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American Airlines’ new Premium Economy debuts on the new 787-900
Starting November 4th, 2016, on flights originating from DFW to either MAD to GRU, American Airlines will have a brand new cabin upon which to book: Premium Economy. Looking at the pictures below, it looks much nicer than what’s offered in coach with some extra amenities like a leg rest, better IFE, and amenity kit.
There’s a window for free upgrades to premium economy
It looks like if you book tickets after July 10th for flights in the time frame between 11/4/2016 and sometime early 2017 that elite members ( plat and exec plat) will be able to book economy, but fly in premium economy. This is pretty awesome; however, it is worrisome that SWU/ points + cash / points upgrades may upgrade economy to premium economy rather than business – YIKES!
I’m not really sure how excited I am about premium economy. I don’t really book that many revenue tickets in business, but a huge reason I’m going after Executive Platinum is the ability to use SWU for business class upgrades. If that benefit is eroded, and only allows economy to premium economy…I’m not sure it justifies continued loyalty with the brand. I’ve been treated quite well with American, but my loyalty is with value. If the value isn’t with Aadvantage, why would I continue to patron it. Anyways…it’ll be interesting to see what the roll out is like, and how upgrades get ironed out.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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