The confirmed campaign window

Tria specified July 13–31, 2026, ending at 23:59 UTC, for this campaign. As checked on September 8, this article analyzes an ended offer. An old promotion can remain searchable after its benefit expires. When deciding which card to compare, read the applicable transaction window before treating a visible advertisement as a current entitlement.

What actually doubled

The Virtual full-rate spending cap increased from $100 to $200; cashback rates stayed unchanged. The useful question is therefore how much of your normal spending fits between the two caps. A cap is an input to the reward calculation, not a cash payment and not a multiplier applied to every purchase.

A $400 spending illustration

The Season 3 baseline gives Virtual 1.5% on the first $100 and 0.5% afterward. For an assumed $400 of eligible spending, the standard calculation is $1.50 + $1.50 = $3. Substituting the $200 campaign cap gives $3 + $1 = $4. The difference is $1, not a doubling to $6, and fees remain uncounted.

Use the lesson in a current comparison

Keep expired benefits out of the base-rate comparison. Save today’s schedule together with country, tier, cap reset date and eligible-payment conditions. Track points separately from cashback without assigning an invented cash value. If another promotion appears, rerun the same spending amount rather than changing the budget to make the advertised reward look larger.

Your spending position determines the gain

The useful starting point is your position within the spending bands, rather than the largest tier advertised. The table below reuses the Virtual assumptions explained earlier. Someone spending only $50 receives the same reward because every purchase already sits inside the original first band. At $150, another $50 receives the higher rate, adding $0.50.

At $400, the entire additional band is used and the gain is $1. The figures exclude card charges and currency costs and are not verified transactions. They illustrate why two people can experience the same promotion very differently. Repeat the exercise with the conditions of your actual tier before comparing memberships.

Extra shopping changes the question

Finding an extra dollar of reward and buying something unplanned to obtain that dollar are separate decisions. If you are choosing which card pays for necessary groceries or an existing subscription, keep the original budget unchanged. If you buy another $100 of unwanted items to fill a band, the additional reward does not offset the purchase itself.

Our comparison method fixes the basket. Apply the same purchases, payment timing and funding route to both candidates, then compare benefits that can actually be used with costs incurred. If points accumulate alongside cashback, keep an unconfirmed exchange value outside the cash calculation. You can record those points separately without pretending their future value is known.

Keep the campaign archive separate from today’s offer

This campaign ended on July 31, 2026. For a present card decision, read the historical arithmetic separately from the provider’s current fees and benefits. A promotion remaining visible in search results is not evidence that its deadline was extended.

When another offer appears, record its timezone, audience, enrollment method and the quantity being capped. Ask how canceled transactions are handled and whether another offer can apply at the same time. Those are questions to resolve from the next campaign’s terms, not assumptions borrowed from this one. No unverified extension or replacement promotion is included in this article’s calculations.