Virgin America Elevate Gold Status Match

Virgin America until recently had a very generous status match program for its Elevate loyalty program. The match had been available on and off for a number of years, and was frequently covered and discussed in the frequently flyer community. In April it was announced that Alaska Airlines would be acquiring Virgin America and it was speculated that the opportunity for a status match with Virgin America would disappear – which it did later in the fall of 2016. If you look for the challenge on the Virgin America website now the message is:

“We like your thinking. Unfortunately we are longer accepting status match applications for 2016. Please check back in 2017 for some exciting changes.”

Introduction: Virgin America Elevate Gold Status Match
Review: Hyatt Regency San Francisco International Airport
Review: American Airlines Admirals Club SFO – Terminal 2
Review: Virgin America Short Haul Domestic Coach – San Francisco to Los Angeles
Review: Virgin America Loft at LAX
Review: Virgin America Short Haul Domestic First Class – Los Angeles to San Francisco

I doubt we’ll see a new status challenge from Virgin America in 2017. With the acquisition now closed my guess would be that all new status matches are done through the Mileage Program with Alaska Airlines, as it will eventually be the surviving loyalty program. For those of us able to get in on the 2016 status match it has been a pretty good deal. The terms for the 2016 match included:

2016 Virgin America status match

Virgin America’s elevate program is a revenue based program, which means you earn status points based on the price of the ticket purchased. Keep in mind that status points are not the same as reward points. Reward points as the name suggests are the miles you earn from flying and can use in the future to redeem flights and other products with the airline. Status points are received as recognition of your flying business with Virgin America and it is the method by which the airline measures your progress in achieving status. With Virgin America an Elevate members earns 5X on every dollar spent on a flight ticket. So if you fly from San Francisco to Los Angles for a $100 ticket cost, you will receive 5×100 or 500 status points.

Elevate is Virgin America’s loyalty program

Normally to achieve silver status with Elevate you need to earn 20,000 status points, to achieve gold status you need to earn 50,000 status points. For Virgin America’s “Status Match” offer these amounts are 5,000 for Silver and 12,000 for Gold. Both amounts need to be earned in 90 days from acceptance of the offer.

There is also a prevision for persons holding one of the Virgin America Visa Cards; 3,000 and 8,000 status points respectively. This provision makes the status matching even easier, especially if you hold or apply for the Virgin America Premium Visa Signature Card with $149 Annual Fee. This card also allows you to earn status points with spend.

• $10,000 in spend gives you 5,000 status points
• $20,000 in spend gives you 10,000 status points
• $30,000 in spend gives you 15,000 status points

Virgin America still has 2 credit cards associated with the Airline and their loyalty program

My strategy for achieving Elevate Gold was to apply to the offer by using my current Platinum status with Delta to match Elevate Gold, and then complete the challenge by applying for the Virgin America Premium Visa Signature Card and spending $10,000 on it. That would yield 5,000 status points alone. And then spend $600 on Virgin America in flights for an additional 3,000 status points. This would reach the 8,000 combined level requirement for continued Elevate Gold until the end of the year 2017.

After sending Virgin America my proof of my Delta status I received an email confirming enrollment in the status match and the required points needed for gold level. I applied for and received the Virgin America Premium Visa Signature Card, and then completed $10,000 worth of spend on the card (one side benefits of putting your kids through college). Within a day of the credit card statement falling, I received my 5,000 status points from Virgin America.

In regards to the flights I needed to purchase, I had a short weekend I was able to fly, and it had to be to Los Angeles where I had a meeting to attend. I ended up purchasing a coach flight down and first class flight back from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Total cost of both tickets was $649 which netted 3,245 status points. Added to my credit card bonus of 5,000 status points and I would have a grand total of 8,245 status points by July 25th, and Gold Elevate status through December 31st, 2017.

American Admirals Club SFO

The Loft LAX

Since my trip was originating out of San Francisco I would stay at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco International Airport the evening before our flight. The next day we would stay at the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles International Airport, which I reviewed here. Going to Los Angeles we were able to review the American Airlines Admiral Club in Terminal 2 at SFO. On the return leg we visited the Virgin American Loft at LAX. For less than two days travel time we would be doing a lot, but it also makes it fun. Our stay at Hyatt SFO Airport was for $224.00 per night. A little more than I would normally want to pay for an airport hotel, but I also had a meeting in Alameda and so it worked into my travel plans.

Hyatt Regency SFO Airport

In Summary:

I was able to grab Elevate Gold with Virgin America by spending $649 in Virgin America flights and then signing up on the Virgin America Premium Visa Signature Card with a $149 Annual Fee (and moving $10,000 spend to said credit card). Was it worth it? With hindsight I believe the move paid off. Not only did I receive Elevate Gold through 2017, I also was later auto matched to Alaska’s MVP Gold in the Mileage Plan. Airline carriers tend to throw goodies to their elite members during mergers – and the Alaska/Virgin America combination is no exception.

Of course someone might ask why invest in an airline program that’s being acquired by another airline. I’ve always liked the Virgin product, whether it be Virgin Atlantic, America or Australia. But being a Delta loyalist I haven’t really had a chance to enjoy, or even fly Virgin America. So I’m going to enjoy Virgin America while it’s still around, and also watch the integration process in regards to Alaska Airlines. Both should be interesting.