Yesterday, I spent the better part of the day making my way back across the country to New York where I believe I will be for about the next week and a half or so. (I think.) I flew Virgin America for the first time, deciding to check out their relatively new cross-country service.
Overall, I was pretty impressed with the airline:
- When you board, the whole ambiance is very a hip, mellow nightclub vibe with the purple mood lighting (no joke) and the Buddha Bar-type beats pulsing subtly in the background.
- The in-flight entertainment system is similar to that on Virgin Atlantic with lots of choices of TV programming, premimum programs, movies and over a thousand music tracks. (I built a play list of about three hours of music to listen to since my iPod battery was dead.) You can also IM passengers in other seats and order food through the system.
- The planes themselves are brand new with cushy leather seats and for once, no grungy tray tables.
- Unlike JetBlue, Virgin America does have a first class section, so presumably you could earn upgrades through their frequent flyer program.
Overall, I thought the experience was pretty good, especially since the ticket counter staff, gate agents and flight attendants were actually all quite pleasant and helpful -- no surly looks and no attitudes.
The only thing that I didn't really like about it was that there was relatively little legroom. JetBlue always wins out on this one. On the Virgin flight, once your neighbour in front of you decides to recline her seat, your nose is literally only about six inches from your TV screen embedded in the back of her chair.
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