make sure you’ve earned your bonus points first. Otherwise, you’ll immediately pay interest on what you spend to earn the 80k bonus, which devalues your points.
Who suits the Virgin Money Anytime Rewards card
This is a great bang-for-buck rewards card with the potential to be a points powerhouse. It could suit people who want to earn points that can be redeemed flexibly rather than being tied to a frequent flyer program. It might also interest people who like a discount or two, and first dibs on concerts, sports events, live shows and more.
