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Virgin Atlantic’s new A330 Neo
WOW! I personally think British Airways has the best business class between the US and Europe, but Virgin Atlantic just debuted a drop dead gorgeous A330neo that I aims to take the crown ( Air France has a new product coming up in September as well ). Virgin is the epitome of cool. Their lounge at Heathrow is incredible, and they’ve committed to opening up more award space. This new A330neo offers a stunning, all suite, fully enclosed, upper class that I THINK solves the biggest problem I had with their A350s ( storage ). Virgin takes delivery of 3 aircraft in September, and it’s expected to take off in early October out of Boston. The remaining deliveries will be between 2023 and 2026.
The normal Upper Class seats may beat BA head’s up. But…the coolest aspect of this debut? The Retreat Suites at the front. Holy moly they look incredible and give me JetBlue new Mint Studio vibes meets Qatar’s Qsuites. They can be opened up so 4 people can dine together at once. Holy smokes this is another level for biz.
I just wonder if this will be available via points. With Jetblue you could redeem with points and then pay a surcharge to select the studios…I’m eager to see how this plays with Retreat Suites.
Upper Class
- 2 Retreat Suite
- 6’7″ beds, ottomans, 4 people can dine together
- 27in tvs
- 30 Upper Class Suites
- fully enclosed with doors
- 17.3 in tv
It’s hard to tell from the specs, but it looks like there is storage under the dining table + a cabinet that closes with a latch. This is my biggest complaint with the A350 Upper Class. The seat is great, the IFE is great, the service is great, but there isn’t a single place to really store your stuff. This…looks amazing.
Premium
- 46 seats
- 38″ pitch with a calf rest
- 13.3″ touch screen with bluetooth
- Wireless charging pad
Virgin operates a few east coast daytime flights… I would snag one of these and be happy as a clam under 7 hours. If I don’t need to sleep, this is effectively a better version of the first class recliner with Virgin service.
Economy
- 13.3 in IFE
- Blue tooth audio + use phone as a controller for the entertainment system
- AC, USB, and storage
- 28 Econ delight offers 34″ seat pitch,
- 156 econ classic seats with 31″ pitch
Overall: I have plans to go to Europe later this year and depending on avail, I will route through Boston to try this out. Looks super cool
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.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.