REVIEW: VIRGIN AMERICA AIRLINES

Its dawn at LAX, and Im tired and cranky. The good news is, the people who work at Virgin America are neither; in fact, they’re so relentlessly chirpy and perky, that if I didn’t know better, I’d start wondering about substance abuse issues. But no, these folks were just darn nice. And so was their airline!

I flew Virgin America from Los Angeles to San Francisco and back this past Monday, traveling First Class one way, Economy the other. I took advantage of just about everything Branson’s baby had to offer, and here’s what I liked.

MOOD LIGHTING: Thought this was going to be truly stupid: I envisioned lava lamps throbbing away throughout the cabin, bathing all in an eerie glow. Turns out, I liked my mood lighting and I was not alone. “Whoa!” said a passenger on entering the cabin, “this looks sweet, man.” And what does sweet look like? Well, picture a semi-dark cabin enlivened with a pinky-purpley aura, the sort of colors little girls dress Barbie in. Sounds sick, but it works! And its actually quite soothing, with an added bonus: we haggard-looking passengers appeared almost human under these oh-so-flattering lights.

MEN IN BLACK: The female flight attendants uniforms were so-so: uninspired red sweaters over white blouses with black slacks. Different story for the guys, though; they looked like international men of mystery! Very trendy in their black shirts and black pants; a little retro, a little futuristic, a whole lot cool. Oh, and I saw 2-pilots, and guess what? THEY WERE WEARING THE SAME BLACK-ON-BLACK OUTFITS! Tres egalitarian!

RUB ME THE RIGHT WAY: The massage chair; this is why First Class was invented! You hit the button on the armrest (see my finger, above left) and then curl your toes in ecstasy (see my curled toes hidden by shoes above right). I should say, these first class seats are comfortable even without the massage mechanism; sort of like sitting in your Dads La-Z-boy. But press the button and go ahhh. Then do it again!

FINE FOOD: In First Class, we got a free breakfast of fruit and yogurt and prosciutto and pickle, stylishly served in sqare-cornered cups. When I switched over to Economy, we got Red. Red is the seat-back screen for all passengers, and Red has many functions including food service. Watch Red display a menu; you order by simply touching the screen, then swiping your credit card.

FREE DELIVERY: Once you order your food, a flight attendant brings it to you immediately; you don’t have to wait while everyone else is served from that sloooow-moving cart.

FUN AND GAMES: Virgin America has movies and music, and even TV, but so do other airlines. Ah, but do other airlines give you the ability to chat with someone seated 20-rows behind you? Virgin does; just pick out a user-name for yourself (see mine, above) and see if anyone will talk to you, or perhaps have you arrested for stalking.

The best thing about Virgin? The airline did as promised: it got me where I needed to go, when I needed to be there, and at a more than fair price.
Of course, the prices may go up, but I suspect the quality will remain the same, or it will, if Richard Branson keeps those all those nice people I met this week, right where they should be on the job.

–Anne