prismwiz

Reason for trip:
I decided to fly the inaugural SEA-LAX for two reasons, one was to fly on the inaugural (the flight to SFO was so fun), two was so I could spend some time with relatives who I normally don’t see but live in the LAX area. My trip was VX700 SEA-LAX VX832 LAX-SFO VX732 SFO-SEA; all on Tuesday, April 08.

VX700 SEA-LAX
I arrived at 0840 with boarding pass in hand and go directly to the A gate security checkpoint. The check-in area for VX at SEA is cool. It has 4 self serve kiosks in the middle, main cabin on the left, and a red carpet for first class on the right. The area is lit by mood lighting like on the airplanes and everything looks very Apple-esque (in a Microsoft town.) But I did not go there. Instead I went to the security checkpoint that had very little line. I pass through security easily except for one problem, I forgot about the metal detector! I was wearing an Obama ’08 pin that I forgot to take off before going through the checkpoint. That was stupid. I then go to the gate area which—unlike the SFO inaugural—had no VX employees and looked like a normal flight. For the next 30 minutes the gate area slowly filled up until 0930 when 4 gate agents arrived, they were double shifted for the inaugural. However, our plane “My Other Ride’s A Spaceship” did not arrive until 1011. Though the time past quickly because of the music playing from the GA podium and the book I am reading, Aviation Marketing and Management.

We finally start boarding our new—the flight crew said only 4 previous flights—plane at 1024, I board at 1027 in group A into my seat 3D. 3D has excellent legroom and is a great seat to sit in. Well worth the $15 extra for my short hop to LAX. The tray tables came out of the barrier between First and the main cabin, a unique design to save width in the seat. We finally push back near 1100, a slow turn for a 3/4 filled A320. The plane is filled with young children and my seatmate in 3F was very vocal in his disappointment. However, the only child that was disruptive was a lap child in First class, and only for a few minutes. I then try to listen to the Mandarin Pop radio station on Red but no sound comes out. No music from the other audio stations as well. The copilot then comes on the intercom and apologizes for the delay stating that the plane is new and some kinks need to be worked out. A nice takeoff and I have a diet coke. I then tried to watch some foreign language TV but Red stayed black. I then wanted to play a game but I crashed Linux when selecting my game. A short reboot and I tried another game to the same effect. I gave up for a while and then watched some TV and played with Red until I find a “suggestion box” under the help section. I type a long message about Red and about what routes I want VX to fly and everything works fine typing on the small remote. The family sitting across from me couldn’t listen to music either so they asked for a reboot; I ask for one after I am done submitting my message. However, my message would not submit and I asked one of the FA’s for help. She tried to write a message on the other screen for the middle seat in my row and it submits perfectly. I then rewrite my message on the middle screen but it didn’t submit. The FA’s then passed out inaugural chocolates which were Charles Chocolates and we land into the party that is LAX.

At LAX:
We arrive in time for the 1350 flight LAX-SEA for the inaugural. I exchange a few words with David Cush and he asks me how my tour was in SFO after the inaugural SEA-SFO flight. I then got picked up by my family in LA and during the 3 hours I spent with them I remembered why I don’t see them often. I arrive at 1615 to a dead terminal. The only flights going out are 3 SFO flights separated by 2 hours each, and the redeyes to IAD and JFK.

LAX-SFO-SEA

My airplane is “Jefferson Airplane” again--and I am in seat 5F again--which was the plane and seat from the SEA inaugural. Red worked fine except for the suggestion box which I had the same problem as before. I told a FA and he got me a voucher for 1 free movie, TV show, or drink. In SFO I walked around the airport and get some dinner at the end of the concourse on the left. Dining options are sparse in the A gates of the International terminal. I then board the flight on airplane N627VA to seat 15D. Red worked fine except for the suggestion box. I will send an email to [email protected] which was what was suggested in the credits of Red.

Overall:
I rate this trip a 10/10. While we left late out of SEA we were only 10 minutes late into LAX. Even though Red did not work completely on my first flight the FA’s went above and beyond trying to make it work. The only minor annoyance was the loads. All the flights were 3/4 filled at best. On most of the flights the back 5 rows were deserted. An A319 would be more appropriate (as long as it’s lit).

BearX220

How could it be a 10 / 10 when you were so late pushing back from SEA and Red never worked perfectly?

I'm sending my wife on VX SEA-SFO-IAD-LAX-SEA in two weeks' time... hope she avoids the Dark Craft.

prismwiz

We only arrived 10 minutes late into LAX and Red worked for my last two flights except for the suggestion box which I found out needs a message to be only 1 line in length. I enjoy flying so for me every flight is a 10/10 unless something bad happens. Nothing terrible happened and the FA's were apoligetic about Red's problems so the small amount of negative was canceled out in my mind.

prismwiz

I emailed Charles Ogilvie, head of Red, as I promised in my earlier writing. Here is our correspondance (bolded parts indicate personal information I omitted):

From me:
I received your email address on Virgin America flight#700 Seattle to Los Angeles on April, 8th under the credits section of help and info on Red. I flew on Virgin America on April, 8th from Seattle to Los Angeles , and later that day Los Angeles to San Francisco to Seattle (flights 732 and 832). On my first flight—the inaugural from Seattle to Los Angeles —the audio and foreign language features of Red did not work. I then found the suggestion box where I typed a suggestion to make sure Red works and changes in policy I would like Virgin America to make, namely changing Unaccompanied Minor maximum required age to eleven like United Airlines and adding Seattle to New York and Washington DC flights. However, when I went to send my suggestion it would not submit. Instead, the submit button stayed a red color and would not submit my message. I asked one of the flight attendants about the problem and she said it was the first time she had encountered it. She typed a message on the middle seat system and it submitted. However, when I retyped my message on the middle seat, the system froze again and it did not submit my message. On my next two flights, all aspects of Red worked fine except for the suggestion box which never submitted my message properly until I made it only one line. Then Red submitted on my final flight. The suggestion box did not submit long and meaningful suggestions, but only short ones. I hope that if you intended the box to end after one line you add it into the program or you change the box to accept longer suggestions. The flight attendants on my flights said that my problem with Red was unique and that they had never seen my problem with the suggestion box before. I hope you can fix this small problem. Although, Red is the best in-flight entertainment system that I have experienced, much better than jetBlue’s or Delta’s system, however some problems need to be worked out.

Thank you,

my real name
eleVAte# my eleVAte number

From Him:
Hi my real name,

Thank you very much for your email and for your multiple attempts to submit your suggestion to us. I personally apologize for the trouble you experienced from Red and we will look into this issue.

As a small token of my appreciation for taking the time to write directly to me, we are adding $25 to your Elevate account that you can use for a future flight. Please give it a few days for this to get posted and feel free to email me sooner if you need to travel.

Thanks very much again for your email and please let me know how everything works on your next flight!

Best,
Charles