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A pleasant flight with a nice crew.
I recently took a trip to DC to meet up with my folks for Mother’s Day, and cleared for an upgrade the night before my flight. It’s worth noting that you can’t tell the difference anymore between planes that once were Virgin, and the planes that have always been utilized by Alaska. UNLESS – you use this trick – here’s a hint, boeing vs airbus. I was booked on one of their old planes, and realized I’d never reviewed it in first class.
The Deets:
- When: May 2018
- Where: LAX to DCA
- Cabin: First
- Seat: 4C
Boarding:
Boarding was swift, and since I was in First Class, as soon as those needing assistance and active duty had boarded, I was on the plane. I was pleasantly greeted and offered a bottle of water.
Seat
I was seated in the last row of the cabin, in 4C. If you’ve ever flown first class in the last 15 years, this is a pretty standard seat. No built in IFE, etc. But, there was power, and the WIFI was pretty good – amazingly better than what I experience on an Airbus on the ride home. For whatever that’s worth.
Speaking of IFE…
Each passenger receives a small iPad like device. The selection is very limited. I stand by my claim that American has probably the best library in the sky.
Food:
I had a ginger ale and selected the veggie option. It was….ok. Honestly, I prefer the way that the food is still distributed in economy on the the old Virgin planes to this.
However, the big highlight was the Nancy’s Fancy Gelato. OMG – it was seriously incredible. Big, delicious chunks of cherry. Uh-mazing.
Overall:
A very pleasant flight, with a nice crew. The planes are showing their age, but honestly, I don’t really mind it. Being top tier in the airline I can clear far easier than if I were flying on say American. I’d never clear on this route, nor one to NYC because I don’t spend nearly enough money. My roundtrip was roughly $350 over mother’s day weekend when schools had graduation. I would have cleared on the flight back, but I had a pet with me, and animals can’t fly in First on Alaska’s airbus fleet.
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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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