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I needed to position myself to Chicago for my #weekendwarrior trip to Shanghai and Hong Kong, and found a great deal on a VX flight the night before. It accomplished 3 things: earned me some much needed EQM towards Alaska status, picked up my 3rd brand towards IHG accelerate ( Holiday Inn Express), and was a great way to see two of my best friends that I’ve known for over 20 years. It’s been ages since I’ve flown Virgin America, and after the flight I’m excited to see the merger between Alaska and Virgin continue.
THE DEETS:
- When: November 2017
- Route: LAX to ORD
- Seat: 5c
- Status: MVPG75
White seats. Lighting. Virgin has done cool well for a long time.
There are two rows of first, then the main cabin starts, first with a main cabin select row ( which AS MVPs and G75s have access to and includes snacks and food free charge) and then the rest of economy. Unfortunately, those rows were full. It seems if Elites are given access to a row with free food and drink, that those same elites not sitting in that row, would be given free food and drink
Every row has a tv. If Virgin wasn’t the first to implement this, it was nearly. In my opinion, any length of domestic flight is perfectly doable in economy if you have entertainment. Virgin succeeded. There is also power, and a decent amount of space.
Food:
You order via the screen with a swipe of your card. I much prefer this to how American does it at the point of purchase with the flight attendant. It’s swift, easy, and the food comes quickly.
IFE
Loaded with films and tv shows. Another great feature – satellite tv. You can escape into the depths of the entertainment library, or keep abreast of the situation on the ground. Best of both worlds. I will say this, bring your own headphones. I recently upgraded my phone and the headphones I brought with me work on the phone, but nothing else. Luckily they have one pair left, but that was it.
Overall:
Next year Alaska elites will start to get upgraded on Virgin metal. This is a game changer for me. As someone whose locked up MVP Gold for next year, and hopefully will hit G75 I’m excited for these developments. When you combine Virgin and Alaska’s current network it directly covers a lot of places, domestically, I’m likely to travel to next year. This was a very solid flight in economy and one that I”d happily choose over the big 3. If Alaska or Virgin added Indianapolis to LAX as a direct flight I’d be in hog heaven. Otherwise, I’ll happily connect through San Fran, and avoid the legacies.
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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