I'm setting myself a target & sharing it...

[Andybear]

That's a lot of spending in Tesco and on credit cards - surely it'd be cheaper simply to pay for the flights!

[loola30]

Originally Posted by Andybear

That's a lot of spending in Tesco and on credit cards - surely it'd be cheaper simply to pay for the flights!

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I'd still be spending that money anyway though. It's nothing above and beyond our usual spending habits done to 'gain miles' if you see what I mean. That is over 18 months so includes grocery shopping, fuel, Oyster Cards for daily London travel, day to day spending etc...

Of the 53k on Virgin, 18k is a join up bonus so it's only about a £30,000 spend over 18 months on the card for all the above household expenses. It's pretty easy to do when there's £500 on groceries, £200 on Oyster, £50 on fuel etc...

The Amex total is actually only about an 9k spend over 18 months the rest is all bonus miles and referral bonuses.

[hornetgirl]

It's amazing how the points mount up if you stick all your spending on a card isn't it. We do the same but with avios.

[loola30]

I'm a nut with it. Why pay cash for something when I can buy it on the card, get my miles and then transfer the cash to pay it off instead! It's almost a hobby

[Burgmeister]

Originally Posted by loola30

I have another 31,000 waiting in the wings with Tesco, pending Shops Away miles and the rest of my black credit card bonus. I can apply for another Amex card next month too, however, I am fastidious about paying off everything in full each month, always cancelling cards before any fees are due and running a very tight ship on the admin of it all!

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Doesn't the black card come with fees that are payable immediately? I only went for the white card for this very reason (obviously only using the white card until my 6 months waiting time for the gold card is over)

[BigKidUK]

Originally Posted by loola30

I'm a nut with it. Why pay cash for something when I can buy it on the card, get my miles and then transfer the cash to pay it off instead! It's almost a hobby

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100% agree, me too We have collected quite a few Amex points but when trying to look for flights I couldn't find Any Virgin reward flights and BA seemed very expensive comoard to cash- need to learn a bit more about that I think so sitting on them for next year now!

[Burgmeister]

Originally Posted by BigKidUK

100% agree, me too We have collected quite a few Amex points but when trying to look for flights I couldn't find Any Virgin reward flights and BA seemed very expensive comoard to cash- need to learn a bit more about that I think so sitting on them for next year now!

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VA's new system allows you to offset the price of any cash ticket with VA miles. You do need a lot of them to fully purchase your ticket as each VA mile is worth 0.6p against a cash ticket. There is no limit on the amount you can use so, in theory at least, you can pay for your ticket completely with miles.

I think reward seats offer better value but, as you have said, availability is not very good.

[loola30]

Originally Posted by Burgmeister

Doesn't the black card come with fees that are payable immediately? I only went for the white card for this very reason (obviously only using the white card until my 6 months waiting time for the gold card is over)

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Yes, sorry the black one does have a fee. Although I did my calculations of how much I needed to spend (getting the double miles) before I broke even and got my fee back as it were. The Amex one is only payable after the first year though

I'll be cancelling the black card after a year as it only made financial sense in the first year with the 25,000 bonus miles. I certainly wouldn't spend enough to warrant the fee without the bonus each year

[hawki]

Originally Posted by loola30

I'm a nut with it. Why pay cash for something when I can buy it on the card, get my miles and then transfer the cash to pay it off instead! It's almost a hobby

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I do the same I never take out cash! If I cant use Amex I don't buy it!

[Burgmeister]

Originally Posted by hawki

I do the same I never take out cash! If I cant use Amex I don't buy it!

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That's what I like about the VA cards. If you can't buy it on the Amex then at least you have the Visa card (albeit with half the mile earnings of the Amex card).