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Some absolutely outstanding roundtrip fares being marketed for non-stop flights between London and Los Angeles starting in October and continuing onward into the first 3 months of 2020. These are on multiple airlines.
While flights options start in the low $300s, I think the most interesting and appealing options are on Virgin Atlantic and in the mid $400s. Why? Virgin has tiered economy, and the cheapest options aren’t upgradeable. However, if you select the economy tickets that sell in the mid $400s ( this is roundtrip folks ) you can use points to upgrade. Let’s take a look
Here’s the range on Google Flights ( searched 7-10 day stays )
Virgin Atlantic in January starting at $332
You’d be given an option: notice that the “main cabin” would allow upgrades
In reality, you’ll be given 3 options for economy on the Virgin Site: Light, Classic, and Delight. If you want to upgrade, you’ll need at least Economy Classic
Make sure an upgrade is available by searching in calendar mode
This is the calendar for the outbound LHR to LAX, you’d do something similar for the return. As you can see, an upgrade into premium economy is available on our outbound date. Also, there are multiple flights a day, so you’ll need even if you see the date you want, you’ll need to double check the exact flight is available.
How much will an upgrade cost you?
This is Virgin’s upgrade chart, roundtrip, so on our outbound to upgrade from Econ to Premium Econ would be 1/2 of 27,400, or only 13,700 points. That is insane. If you found dates with upper class avail, it’d run you 50,600 each way to upgrade from Classic/Delight to Upper.
Who cares about upgrades? Then book screaming deals with our affiliate Expedia. These are just sample dates, click and then play around – tons of availability.
Sample Dates
- October 4th -11th ( Under $400 AA, UA, VX )
- November 22nd to December 2nd ( Virgin at $332 other a bit more )
- January 9th to 16th (Virgin at $330 )
H/T TravelFree
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
$300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + 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
- $300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel℠. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel℠ purchases within your first year
- 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.
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