[knallfrosch]

>has the benefit of taking ~£500 off annual family holidays, and gives me a free companion seat in the process, effectively halving the price for one of the passengers.

You know you're paying higher sticker prices to finance that, right?

[esskay]

If I am then so is every other traveler with every single airline in the world.

Go on Virgin Atlantics site, search for any flight, you can then apply points to that, or redeem a companion voucher. That doesn't bump the price up prior to redemption.

I dont "pay" for the points I get, as I'm not spending any extra day to day. The credit card is free.

[knallfrosch]

You're spending more because your shop charges you 3% more. I live in the EU and my prices are 3% lower.

[esskay]

What shop? What on earth are you on about? Every single business in the entirety of the UK charges 3% more to cover virgin giving away cheaper flights? Use your words as this sounds nuts. Credit card rewards aren't exclusive to the UK so I can't work out what on earth you are talking about. If you are suggesting the UK as a whole pays 3% more on every single CC transaction then your argument becomes even more odd as you'd be contradicting your original point.