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Virgin Atlantic redefines Upper Class on the A350
Virgin Atlantic has defined premium cabin cool since it first hit the sky. While it may have held the title as coolest cabin in the sky, the product itself and found itself inferior to many other airlines and their latest configurations offering more privacy, storage, better bedding, and even doors. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago British Airways blew expectations out of the water when it released a new cabin comprised of B/E Aerospace Super Diamond seats with doors with achingly chic appointments.
Virgin has countered with a massive improvement, but a little bit of a disappointment. Let’s take a look.
Virgin Atlantic A350-1000 will feature the new seats this summer from JFK TO LHR
Red Velvet, the first A350-1000 that Virgin will take delivery of will go on sale this month and feature the new seat.
- Seating will feature more private, inward facing seats
- 1-2-1 configuration with 44″ of pitch and a fully flat 82″ bed that will go from seat to bed in one swift motion
- 18.5″ IFE which will be controllable by customers’ own personal devices
- All seats have direct aisle access.
Gone is the bar. Meet the loft.
In its place will be a loft. It will seek to extend the clubhouse experience to the plane and offer a wide range of cocktails, mile high afternoon tea, and bluetooth connections so you can watch a 32in screen and listen via your headphones.
Schedule of delivery.
- 4 A350s this year
- 8 more by end of 2021
Overall:
The move is in the right direction, but Virgin has built a reputation on doing things differently, challenging status quo, and embracing the glitz and glam. In all honesty, they were outdone by British Airways. BA set the stage on fire with a truly impressive product that will hands down be in the “best of” discussions. For Virgin, this means they will have a competitive product that squarely places them on the same tier as AA, Cathay, and EVA which all feature a similar version of the Cirrus seat. It’s a great new product, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t say I was left wanting more.
*images courtesy of Virgin Atlantic
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
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 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)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
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® Card is great 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: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.
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