Saturday, September 12, 2009

My First Time on Virgin America

GoPicnic Galaxy Munch and Teance Tea

After noticing these guys operating out of SFO last time, we wanted to be sure to give them a try this time around, and I'm so glad that we did. This airline kicks a$$! Everything about the experience, from the overly simple self check-in process to the posh mood lighting and leather seats inside made me wonder why I even bothered with other airlines in the past. The economy class here was better than many first class cabins - space constraints aside of course. And this was considered a low cost carrier!

The cabin service was unique too, as the flight attendants didn't push any carts down the aisleway nor handled any cash. Instead, one places his food order using the touchscreen and credit card driven system at each seat, after which they bring out your order. I grabbed this simple snack box from GoPicnic, which I nibbled on while watching satellite TV and even discovering some snippets of Eddie Murphy's Delirious on the audio part of the system ("Goonie Goo Goo!"). With all of that at hand, I couldn't be bothered to think about plugging into the laptop power outlets and in-flight Wi-Fi.

One still had to put up with all of the frustrations upon arrival at LAX though, which I have to remember *not* to fly into next time. And that of course is the shortcoming of this otherwise great airline: it's so new that its destinations are very limited. So Star Alliance is still going to keep me going, even if the other Virgin airlines around the world provide a similar experience. But next time I need to head down to SoCal or Vegas, I'll try to fly Virgin if I can. Richard Branson really knows how to do it right.

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