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I posted a couple days ago that my 5-hundos had werk werk werked themselves into a fantastic 777-3ooER domestic upgrade…in a broken seat.
Ok, so I already won one battle and that was beating the odds of getting an upgrade into a ridiculously desirable international lie-flat product on a domestic route. I did it as a Platinum AND with 500-mile upgrades from LA to Miami: hub to hub and filled with Exec Plats. I didn’t even have to employ my sneaky beaky strategy that I used on my A321T upgrade earlier in the month – I just let my 5-hundos ride.
Except my seat was broken.
My seat wouldn’t move at all! The crew informed me that someone may be able to lower the seat or adjust it once we were airborne, and eventually someone did, but it was then fixed in that position.
Nowwwwwww I know why I got my upgrade hahahaha. Can you imagine if they would have put a J or any other normal Revenue passenger in this seat. They’re selling for almost $2k – it just couldn’t be done. What’s even crazier is that it was in…
THE MINI CABIN
The mini cabin is the best on this plane. You’re in business but you basically get the privacy and service of 1st class. When I got my ticket I couldn’t even believe I was in the 4th row. I knew from my recent trip to London – where I also snagged a Mini Cabin seat in the 3rd row that this was the prized area of bizzzzznass.
Everything about the flight was great except for the seat. I’ll be writing a more complete review of that flight soon, but I wanted to let you all know how important it is to make your voice heard when things don’t go as they should.
The squeaky seat gets the points
I wrote American Air customer service a very polite email that expressed my disappoint in using upgrade certificates only to find that my upgraded seat was in fact broken. I expressed my satisfaction with the other aspects of the flight including the meal and service, but as a Monkey with a bad back, the seat is my most prized aspect of this domestic 777-300ER route. I wasn’t looking to just complain and demand points, but I also felt that I had a valid complaint. The transactional value of any upgrade is contingent upon the tendered product being delivered as advertised. It wasn’t. I asked that some sort of consideration be made in terms of reinstating 5 hundos or giving me some points. I got this in response:
B to the YAH – Won a 2nd battle
Needless to say Miles and I did some Boots and Cats
Despite the sore feeling I still have about the program getting gutted and the crap revenue based earnings going forward… I have to admit that customer service has been great to me. This is the second time I’ve received some sort of point compensation for things going awry.
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
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 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, 2024
- $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.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.