For months, I've been hearing about Virgin America airlines and their sudden rise in popularity in the domestic travel market. I thought it was merely because it was another low cost carrier, like Southwest. That was until I booked a flight and read about their amazing services. Talk about an airline with a soul! Virgin America offers it customers an experience that we haven't seen in US air travel in years. While traditional carriers like United, Delta, America, etc. have cut back on most of its services to cut costs and in some cases, save their airlines, Virgin America has built an airline on service.
When I heard Virgin America was adding flights to Ft Lauderdale, FL, I immediately booked a flight for the Winter Music Conference. My main drivers for this was the combination of services Virgin America offers: Wi-Fi, power outlets for laptops, in-flight entertainment, satellite radio, and more. When you're traveling around for business, having Wi-Fi and a power outlet are essential things to have. The power outlets alone cut down on the need for lugging around extra laptop batteries!
Virgin America offers three ticket pricing tiers for that fit most traveling styles: Main Cabin, Main Cabin Select, and First Class.
Main Cabin is your traditional low cost experience for budget travelers. You'll receive the lowest available fare, on-demand food and beverages (free water, soft drinks, and juice), and free and for-pay entertainment (movies, wi-fi, special programs). On this fare, you'll also pay $20 for your first bag, $25 for bags 2 – 10. If you have at least two checked bags, intend on eating on the plane, or enjoying the many services on Virgin America, this fare may not be for you. If you're a true budget traveler and don't check in bags, bring your own snacks, etc. then this is the perfect fare for you.
Main Cabin Select is essential for leisure travelers who want the complete experience or business travelers who look forward to a comfortable flight experience. You'll receive an additional 6 inches of leg room (38” total), complimentary food and drinks, free entertainment, dedicated luggage space (as opposed to the usual fights for overhead bin space), priority check-in (usually reserved for frequent travelers on traditional carriers), and one free checked bag. If you figure the cost of bags, food, etc along with the ticket price, this may be an overall savings in the long run. The key drivers are the free food and drinks. Nowadays, you'll only see this option for first class travelers, but Virgin America extends it to those who can afford to pay a little extra for a little bit more in coach.
First Class is always the highest in luxury travel and Virgin America doesn't leave anything behind. In addition to the main cabin select option, first class travelers receive unlimited complimentary entertainment, food, and drinks. Virgin America also offers custom massaging leather seats which adds a unique experience to the traditional first class offered by traditional carriers. Finally, first class travelers get to check two bags for free. Compared to traditional carriers, first class is relatively inexpensive, but offers a lot more.
My flight departed from Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale via Los Angeles on March 22nd. Most folks like to fly the most direct route possible, but my flights were strategic, especially this time of the year. If you look at other major carriers, they offer either a non-stop flight to Miami (Alaska/American), connections through Chicago, Salt Lake City, and Denver or east coast cities like New York City, Charlotte, Atlanta, etc. The problems with these routes is flying over the mountain ranges or cities that have adverse weather conditions in the late winter/early spring months which cause major delays. By flying through LA, you can avoid many of these issues.
Check-In
The check-in process was rather simple, since I checked in online. Virgin America, however, makes it even simpler as their machines offer a baggage tag for your bags. So when you get to the counter, all you have to do is drop off your bag and go. The only problem I had was the machine encountered an issue with checking my bag. Fortunately, the check-in staff was very friendly, quick and efficient.
Inflight Experience
The overall in-flight experience was one of the most pleasant experiences I've had in a long time. We all know, before you take off, you watch the safety video. Virgin America deconstructed the traditional safety video and incorporated it's own, unique spin which even captures the attentions of seasoned travelers. I found the video to be entertaining as well as informative.
During the flight, I tried and tested as many of Virgin's services as possible. The in-flight entertainment offers a wide range of television choices and on demand content. Although I didn't try the on demand features, I did notice how deep the selections were. The audio content was also impressive. One of the things I find lacking on traditional carriers is the addition of electronic/dance and hip hop music. Virgin covered this quite well with its wide range of music choices. However, if you use the wi-fi, you're not limited to these offerings and you can stream live music! Virgin also pays great attention to detail by adding adjustable video screens as opposed to static video screens that some carriers offer. Another great feature is the map mode supported by Google. The map mode shows your current location, speed you're traveling, and temperature. The map also has zoom controls so you can drill down on your location.
