Virgin America=Awesome

[Meteornotes]

I'd post my Southwest opinions, but Elissa pretty much covered them. No seat assignments and the condition of the planes do it in for me. And yeah, they're no bargain any more. I pretty much have no airline preference, as they all pretty much suck these days (customer service?!? HA!). The destination usually determines which one I'll take (going south = Airtran, for example).

 

I will say I like the reasonably priced business class upgrades on Airtran. And how you can earn free ones after some flights. That's pretty cool...

 

dt

[QuakerOaties]

When flying to and from college, Southwest is the cheapest so I always fly them. I find their planes to be comfortable and clean, as well as having pleasant staff.

 

However, for long hauls, Southwest usually isn't the cheapest! They aren't always the economy airline.

[Jew]

I've never had a problem with Southwest, but I also know it's a real crap shoot with them. I've been lucky enough to only have a soda can and a ruined magazine in the magazine pouch be the dirtiest Southwest flight I have been on, but I've heard the horror stories. I always make sure I am in the A group too, and usually only fly them out of Burbank (where they actually use the backdoor for boarding!), so I never have seating issues either.

 

But as long as Jetblue keeps their Burbank-Las Vegas route dead...Southwest will always be the airline of choice for that flight. $80-100 round trip on a 1 hour flight is much better than a 4 hour drive to me, even if it might be in a dirty plane.

 

For longer flights I usually go with nonstop redeyes out of LAX, preferibly on Delta (aside from killing Song, I've never had a problem with them either) since I have most of my miles with them. But I'll take another airline if they are more than $10-15 cheaper than the Delta flight, since it's all pretty much the same now.

 

But anyways...All legacy airlines being pretty much the same in terms of service (or lack thereof) is exactly why they keep holding the Virgin Americas of the world down. Got to protect the status quo. God forbid they get some competition on their routes that forces them to improve the experience for their customers!

[Blue0ctane]

killing Song

 

I did not know this.

[VegasCoaster]

I'd say the more competition the better. Hell I'd be doing dances if US finally just died as its been unsuccessfully been trying to do for decades. Anyone have any pics of these allegedly "hot" stewardesses?

 

I love Southwest personally. While their prices have risen unfortunately, they still have some really good deals with their Ding program thing that can get you flights for $29 from time to time. I've always found their staff to be much nicer than other companies (especially America West) and they are usually much more punctual than other airlines. I know all of this varies on a day to day basis and how bad of a day the flight attendants have been having where flights are going etc., but I've flown them for a long time and they have been pretty consistent.

[iZak]

JetBlue also flies Airbus A320s, and they, too, have the video screens on the seatbacks. You can't order food or communicate with other passengers, but there's enough to watch during a routine flight.

 

VA practically stole JetBlue's business plan...Hence, you'll probably get the same service on both airlines.

 

I'll take anything from the Virgin Group over JetBlue any time.

[krazekiddd]

Sorry to bring this back from the dead, but I saw that Virgin America starts its first flights in August.

 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Maverick airline Virgin America began selling tickets Thursday, giving travelers their first chance to book a trip on planes equipped to pamper passengers even when they aren't flying first-class.

 

The airline's inaugural flights are scheduled to take off Aug. 8 from Los Angeles and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and arrive at roughly the same time late that morning in San Francisco, which will serve as Virgin America's hub.

 

Tickets for the flights went on sale early Thursday through Virgin America's Web site and customer service number, 877-359-8474. A one-way ticket between Los Angeles and San Francisco started at $44, while one-way tickets San Francisco-New York started at $139.

 

Burlingame-based Virgin America also is selling tickets for flights to Las Vegas and Washington, D.C., scheduled to start in September and October.

 

Online ticket sales were slowed by an apparent hacker attack on Virgin America's Web site, airline spokesman Gareth Edmondson Jones said Thursday. The airline was still trying to fix the problem and identify the culprits Thursday afternoon.

 

Conceived by British billionaire Richard Branson, Virgin America is promising to shake up the U.S. airline industry by making flying a more luxurious experience at affordable prices. The airline has raised nearly $300 million from investors, led by Branson's Virgin Group, which controls the British-based Virgin Atlantic airline.

 

Virgin America's fleet of aircraft will include the latest high-tech equipment so passengers can order food from their seats, watch movies or television, listen to music and even plan their travel itinerary using Google Inc.'s popular online maps. Access to the maps will be built into Virgin America's entertainment system.

 

A first-class ticket, which will start at $149 for one-way flights between San Francisco and Los Angeles, will buy seating in a massage chair, among other amenities.

 

Virgin had to weather an unusual amount of turbulence to reach this point.

 

Several major U.S. airlines, including AMR Corp.'s American, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Continental Airlines Inc., tried to block Virgin America from entering the market. The airlines argued that Virgin America's ties to Branson violated federal laws capping foreign control of a U.S. airline at 25 percent.

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation sided with the airlines and initially denied Virgin America's application late last year.

 

Refusing to give up, Virgin America made a series of concessions that included selling more stock to U.S. investors and making a commitment to replace its current chief executive, Fred Reid, who was hired by Branson.

 

Reid, a former Delta executive, must step down by mid-November to comply with the order that cleared Virgin America for takeoff.

 

"It's slightly bittersweet for me, but the important thing is Virgin America gets to fly," Reid said.

 

The airline already has about 400 workers and expects to expand its payroll to more than 1,000 people during the next year. It plans to be flying to at least 10 cities by August 2008.

 

 

Article

[CoastersNSich]

I flew on Southwest from Columbus to Baltimore/Washington last week, round-trip, for under $140 round-trip. If I would have flown on another carrier, especially if it were to Reagan or Dulles it would have been more, and EVEN MORE out of Cincinnati which Delta has a stronghold on. Not to mention, Southwest had 5 departures a day from CMH to BWI and 5 vice versa.

 

And now, I've got an older car that I didn't want to drive all the way to Washington DC - even if it's got good gas mileage, the gas does add up, and it puts more wear-and-tear on me and the car. Greyhound requires 10 hours, Amtrak leaves Cinti Union Terminal late at night a few times a week. Southwest proved to be the best choice, low-cost AND fast!

 

My flight from CMH to BWI was full and I was in C-group, but I managed to get an aisle seat in the very back. Back to Columbus, I got a window seat near the back in B-group, and C-group was only half-dozen or so people.

 

If the price is right, I'll definitely fly Southwest again.

 

More related to this topic, don't hold your breath waiting for Virgin (or any of these popular low-cost airlines) to fly out of Cincinnati.