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Virgin Atlantic will join SkyTeam alliance
Virgin Atlantic is a partner of all the major transferrable currencies
Virgin Atlantic Elite status will yield SkyTeam Elite benefits
These benefits will be effective immediately once Virgin Atlanic officially joins SkyTeam in early 2023
- Virgin Atlantic Silver Card holders will be recognised as SkyTeam Elite Members
- Gold Card members will become Elite Plus.
Who is currently in SkyTeam?
- Aeroflot,
- Aerolíneas Argentinas,
- Aeroméxico,
- Air Europa,
- Air France,
- China Airlines,
- China Eastern Airlines,
- Czech Airlines,
- Delta Air Lines, Inc.,
- Garuda Indonesia,
- ITA,
- Kenya Airways,
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines,
- Korean Air,
- Middle East Airlines,
- Saudia,
- TAROM,
- Vietnam Airlines
- XiamenAir.
How to get Virgin Atlantic Tier Status
I fly back and forth to the UK a lot, and recently we’ve seen some very attractive business class sales out of mainland Europe/UK that Virgin as has been a part of…this news may incentivize me to pay cash for a couple of those flights since top tier Virgin Atlantic Gold can be attained with just 2 roundtrip upper class flights booked in J, C, D, or I ( some of the discounted flights were in I ). I’d then have elite benefits while traveling in the States on Delta which operates out of my home airport ATL.
I’m planning on trying out their latest Upper Class early next year on the A330neo – if possible I’d pay extra to sit in these bad boys.
Recap
While this will potentially open up more booking options ( I’m a big fan of China Airlines, would love to fly Korean and Vietnam Airlines ) we may also see the loss of an incredible sweet spot in the Virgin Atlantic chart with ANA. Only time will tell.
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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