What is a co-branded credit card?

How does a co-branded credit card work?

A co-branded card splits one product across two companies. The issuer, usually a bank, runs the credit account and decides who is approved; the travel programme supplies the currency and the rules that govern it. Because the earning lands in a loyalty account, the cardholder normally has to be a member of the programme and link that membership number to the card. The two sides stay connected: what you earn is credit card points in the programme's own scheme, not the bank's.

Virgin Atlantic's UK cards follow that pattern. They are issued by Nationwide Building Society, trading as Virgin Money, and Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited acts as an appointed representative of Nationwide Building Society. [2] Cardholders must be Virgin Atlantic Flying Club members and link their membership number to the card; points are added to the Flying Club account each month within five days of the credit card statement date, and bonus points arrive in the month after they are earned. [2]

The currency sits with the programme side of the partnership. The Flying Club terms state that Virgin Red Limited owns the Virgin Points held in members' accounts and that the points have no cash value. [5] Members who also hold a Virgin Red account can link the two, after which the balance is cumulative across both. [5]

How do you earn Virgin Points with a co-branded card?

Virgin Atlantic publishes different earn rates for its two UK cards, as of 18 October 2026. [2]

Both cards exclude cash advances, balance transfers, money transfers, interest and fees from earning, and the higher rate does not apply to purchases of Virgin Points themselves. [2] Earning on card purchases is also capped each month at the credit limit: Virgin Atlantic's example is a £5,000 limit, where points accrue on the first £5,000 of purchases in a month, the counter resets on the statement date, and bonus points sit outside the cap. [2]

Sustained spending produces a second benefit. Each 12-month period, resetting on the card account's anniversary, can generate one Flying Club reward voucher, worth up to 75,000 Virgin Points for Red tier members and up to 150,000 for Silver or Gold members, valued at the tier held when the voucher is redeemed rather than when it was earned. [2] Vouchers are used on Virgin Atlantic operated flights for a round trip companion reward seat or a round trip cabin upgrade, must be booked and flown outbound within 24 months of issue, and cannot be applied to Economy Light bookings. [2] Thresholds, annual fees and eligibility sit on the Virgin Atlantic credit cards page.

Can a co-branded card earn elite status as well as points?

A co-branded card can be attached to status progress instead of a points balance. WestJet Rewards gives primary cardholders of the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard a benefit called Status Lift: the equivalent of 200 CAD in tier qualifying spend for every $5,000 in eligible purchases charged to the account, awarded up to 50 times in a qualifying year, which runs from 1 January to 31 December. [4] Tier qualifying spend counts toward Silver, Gold or Platinum status and, WestJet says, has no monetary or exchange value and cannot be redeemed for anything. [4]

Two conditions shape how that works. Purchases made by any cardholder on the account count toward the $5,000 total, but the tier qualifying spend is credited only to the primary cardholder's WestJet Rewards account. [4] Eligible purchases exclude cash advances, balance transfers, cash-like transactions, payments that are not pre-authorised charges set up with a merchant, interest charges and fees, while purchases made outside Canada do count. [4]

How do co-branded cards differ from transferable-points cards?

The contrast is between focus and flexibility. A transferable-points card earns the issuer's own rewards currency, which the holder can move to airline or hotel programmes of their choosing; a co-branded card earns one programme's currency only, so every point earned is committed to that programme. Co-branded cards often add programme-side extras such as elite-qualifying spend, companion vouchers or tier-dependent reward values, and those extras are governed by the programme's terms rather than the bank's.

The line is not always clean. Virgin Points sit in a programme that also runs Virgin Red, and members of both can link the accounts so their balance is cumulative. [5] For the wider comparison, see co-branded cards versus transferable points.

What limits apply to co-branded card benefits?

• Eligibility. The UK Virgin Atlantic cards are available only to UK residents aged 18 or over, subject to status; for non-UK residents the page points to a US card, the Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard. [2]
• Voucher gifting. Virgin Atlantic credit card vouchers are among the vouchers a Flying Club member may gift, but only Silver or Gold members may gift one, the recipient must be a Flying Club member in any tier, and the voucher is void if sold, auctioned or bartered. [5]
• Keeping the points. Virgin Atlantic's card page says Virgin Points never expire. [2] The Flying Club terms say there is no prescribed time frame for redeeming points as long as the member remains in the programme and complies with the terms, and unredeemed points are forfeited if the account is cancelled or terminated, unless a linked Virgin Red account keeps them available. [5]
• WestJet conditions. The account must be open and in good standing when a Status Lift is awarded; WestJet may remove lifts and tier upgrades if the account closes before the end of a qualifying year, purchases posted after the December statement date may not count, and WestJet and Royal Bank of Canada may change or withdraw the benefit at any time. [4]

Frequently asked questions

Do the points earned on a co-branded card expire?

Virgin Atlantic's card page states that Virgin Points never expire [2], and the Flying Club terms set no prescribed deadline for redeeming them while the member stays in the programme and complies with the terms. Unredeemed points are forfeited if the account is cancelled or terminated. [5]

Do you need a frequent flyer account to earn from a co-branded card?

Yes for the Virgin Atlantic cards: the cardholder must be a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club member and link the membership number to the card before points reach the Flying Club account. [2]

Does a supplementary cardholder earn Status Lift on a WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard?

No. Purchases on every card on the account count toward the $5,000 in eligible purchases, but the tier qualifying spend is credited only to the primary cardholder's WestJet Rewards account. [4]

Do all purchases earn points on the Virgin Atlantic cards?

No. Cash advances, balance transfers, money transfers, interest and fees earn nothing, and earning on card purchases stops at the monthly cap set by the credit limit. [2]

Related pages

Terms: credit card points, all glossary terms. Explainer: co-branded cards versus transferable points. Card programme pages: Virgin Atlantic credit cards, British Airways American Express.

Sources

Sources checked on 18 October 2026. It covers the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club credit cards sold in the UK and the Status Lift benefit on the Royal Bank of Canada-branded WestJet Rewards Mastercard; other co-brand programmes, including American Airlines AAdvantage and British Airways Club, are not covered here.

1. Virgin Atlantic credit cards: Reward and Reward+ card terms, checked 18 October 2026
2. WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard Status Lift, checked 18 October 2026
3. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club terms and conditions, effective from 30 October 2024, checked 18 October 2026