If I were to describe Virgin America this is what I would say.
Imagine if the Airlines never stopped innovating in the mid eighties, and the flying experience got better. If you fly Virgin America you are getting an end to end flight experience that represents what flying is supposed to be like in 2008.
or
If Apple started an Airline the experience would be Virgin America.
Do I really need to say any more? Virgin is simply the best domestic flying experience I’ve had, both in First Class and in Coach. Let’s examine the experience.
But first, if you are short on time, here are the bullets:
- Great airport terminals at both SFO/SEA
- AC Power in every seat
- Nice Friendly Employees
- Good Food and Drinks with on-demand ordering
- Fantastic in-flight entertainment
- Comfortable seats in First Class and Coach
The Airport
When you fly Virgin at SFO you are leaving from International Terminal A. There are very few airports in the world that are nicer than flying the International terminal at SFO. Built in 2000, it’s pretty much a fantastic terminal, from the attached parking garage with reasonable short term parking rates, to the amazingly short security line, to the great food offerings and plenty of seating.
On the SEA side of things you are flying out of Concourse A, which is also brand new, and not crowded. Comparing this to the mayhem of Terminal C and D where Alaska flys is not fair, but it’s an amazing contrast.
The Plane
Virgin has a fleet of brand new Airbus A320 and A319s. the Airbus narrow body fleet(A319, A320) are equivalent to the Boeing 737 series (737-700, 737-800, 737-900) and the Airbus A321 is equivalent to the Boeing 757.
Personally I like Airbus planes. My favorite plane to fly is the A340-300 which is equivalent to the 767 but 20 years newer. The smaller Airbusses are comfortable, quite and have all the latest and greatest technology. The cockpit is impressive.
Since the plane is brand new, it has a leg on everything anyone else flys domestically. Continental, Delta, American, United have increasingly aging fleets, and you can get stuck flying a 20 year old plane that has never had a cabin refresh.
The first thing you will notice is the cabin. The best way to describe it is the lobby of a W Hotel. There is pink and purple mood lighting, white leather seats in first class and black leather seats in coach with white iPod like plastic everywhere.
There is no carpet on the walls, no carpet dividers, no curtains, nothing that can get old and crappy worn out looking.
Instead of a "no smoking light" next to the "seatbelt" light, there is a "no portable electronics" light. Why hasn't every single airline replaced that stupid no smoking light with a no electronics light? I mean Hello, how many years has it been since smoking was allowed domestically?
All the seats have little steps for folks to place their bags in the overhead bins. This is a nice little touch.
BTW, all the airplanes have names. I flew to SEA on Jefferson Airplane. Virgin has always had an awesome sense of humor.
First Class
There are 8 First Class seats. Buying a first class ticket is reasonable compared to say American or United, but you’ll pay a few hundred dollars one way for one. I upgraded to First Class during the checkin process for $50, which was well worth it IMHO.
The seats in first class rival the Business Class seats on International Carriers (albeit no lie-flat). You have a motorized seat with presets like “Take off”, “Comfort” and “Relax” as well as massage functionality.
The seats have 55 inches of seat pitch. Compare that to Alaska's 37 inches and you feel like you are actually in First Class.
There are nice little touches like numerous pockets in the seat in front of you for your iPod, magazines, books, laptops as well as an AC outlet, USB outlet and Ethernet port in each seat (Ethernet is not lit up yet).
When you take off you get an appetizer served in trendy containers, followed by drinks and a hot meal with silverware. My breakfast was a stuffed tomato with potatoes. It was yummy.
Coach
The coach seats have 32 inches of seat pitch, which is not bad, but not great. Many airlines actually have 31 inches of seat pitch, which for a 6 foot 3 inch person is knee crushing. 32 inches is tolerable but short of Jet Blue’s 34 and 36 inches throughout their cabin. Luckily you can pay $15 more for a reserved exit row seat (or in my case the lady who checked me in gave me one). You get about 4 more inches in the Exit Row.
