Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard
I’ve been strangely drawn to the Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard ever since the card waitlist first opened. Driving some of that intrigue is the cobranded card’s issuance by a bank outside the heavyweights – Synchrony, in this case. Beyond the signup bonus, the card offers something else my wife and I found interesting, big spend bonuses at the $15k and 30k levels. Once applications became available, we each promptly applied and were approved. The honeymoon ended soon after.
Getting Started with the Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard
My wife and I each met the $3k minimum spend threshold to earn the modest 40k point signup bonus. These bonus points quickly posted to my wife’s Virgin Red account. I didn’t meet the $3k MSR as quickly as she did, though. I must admit with competing priorities, hobby-related and otherwise, I wasn’t as quick to confirm my 40k bonus points posted. Once I got around to it a few weeks or so after my wife, I noticed they hadn’t.
I subsequently discovered that my 40k points did post, except to my wife’s Virgin Red account. To this day, I’m still not sure how this happened. In addition to my own card, I have an authorized user card on my wife’s account. Could something have gotten twisted on the Synchrony or Virgin Red end there? Is it possible that in our zeal to apply for the cards, I accidentally placed my wife’s Virgin Red ID in my card application, instead of my own? Regardless, I was in a mess and wanted to get out of it. I found out Virgin Red does not make that easy.
Searching For a Resolution
I knew that my points posting to the wife’s Virgin Red account wasn’t a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. Indeed, Virgin Red points are relatively easy and low-cost to transfer to others via Points.com (up to two million points). The cost to transfer is 10 British pounds/15 USD, regardless of the amount. Transfers beyond two million points require emailing Virgin Red Member Support. Members can view more about these policies when logged into their Virgin Red Rewards accounts.
I was more concerned about big spend bonuses and how they would be provided. The card’s terms note these bonuses are not transferrable, so I wanted to avoid any possible further confusion due to my card’s erroneous association with my wife’s Virgin Red account.
I started with Synchrony. I called customer service, and the rep couldn’t have been less interested in helping me. After I explained the situation, the agent quickly said only Virgin Red can fix it. She offered to transfer me to a Virgin Red rep, and I waited on hold for about five minutes. A Virgin Voyages agent picked up, where she surprised me with the following.
Virgin Red Rewards Has No Phone Support
That’s right, Virgin Red Rewards members cannot call in for support. The Virgin Voyages rep directed me to the Virgin Red site to obtain assistance. I thanked her, and the call ended.
Indeed, the Virgin Red site lists no phone number for customer support (or any other which I could find). Instead, members have the option of submitting a request online or emailing membersupport@virgin.com.
Comically Frustrating, Slow Online Support
I first reached out via the online tool to explain the situation. Immediately after submitting, I received an automated email confirming the request and providing a ticket number. Later that day, I received a clumsy email from a Virgin Red rep, basically pointing to terms and conditions and telling me to wait one to two billing periods for the points to arrive. Clearly, the agent did not understand my conundrum.
I responded to this email (which came from the above Member Support address), clarifying even more with all pertinent information on the accounts. A few emails back and forth with a different rep later, Virgin Red support assured me they were working to resolve the issue. My last email to them was on 23 October.
For the ensuing months, I stayed patient/lazy, disengaging to avoid more dread. Until this experience, I don’t think I ever intentionally used procrastination as a coping mechanism. I grew less confident in a Virgin Red response, and I just mentally filed this away to pursue “later,” whatever that meant. But things recently changed.
Almost Four Months Later?
It turns out Virgin Red loves me, after all. I received an email from Virgin Red Member Support on Valentine’s Day apologizing for the delay and (again) ensuring the team is working on the discrepancy. The email ended with the following promising statement:
The linking is now showing as correct and we are working getting the points and perks sorted for you now.
Later that day, the same agent responded:
I have great news, the credit card is now successfully linked to your Virgin Red account, all the points have been awarded to your account to as well as the tier points.
I checked my Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic accounts for the respective balances, and they accurately reflected. Almost four months later, I had some semblance of a resolution.
Conclusion
I’m not out of the woods with Virgin Red quite yet. I’m glad the program accurately moved my points to the right account, finally. But a Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard statement hasn’t closed since these changes, so I haven’t been able to confirm all future card spend is accurately posting to my account. I’ve already made a small test purchase to confirm this connection, but I’ll hold off on more spending until the next statement closes. In terms of time, it’s clear mistakes with Virgin Red are quite costly. While this issue may be resolved, I consider this experience a warning for all future Virgin Red Rewards support. Still, there are plenty of reasons to consider the card, including the newly-elevated signup bonus.
How has your experience been with Virgin Red?
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