Thirty minutes into each flight, I decided to check out the food and beverage offerings. According to Virgin America's website, food is offered on flights two hours or more which would cover every route except LAX – SFO and possibly SEA – SFO. On longer flights, there are more food choices offered. Virgin also offers a surprisingly deep selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages on their flights. After browsing the choices, I decided to order the Karma Sparkling Wine and a nicely prepared platter of fruits, cheeses, crackers, and vegetables. The pairing was a very nice snack for the long LAX – FLL flight, however, I would suggest a more filling selection if you're really hungry. All food and beverage options can be viewed, ordered, and paid for on the video screens. The only problem I encountered with the ordering system was the flight attendants didn't seem to be in sync with customer selections.
Stress Test
The final thing I tried on Virgin America was the wi-fi. If you're in the main cabin, they offer wi-fi for $9.99 per flight or a day pass option for $14.99. They also offer additional plans for more frequent travelers. I ordered the day pass and was pleased with the service overall. I didn't have a chance to do an accurate test of the speed, but it did seem to be as fast as traditional cable modems. I did decide to push things to the limit and see if I could do a live DJ set at 128k and another one at 96k. Users reported that the sound was choppy, but I cannot verify if it was the server I was using or Virgin's wi-fi service. When I fly on Virgin more, I will be able to give further details. Overall, I was pleased with the service.
Not Everything Was Great
If there was an area Virgin America can improve on, it would be the airplane chat service and the keypad. Every passenger has their own remote with keypad underneath the arm rest. The remote features are great, but the keyboard was poor. The keys were very hard to push and tended to stick. It was also difficult to chat with speed since it took so long to hit the buttons on the keypad. After awhile, my hands began to hurt and felt fatigued from the extra work I was putting in. I would suggest a keypad similar to a cell phone for easier navigation. As for the chat feature itself, it was a nice feature to have, but I felt it needed something more to get travelers to chat. Maybe connect it with the games that are featured on the plane.
Overall, if you're in Virgin America's route network, I would highly suggest flying on them if you want a flight experience that makes you feel like you're going on vacation. Too many airlines make you feel like you're in a cattle car, but Virgin America is raising the bar and setting a service example that all airlines should strive to follow.
When I heard Virgin America was adding flights to Ft Lauderdale, FL, I immediately booked a flight for the Winter Music Conference. My main drivers for this was the combination of services Virgin America offers: Wi-Fi, power outlets for laptops, in-flight entertainment, satellite radio, and more. When you're traveling around for business, having Wi-Fi and a power outlet are essential things to have. The power outlets alone cut down on the need for lugging around extra laptop batteries!
Virgin America offers three ticket pricing tiers for that fit most traveling styles: Main Cabin, Main Cabin Select, and First Class.
Main Cabin is your traditional low cost experience for budget travelers. You'll receive the lowest available fare, on-demand food and beverages (free water, soft drinks, and juice), and free and for-pay entertainment (movies, wi-fi, special programs). On this fare, you'll also pay $20 for your first bag, $25 for bags 2 – 10. If you have at least two checked bags, intend on eating on the plane, or enjoying the many services on Virgin America, this fare may not be for you. If you're a true budget traveler and don't check in bags, bring your own snacks, etc. then this is the perfect fare for you.
Main Cabin Select is essential for leisure travelers who want the complete experience or business travelers who look forward to a comfortable flight experience. You'll receive an additional 6 inches of leg room (38” total), complimentary food and drinks, free entertainment, dedicated luggage space (as opposed to the usual fights for overhead bin space), priority check-in (usually reserved for frequent travelers on traditional carriers), and one free checked bag. If you figure the cost of bags, food, etc along with the ticket price, this may be an overall savings in the long run. The key drivers are the free food and drinks. Nowadays, you'll only see this option for first class travelers, but Virgin America extends it to those who can afford to pay a little extra for a little bit more in coach.
First Class is always the highest in luxury travel and Virgin America doesn't leave anything behind. In addition to the main cabin select option, first class travelers receive unlimited complimentary entertainment, food, and drinks. Virgin America also offers custom massaging leather seats which adds a unique experience to the traditional first class offered by traditional carriers. Finally, first class travelers get to check two bags for free. Compared to traditional carriers, first class is relatively inexpensive, but offers a lot more.
