Civilized Indeed; Virgin’s main cabin product

Flying Virgin America from Fort Lauderdale to Seattle with a connection at Los Angeles (LAX) was something I was only sort of looking forward to. I had flown Virgin previously in first class from Los Angeles to New York JFK and was concerned that flying them in economy might actually be painful. Luckily for everyone on board, including myself, there was nothing but pleasure in store for me on board my Virgin America A-320.

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Jetiquette @ Check-in

Even if you’ve not flown them, you can’t help but notice how uniquely welcoming the Virgin America ticketing areas are at any of their destinations. More boutique hotel reception than airport ticket office; the floral arrangements and decor speak the Virgin Brand of hip sophistication and add warmth, peace and civility to a normally anxiety producing stage of air travel. The ticket agent assisted me within 45 seconds, making pleasant conversation and even started off my day with a few compliments on my appearance and even my Pan Am bag. Wow, I was in love and I had not even stepped on-board yet!

At the gate

Once I arrived at the gate, I inquired as to the availability of first class seats for a possible upgrade. Yes, I was getting jittery about flying coach again. The lovely gate agent informed me that all of the first class passengers had checked in. She did let me know that there were main cabin select seats available, for $129 upgrade fee, which provide a bit more legroom along with complimentary snacks and cocktails. I opted to keep my original seat as I was now determined I would gain character from the experience of enduring a coach seat. As I later found out, I only became more spoiled from the experience; character building will have to take place on my next legacy airline flight in coach.

On-Board

The boarding process was as civilized as it could be. Virgin’s group boarding worked beautifully and I my new attitude was rewarded with an empty seat next to me. Red, their branded entertainment system was waiting for me and I dove right in finding my favorite channels already available for viewing. Now I was able to don my headset and completely tune out the rest of the boarding process– perfection so far!

In-flight Entertainment

There is not another domestic product in the United States, or anywhere else I am aware of for that matter, that measures up to that created by Virgin America. Red not only offers amazing choices of music and video entertainment but also succeeds in taking the inflight service element to a new level of civility. More on that later.

I was able to flip through the live television channels, landing on BravoTV; which I will admit I am addicted to. I was able to feed my craving from coast to coast with nonstop Real Housewives of Everyplace, Rachel Zoe and Million Dollar Decorator. See, this was an cultural and educational experience as well!

Dining on Virgin America

Virgin has reinvented the concept of buy-on-board snacks; starting from scratch to put something together that resembles having your own personal flight attendants. Once airborne, I was able to navigate to the “Eat” section of my Red system to view a selection of snacks like I’ve never seen before in coach. There were several fresh choices of sandwiches and gourmet salads, plus the standard shelf stable snacks. I opted for the Texas Barbeque Sandwich and a fruit and cheese tray and even treated myself to a sparking wine to wash it all down.

The entire transaction, from the selection to payment, was done right on my screen. The system gives you the option of swiping your credit card through the remote control headset of the slot built in to the bottom of the screen.

Can’t wait for my next flight! TIP: Pick a seat at the front of the cabin and order your snack immediately after take off since some main cabin select customers take the concept of “complimentary snacks and cocktails” too far, but that is a later Jetiquette post.

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