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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
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.
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