Flying Virgin America

I recently flew Virgn America from Los Angeles to New York JFK with a connection at their hub at San Francisco. I have attached my short little You tube video of my trip. I can promise that next time I will take a lot more video since it really does give a great glimpse into the whole atmosphere Virgin America has created for its' customers.



This was a very exciting trip for me since I have been following Virgin America through its' planning stages and battles to get regulatory approval to even get off the ground. At the same time, being an employee for a legacy carrier, I see another challenge to the established airlines that have been on shaky ground for years. But that is what competition is all about and what this country is built on, so fly, Virgin, fly!



I flew out to Los Angeles and spent a few hours at LAX watching the planes land and take off while I waited for my VA A-319 to land. As sat in a restaurant in terminal 6 and tested my video camera; filming several jets roaring down the runway. Before I knew it, an LAX policeman was tapping me on the shoulder. It seems a woman in the restaurant had complained about me filming at the airport. I showed the police officer my airline ID and explained to him that I have been photographing planes since I was a kid and was a run-of-the-mill airline enthusiast. He said it was not a problem, he was just obligated to respond to the complaint.

Well, my Virgin flight was arriving late from SFO, but we finally got to boarding about 45 minutes late for the flight from LAX to SFO. Immediately upon boarding I could feel the enthusiasm in the air as the flight crew welcomed me on board. I looked around the very "hip" cabin and focused in on my seat 2B on the aisle in first class. It was a gorgeous, plush white leather throne equipped with a foot rest and massage feature. What a wonderful trip this would be! Once I say down, I was immediately offered a predeparture beverage and I took time to familiarize myself with all of the seat controls. There was even a remote control for "Red", Virgin America's inflight entertainment system. "Red" is full of features like seat-to-seat chat and also the ability to order beverages or food directly from the touch screen monitor at your seat.

Once we were airborne, we were offered beverages and a snack. I had a glass of wine and a delicious snack of marinated tomatoes and mozzarella and even chocolate mousse all delivered in a very smart box with inset "cova cups" as the flight attendant described them to me. The service that was delivered on the short flight to San Francisco was cheerfully professional and before I knew it we were there; nosing in to the international terminal at SFO. I had to deplane and wait for the aircraft to be cleaned for the continuation to JFK. All around the gate area we balloons and other decorations in Virgin colors celebrating their arrival and their selection of SFO as their hub.

Within minutes, first class passengers were invited to board. This was me! You know, one of the things l love about Virgin America is that it offers first class so that if you want to treat yourself and not just feel like one of the crowd, you can do it with them because first class is so fairly priced. My ticket from LAX-SFO-JFK was only $449.00! Major airlines can charge as much as $1500-$2000.00. Since this flight, the legacy carriers have added some promotional fares to make them more competitive.

My flight from SFO to JFK was delightful. Appetizers were served after take off that consisted of the same components offered in my snack on the LAX-SFO leg. That was fine, because they were so delicious, I wanted seconds anyway. The dinner was just as good an consited of large prawns over rice with green beans. (this is in the video)

I enjoyed toying with "Red" at my seat and watched some television shows via satellite before putting on a cd and falling asleep. When I woke up, we were about 45 minutes away from JFK. One of the first class flight attendants brought me a piping hot cup of coffee and I was ready for arrival. We landed on time and taxied to JFK's terminal 4.

The flight really did go way too fast. I love Virgin America and cannot wait to fly them again!