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A couple weeks ago I booked a cheap one way flight from England to Paris on Flybe ( Virgin Atlantic is acquiring them btw ). All in, it was a $60 one way flight which promised a carry on bag and a personal item. “Promised” is the key word here, and was seemingly too good to be true. As most things in life…
The airline provides measurements for what is permissible to carry on (55x35x20 cm). As a Christmas gift, I’d just received a Rimowa Original Plus, which is slightly larger than some airlines allow, but I hadn’t had any issues flying on Alitalia or BA, and instead of paying to check the bag ahead of time, I’d wing it.
In addition to that my girlfriend was traveling with a slightly smaller Hartmann herringbone – both were far, far too big to carry on the plane. If you’re an international traveler, I can’t imagine you regularly travel with a carry on that would fit inside the restriction container…my backpack barely fit.
Flybe’s carry-on baggage restrictions ( 55x35x20 cm) are strictly enforced, and you will be required to place the item inside a metal restriction container prior to check-in, and if you make it gateside, and get caught, you could be required to pay 50 pounds vs the 40 at the check in desk. Honestly…I wish we’d just done it at the gate – it seemed they weren’t enforcing it as severely there as at check-in. A man managed to bring on a duffel bag significantly larger than either of ours. Judging by an article in the inflight magazine it sounds as if this is something they are progressively cracking down on, but to me, I’d have paid 10 pounds more to have the chance at avoiding the 40 pound fee we ultimately paid at checkin. To each their own.
Once on board you won’t get any free drinks so I’d strongly suggest buying a bottle of water, taking one from the lounge, etc if you plan on drinking anything onboard. In fact…the drinks provided were quite small. Here’s a look at the diet coke I bought in flight.
Here’s a look at the full menu if you’re interested…
- Review: Iberia Business Class Chicago to Madrid
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- Review: Iberia Business Class Madrid to Rome
- Review: St Regis Rome
- Review: Alitalia Economy Rome to Budapest
- Review: New York Palace Budapest, Autograph Collection
- Tip for visiting the Thermal baths in Budapest
- Don’t make this European train mistake like I did
- Review: Park Hyatt Vienna
- Review: Air Lounge Vienna Airport
- Review: British Airways Business Class Vienna to London
- Review: Kimpton London Fitzroy
- Tips before flying Flybe
- Review: Intercontinental Le Grand Paris
- Review: Air France Business Class Lounge CDG
- Review: Air France Business Class 777-300ER Paris to Washington D.C.
- How I utilized the transfer desk to make a tight international connection
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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