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Virgin Atlantic officially changed from an award charted program to a fully dynamic program for their own flights today. By fully dynamic, I mean that rates will fluctuate based on a multitude of factors that Virgin will formulate their award pricing algo around ( think route, load, origin, connections, destination, etc, etc ). All we really know is pricing is bound to be all over the map. I had feared the worse, but at least on their first day of pricing, it’s pretty incredible. Let’s take a look, but fares are as low as they’ve ever been on some routes, and then outrageous on others….especially in Upper Class.
Our Virgin Reviews
If that wasn’t enough… the Reward Seat Checker now shows pricing across the calendar ( it used to only show how many seats were available ).
Don’t forget that Chase and Citi both have transfer bonuses running
Table of Contents
Chase
- 40% bonus to Virgin Atlantic
- 11/30/24
Citi
- 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic
- 11/16/24
Go to Reward Seat Checker here
Search City to City… Here are a few options so you get the picture
Atlanta to London is nutty good as low as 29k
Look at all those 29k and days in Upper Class and 7500 in Economy
LAX to London can be insane but also very good
November is insane with pricing as high as 350k in Upper and 62k in econ
Feb is a bit better with 9k economy and 72k Upper
July now we’re talking primo…you can find a lot of econ at 15k and upper as low as 47k and many in the 70k to 80k range
Miami to London
How are the taxes and fees? Much Better than the $1000 we are used to seeing. Now as low as $254
Coming out of the USA
Coming from London is much higher but still cheaper than it used to be
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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