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POP: AA First Class LAX-BOS 737
Let’s be honest. Sometimes you don’t want to read a whole review. So we’ve created a new series called POP: Pictures Only Post. Posts in this series will feature the product, minimal description, and focus on 5-10 Pics. A more detailed review will come in the following week or two, but here’s a quick look Miles’ experience onboard AA’s First Class LAX-BOS 737.
The first leg of my Mom’s surprise $100k birthday trip was a positioning flight from LA to Boston. I’d booked it a few weeks ahead of our outbound flight for an amazing rate of $157. One way transcon for under 2 bills? Slap my face! Two days ahead of the flight my upgrade cleared and I had confirmed first class. Honestly, I wasn’t too excited to fly on the 737 as most are kind of dumpy and old, but this one was different, and I thought I’d share a few quick pics. The flight was great, I made use of a Go-go wifi pass and watched movies on a complimentary Samsung Galaxy.
I had bulkhead. Cabin had been redone in 2015 with the newer recliners, but without seatback IFE. I’m inclined to recline
I was very pleasantly surprised to see the new seats. No they aren’t lie-flat, but they’re very comfortable
Food. Champagne. ICE CREAM SUNDAE
Champagne in a plastic cup….love it. I had an orzo and shrimp salad which was very good and made me feel somewhat healthy. It accompanied by a SPICY southwest salad. It always makes me smile to eat a hot fudge, butterscotch, strawberry sundae with nuts and whipped cream.
The Samsung IFE with Bose Headphones
This was a nice touch. The first device wasn’t working properly but it was quickly replaced and 2nd time’s a charm. The was a sex scene in the movie we watched which is always awkward when some boobs pop up on the screen and everyone can see it.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based.
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
80k offer in branch currently – I think this should be online soon
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Super solid welcome offer.
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.
- 3x on dining
- including eligible delivery services for takeout
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards – Chase Travel Portal
- $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Ultimate Rewards/Chase Travel
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 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 Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Primary rental car coverage is my favorite
There is currently an 80k offer after $4k spend in 3 months available in branch, and up to 90k after $6k spend in 6 months. I suspect some version of this will be online soon if you don’t want the hassle of going into a branch.
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 60k is a very, very good offer. 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.
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