You said it: Virgin America is “thinking outside the box”

I‘ve written about Virgin America several times in the recent past, and have even had a chance to fly with it.

Despite the occasional glitch, I think it would be fair to call me a fan of the airline.

I’m not alone. Here’s a note from reader Jeff Allen. He works for an engineering firm in Boston, and decided to give Virgin America a try for his weekly commutes to LAX.

“I fly a lot,” he says. “These folks at Virgin seem to have figured some stuff out that is really interesting.”

He continues,

First, the aircraft are newer and seem to have a much better setup.

I have been traveling in their premium economy section and there is more than enough room. They have WiFi (been a big Delta fan for this for some time now) plus power. The former one is huge going west when the headwinds can cause that trip to be 6+ hours.

They also have their food and beverage service tied into the TV. You want a drink or something to snack on, just order it up on you own timeline. No more drink cart smashing into my knee of shoulder.

The seats are just a tad wider also. I don’t know by how much but I don’t feel like I am wedged into them.

Check in had been a breeze and the website is very good. I have had to move flight time, cancel flights, and used canceled flight credits. I have been able to do all of this without having to talk to an agent.

I hate to even reveal this gem, as the flights are pretty full but I haven’t yet had to suffer a middle seat.

They do seem to be lacking a customer loyalty program. I don’t know if that’s good or bad these days. When I fly other airlines and they announce the “elite” boarding it seems that half the boarding area gets inline. At least the premium economy seats are limited to about 12 so when that is announced you still in a very short line.

Anyway, someone to keep and eye on. They seem to be thinking outside the box. I really think if more airline executives took a flight in their own coach section they may see how much of a difference a few inches or a smile does on a long journey.

Point of clarification: Virgin America actually has a loyalty program called Elevate. Thanks to reader Kara Jones for the catch.

(Photo: Pat card/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • larry b

    Chris,
    I wholeheartedly second your point of clarification!

  • Tom

    New airlines have a built in advantage — they start with new planes and employees at the low end of the salary scale. Older airlines are stuck with older planes and older employees. Virgin also has the advantage of being backed by Virgin Atlantic, the British company that owns a sizeable portion of the slots at Heathrow.

  • robbg

    I wish I could get them to serve Phoenix.

  • LarryB

    I guess they must have made their website more reliable. Last time I flew with them, my fiancee and I had reserved seats for our flight from LAX -> SEA, but when we checked in we wound up with middle seats far apart. The best the counter agent could do was get us middle seats one behind the other. Still, a small nit for an otherwise pleasant experience.

  • http://cestbeth.net Elizabeth Smith

    Virgin America does have a customer loyalty program called Elevate, but it appears to be a rewards program, not one that awards elite status: http://virginamerica.com/frequent-flyer/elevate-program.html

  • Kevin M

    Tom,

    New airlines don’t always have new planes; airlines return planes to leasing companies all the time and startups often lease used planes to begin service (and sometimes keep them for quite a while). VA may have all (or mostly) new planes, but that’s due to a conscious decision on their part, not an evitable consequence of being “new”.

  • Joe in Calif

    well, all they need to do is have new interiors – because you will never know of the innards of the airplane or engines is new – keep that in mind the next time you see a rehabbed airplane interior . .. .

    that said – its amazing when a company decides to treat their customers as if their business depended upon it . . .

  • http://modhop.com Jake Redman

    While my only experience with flying Virgin America has been through a guest doing a video review on modhop.com , I’m impressed but unlikely to fly them soon. While the elevate program appears to be a decent option for exclusive transcon and short-haul western travelers, I think those who do more all-over-the-place flying would be better off sticking to a legacy carrier for the mileage opportunities. I’m also confused by their “main cabin select” option which can be quite pricey if you book in advance, but an incredible bargain if you’re able to snag one on flight day. Perhaps I’ll do a short SFO-LAX trip one of these days and become a convert.

  • http://www.santafetravelers.com santafetraveler

    Wish they served our out of the way airport Albuquerque. Maybe with the Spaceport (another Branson) enterprise coming here they will.

  • Al B

    I’m a big fan of Virgin America and Elevate, and used points for an LAX-IAD trip last month. Booking and selecting a window seat on the website couldn’t have been simpler.

    Meal service was good in both directions. Orders arrived in less than five minutes after being punched up on the seatback screen.

    They don’t fly everywhere I need to go, but I consider them whenever they do.

  • Jackie

    Virgin America has definitely become my airline of choice- I always check flights there first, and yes, even am willing to pay more for the privilege of having really excellent in-flight entertainment, personalized food service, and friendly staff. In addition, their change fees are not as onerous as, say, Delta ($75 when done online as opposed to $150). And their first class seats are sublime!

  • Mekhong Kurt

    I have a question for whoever at the airline makes decisions about establishing new routes: when in heck are you going to start flying trans-PACIFIC ones??? I’d love that!

  • Dave

    Just wanted to mention that VX seats ARE wider than most flying the BOS-LAX route. Airbus seats are normally 18″ wide, while Boeing seats are 17″. That one inch makes a world of difference!

  • Stan

    While I have to agree that the planes look newer, the seats aren’t any bigger and, unlike, Jet Blue, they charge for the first checked bag so until Jet Blue starts screwing up like the majors, Virgin will only be a second choice.

  • Stephen – NYC

    Maybe we should get the CBS folks to have an airline CEO work as an Undercover Boss. It always amazes me when I see the end scenes (I don’t watch the show, but record CSI: Miami a few minutes early) and they say they learned a lot doing the work. If CEOs came from the ground up, I think they’d know more about the business rather than just seeing customers and employees as numbers in a spreadsheet.

  • http://www.twolaptopbag.com Mark Spritzler

    I have flown Virgin America many times. Their Elevate program is very different. The mileage points or points is really based on the dollar amount you spent not the actual miles. So for me I have 23K points, but I must have flown over 50K miles on Virgin. But you can use those points on any flight anytime, and for a flight form LA to JFK that is only 13k points to use to fly for free.

    I agree that I would love to maximize my points on an airline to reach elite status and get upgrades, but if the city I need to travel to is flown by Virgin America, I much rather have the great travel experience than hope that I get to elite on another program. I was Silver elite on American Airlines and all that got for me was boarding the plane a little earlier, which someone pointed out is with the first half of the travelers.

    I also bought a First Class ticket on Virgin from LAX to SFO and really enjoyed their first class area. Great comfortable seats.

    I have been in first class on a few other airlines and besides getting a really big seat, there was no other really nice thing about it, except boarding early. But Virgin does have the right ideas.