The A320 is noticeably wider than a 737 so the seats are a bit more comfortable (19.7 inches wide vs 17inches on A Boeing 737). Also, the seats have a physically smaller, thinner skeleton which actually increases the amount of room in the row. If you fly an old United plane with those ridiculously thick fat coach seats (which are not more comfortable) then you know what I mean.
The Coach seats also have power, usb and ethernet in each seat. The tray tables have little built in cup holders when they are folded up so you can, you know, go the the bathroom and allow other people in your aisle to do so without spilling crap. Thoughtful touch.
Do you have any idea how useful it is to have AC Power in every seat? It means I can use my laptop on the flight and arrive for work with a full battery, or that I can use my laptop on the plane and not run out of juice.
Food
In Coach you can order Drinks, Food and Snacks
Snacks are priced from $1 to $2. My options were:
- Buffalo Wing Chips
- Snack Mix
- Breakfast Oat Bar
- Chocholate Chip Cookie
- Organig Cranberry Nutbar
- Strawberry Fruit Leather
Meals are priced from $8 to $12. My options were
- Antipasto Salad
- Turkey Bacon Wrap
- Half Caprese Sandwich with Salad
- Fruit and Cheese Plate
Drinks are priced free to $6 and you get:
- Water
- Soft Drinks
- Beer & Wine
- Vodka, Rum etc
I placed an order for a snack and a bottle of water and it arrived in 3 minutes. I swiped my amex card into the remote dongle and it processed it immediately. Virgin is cashless, so you have to pay with a credit card. No waiting for the host to get you change any more.
Entertainment System
Both Coach and First Class have the same entertainment system. You have a physically large wide screen LCD touchscreen display to interact with called “Red”. You can also control the screen via the remote control dongle.
Red allows you to:
- Listen to Local Radio stations (similar to what you can listen to on virginRadio).
- Listen to a local collection of music (good stuff actually)
- Watch TV
- Watch a Movie
- Play Games
- Order food and drinks from your seat
- Chat with your passengers via chat enabled keyboard.
In the future you’ll be able to surf the web. The sound quality of the music is great, a far cry from what you experience on any American carrier (no hissing, low volume, or static).
There is plenty to keep you busy. And this is key. When are delayed 30 minutes during a ground delay at SFO you don’t care cause you barely notice.
While flying I noticed a bunch of friends sitting in different seats on the plane all chatting with each other. I thought that was pretty cool.
The Crew
Everyone that works for Virgin America is HAPPY. That’s right, they are smiling… most of them are young, energetic, polite, helpful and not patronizing or annoying. And who can blame them… they haven’t spent years working for an Airline that has gone bankrupt a few dozen times and has managed to screw them out of their pension, health benefits or whatnot. I do not believe any of Virgin’s employees are unionized.
On our flight we had about 20 folks connecting to LA in SFO. The flight crew busted their ass to get folks off the plane and to their connection by moving folks and their bags in the overhead bins to the front of the plane where possible and helping people with their luggage. I can't remember the last time I saw a airline employee go above and beyond like this.
During the flight the pilot was also awesome about being honest about our delays, how long we should expect to be on the runway, holding and so on.
The Schedule
For the SFO <-> SEA traveler, the schedule could not be better. 9:10 am flight in the morning, and 5:10 pm return flight getting me home for dinner with my wife.
Suggestions for Virgin
Some ideas for the future:
- Remember everything I listen to on the flight and store in with my eleVAte membership
- Preload my playlists and favorite radio stations when I board the flight.
- Follow the JetBlue route and assign a certain number of rows more leg room
Final Thoughts
I don’t know what else to say. Virgin is the best airline in the country. There is little to complain about, and a lot to love. My college roommate is a pilot for Virgin having spent years working at United Express and America West (now US Air). He loves his airline.
I salute Virgin for bringing some dignity back to domestic air travel. Now if they could just do something for the TSA run security line.