My flight departed from Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale via Los Angeles on March 22nd. Most folks like to fly the most direct route possible, but my flights were strategic, especially this time of the year. If you look at other major carriers, they offer either a non-stop flight to Miami (Alaska/American), connections through Chicago, Salt Lake City, and Denver or east coast cities like New York City, Charlotte, Atlanta, etc. The problems with these routes is flying over the mountain ranges or cities that have adverse weather conditions in the late winter/early spring months which cause major delays. By flying through LA, you can avoid many of these issues.
Check-In
The check-in process was rather simple, since I checked in online. Virgin America, however, makes it even simpler as their machines offer a baggage tag for your bags. So when you get to the counter, all you have to do is drop off your bag and go. The only problem I had was the machine encountered an issue with checking my bag. Fortunately, the check-in staff was very friendly, quick and efficient.
Inflight Experience
The overall in-flight experience was one of the most pleasant experiences I've had in a long time. We all know, before you take off, you watch the safety video. Virgin America deconstructed the traditional safety video and incorporated it's own, unique spin which even captures the attentions of seasoned travelers. I found the video to be entertaining as well as informative.
During the flight, I tried and tested as many of Virgin's services as possible. The in-flight entertainment offers a wide range of television choices and on demand content. Although I didn't try the on demand features, I did notice how deep the selections were. The audio content was also impressive. One of the things I find lacking on traditional carriers is the addition of electronic/dance and hip hop music. Virgin covered this quite well with its wide range of music choices. However, if you use the wi-fi, you're not limited to these offerings and you can stream live music! Virgin also pays great attention to detail by adding adjustable video screens as opposed to static video screens that some carriers offer. Another great feature is the map mode supported by Google. The map mode shows your current location, speed you're traveling, and temperature. The map also has zoom controls so you can drill down on your location.
Thirty minutes into each flight, I decided to check out the food and beverage offerings. According to Virgin America's website, food is offered on flights two hours or more which would cover every route except LAX – SFO and possibly SEA – SFO. On longer flights, there are more food choices offered. Virgin also offers a surprisingly deep selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages on their flights. After browsing the choices, I decided to order the Karma Sparkling Wine and a nicely prepared platter of fruits, cheeses, crackers, and vegetables. The pairing was a very nice snack for the long LAX – FLL flight, however, I would suggest a more filling selection if you're really hungry. All food and beverage options can be viewed, ordered, and paid for on the video screens. The only problem I encountered with the ordering system was the flight attendants didn't seem to be in sync with customer selections.
Stress Test
The final thing I tried on Virgin America was the wi-fi. If you're in the main cabin, they offer wi-fi for $9.99 per flight or a day pass option for $14.99. They also offer additional plans for more frequent travelers. I ordered the day pass and was pleased with the service overall. I didn't have a chance to do an accurate test of the speed, but it did seem to be as fast as traditional cable modems. I did decide to push things to the limit and see if I could do a live DJ set at 128k and another one at 96k. Users reported that the sound was choppy, but I cannot verify if it was the server I was using or Virgin's wi-fi service. When I fly on Virgin more, I will be able to give further details. Overall, I was pleased with the service.
Not Everything Was Great
If there was an area Virgin America can improve on, it would be the airplane chat service and the keypad. Every passenger has their own remote with keypad underneath the arm rest. The remote features are great, but the keyboard was poor. The keys were very hard to push and tended to stick. It was also difficult to chat with speed since it took so long to hit the buttons on the keypad. After awhile, my hands began to hurt and felt fatigued from the extra work I was putting in. I would suggest a keypad similar to a cell phone for easier navigation. As for the chat feature itself, it was a nice feature to have, but I felt it needed something more to get travelers to chat. Maybe connect it with the games that are featured on the plane.
Overall, if you're in Virgin America's route network, I would highly suggest flying on them if you want a flight experience that makes you feel like you're going on vacation. Too many airlines make you feel like you're in a cattle car, but Virgin America is raising the bar and setting a service example that all airlines should strive to follow.
