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Branding, branding, branding.
Virgin Atlantic Upper Class is one of the coolest ways to fly across the Atlantic. Is it the best product? Nope. But living in LA, where everything is based on image and perception, they have conquered the Hollywood crowd. I can’t tell you how many people want to fly Virgin Upper. It’s a very common award booking request. They may have just done it again by branding their newly acquired A330-200s from Air Berlin, a pretty drull business class, into 3 new “suites.
The 3 new suites: Love Suite, Solo Freedom Suite, and Solo Corner Suite
It could be a genius move by Virgin Atlantic. Personally, I think this cabin is inferior to their normal Upper Class, but I’m sure I’ll get many requests to try out the Love Suites from our clients. There is a splash factor to the name, but the overall product isn’t really that ideal. When I flew Air Berlin I wasn’t impressed with the seats: narrow, short, and felt very old and clunky. Maybe Virgin’s acquisition will freshen them up, otherwise, these would be planes would rank behind their normal Upper Class configurations.
What will the “Love Suite” be like?
The seat that is directly behind Miles is the “love suite.” I know, it’s hard to see it, and I’m sorry I don’t have a cleaner Air Berlin cabin pic . However, it’s a similar design to Etihad’s Pearl Business Class class cabin ( middle pic ) and then the pic on the far right is a version of what you’d get in the soon to be released “LOVE SUITE.” Essentially they are the “honeymoon suites” found on many airlines, but with Virgin’s branding twist.
In the alternating center seat design, they are found in rows that offer the most protection from the aisle, but pair passengers very close to one another. A great thing if you’re traveling together, maaaaaybe a bit awkward if you don’t know your neighbor. They are VERY closet to one another.
The Solo Freedom Seat looks like what Miles flew a couple years ago on Air Berlin:
Window Seats. The best Solo seats in the cabin. They are the most private, offer plenty of light, but are quite narrow and offer very little in seat storage.
And the Solo Corner Suite
These solo “corner suites” which are essentially aisle seats. Like every seat in the cabin they lie flat, but offer very little coverage to the aisle.
It’ll be fun to see how Virgin Rebrands the interior of these aircraft. Here’s a look at a time lapse of Virgin changing over the exterior of an A330-200 they acquired from Air Berlin.
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.
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