Virgin America - Lots of hype, not much substance
Nov 29, 2007, 11:27 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7
Virgin America - Lots of hype, not much substance
Tuesday, 11/27/2007 Depart: Los Angeles, CA (LAX) at 4:05 PM
Flight 1852 Arrive: San Francisco, CA (SFO) at 5:25 PM
First of all, I want to say that the employees of Virgin America have all been overly friendly, if not a little green and lacking in experience...but friendly, young and fresh none-the-less. Kudos to them for that.
That being said, Virgin America had a long time to fly "paper planes" and get their product perfected, yet when we boarded the aircraft we were handed little red envelopes, with no explanation as to what they were. With all of the hype of Virgin America, one was expecting, at the least a thank you letter for flying VX, or maybe a funny little marketing piece. But no, inside the envelope was letter, explaining that all of the things VX is using to differentiate themselves from the rest of the industry wouldn't be available on our flight, as they hadn't finished building out the A319 we were on, yet. What did that mean? No RED system - thus no way to order drinks, food or watch this "cutting edge system". No bulkheads - thus those of us that paid $15 more to sit in row 3, while having lots of legroom, didn't even have tray tables to set anything (drinks) on. No in-seat power - so much for getting some work done after sitting in the 3rd world bus terminal called Terminal 6 at LAX that has nary a power outlet.
Personally, the cabin announcements were a bit to cheeky. The F/A spiel was fine, but the 50-something Captain coming out with his frat boy like welcome speech and the announcement that, "it's going to be bumpy, I probably won't turn the seatbelt sign off the whole flight...it will be like an e-ticket ride" flies in the face of what professional flight crew do, by trying to reassure their passengers they are trying to do everything for their comfort...poor show on VX.
The gate agent, very nicely, said he would credit my card the $15.00 for the seat upgrade, what I got was a $15.00 Elevate credit...which I have no idea what I can do with, as after 2 years from inception, they still don't have a FF program figured out.
Oh, and that red envelope we received at the gate, it had a free drink coupon - which I probably won't ever use.
VX to the Bay Area? No thanks - I will stick with UA. Their planes might be shabbier, the passengers not as hip, but the schedules are MUCH more convenient, the flight crew are more grown up and I can earn miles that are actually redeemable for something.
Flight 1852 Arrive: San Francisco, CA (SFO) at 5:25 PM
First of all, I want to say that the employees of Virgin America have all been overly friendly, if not a little green and lacking in experience...but friendly, young and fresh none-the-less. Kudos to them for that.
That being said, Virgin America had a long time to fly "paper planes" and get their product perfected, yet when we boarded the aircraft we were handed little red envelopes, with no explanation as to what they were. With all of the hype of Virgin America, one was expecting, at the least a thank you letter for flying VX, or maybe a funny little marketing piece. But no, inside the envelope was letter, explaining that all of the things VX is using to differentiate themselves from the rest of the industry wouldn't be available on our flight, as they hadn't finished building out the A319 we were on, yet. What did that mean? No RED system - thus no way to order drinks, food or watch this "cutting edge system". No bulkheads - thus those of us that paid $15 more to sit in row 3, while having lots of legroom, didn't even have tray tables to set anything (drinks) on. No in-seat power - so much for getting some work done after sitting in the 3rd world bus terminal called Terminal 6 at LAX that has nary a power outlet.
Personally, the cabin announcements were a bit to cheeky. The F/A spiel was fine, but the 50-something Captain coming out with his frat boy like welcome speech and the announcement that, "it's going to be bumpy, I probably won't turn the seatbelt sign off the whole flight...it will be like an e-ticket ride" flies in the face of what professional flight crew do, by trying to reassure their passengers they are trying to do everything for their comfort...poor show on VX.
The gate agent, very nicely, said he would credit my card the $15.00 for the seat upgrade, what I got was a $15.00 Elevate credit...which I have no idea what I can do with, as after 2 years from inception, they still don't have a FF program figured out.
Oh, and that red envelope we received at the gate, it had a free drink coupon - which I probably won't ever use.
VX to the Bay Area? No thanks - I will stick with UA. Their planes might be shabbier, the passengers not as hip, but the schedules are MUCH more convenient, the flight crew are more grown up and I can earn miles that are actually redeemable for something.
Last edited by RickS2R; Nov 30, 2007 at 12:19 am
Nov 30, 2007, 6:58 pm
#5
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,333
It sounds like OP was saying that the bulkhead which the row 3 tray tables are attached to were not fully installed yet. (F is row 1-2)
Dec 1, 2007, 2:17 am
#7
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: SYD+TYO+GFK
Programs: UA 1K, QF Plat, VA Gold, IHG Spire Ambassador, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, Coles FlyBuys
Posts: 2,805
Welcome to FlyerTalk RickS2R! Thanks for weighing in on VX... sounds like they really let themselves down on this one. Our esteemed trip report guru Carfield has written a couple of TRs about VX, seems his experiences were much more positive than yours. Hopefully they get the kinks worked out.
I would highly recommend you write the airline a letter, even cutting and pasting what you already wrote. Maybe ask for some "real" compensation that you can use, e.g., 15 actual dollars. At worst, nothing happens; at best, they get some constructive feedback and you get some compensation.
I would highly recommend you write the airline a letter, even cutting and pasting what you already wrote. Maybe ask for some "real" compensation that you can use, e.g., 15 actual dollars. At worst, nothing happens; at best, they get some constructive feedback and you get some compensation.