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I had the pleasure of flying United’s best and brightest Polaris business class from Sao Paolo to Chicago at the end of last year on their 777-200( the feature image ). It’s a really good business class ( with incredible bedding), and lo and behold, United has created a great opportunity for you to fly the real Polaris domestically. How?
Enter…their brand spanking new Boeing 787-10.
- 44 seats in business class ( one large cabin)
- 21 Premium Plus
- 54 Economy Plus
- 199 regular economy seats
It’s not only biggest dreamliner in United’s flight, it’s the only one fit with their new seats, and it’s currently flying roundtrip from New York to Los Angeles. Actually…it begin flying the route in January, but piqued my interest last night when I was looking to fly some clients on the route and saw some amazing fares.
The Cabin via SeatGuru
There are many dates for $599 between EWR and LAX in March – book with Expedia here
Thanks Google flights…you’ll need to set your parameters to find the 7am departure. I clicked Nonstop, Star Alliance, and then pinned the flight that operates the 787-10 with the departure and arrival specification. Currently it’s operating the 7am flight between EWR and LAX.
The March Calendar: many dates at $599
Make sure your flight specifies Boeing 787-10
Going the opposite way ( LAX to EWR )…less pickings. Book with Expedia here
If you notice…you could fly out from LAX on March 9th and return on the 12th for $1200 roundtrip on the 787-10 in both directions. Pretty awesome.
The transcon bedding will be a paired down version of below
My understanding is that it will be just the white pillow and the blanket.
Personally I think the bulkhead seats will be the best, but some may not like the galley noise. They do feature larger footwells just like the 772 pictured below.
If you don’t go with bulkhead, go with odd rows on the window if you’re traveling alone, and odd rows center if you’re traveling together.
Wanna use points? You can do so for roughly 40k with both Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards
Option 1: Chase Sapphire Reserve
If you’re currently a Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholder you can redeem your ultimate rewards for 1.5c in the Chase Travel center. That means this $599 flight is just 40k points. That’s 20k less than I’ve been able to find this flight using United’s own miles which ironically, you could populate by transferring from Chase to United. Why not save 20k miles and earn some in the process ( Chase actually buys the ticket, so you’d be earning both redeemable and elite miles on it. )
Option 2: American Express Business Platinum
The American Express Business Platinum has a great benefit whereby you use points at 1 penny a piece, so 59,900 in this example, and then you get a 35% refund on the flight. That’s 20,965 in this example and puts the total Membership Reward outlay at 38,935. Far fewer than the best deal United is offering at 60k. Amex also buys the ticket which means you’ll be earning both redeemable and elite miles with United, or whomever you choose to credit it too.
Other Options:
Both card issuers have other cards that also allow for the purchase of flights through point redemption at fixed value. For instance both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Ink Business Preferred give 1.25c valuations to their Ultimate Rewards.
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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