InAugural Day VIRGIN America SEA-SFO return PICS & VIDEO
Mar 22, 2008, 7:52 pm
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Join Date: Jun 2002
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InAugural Day VIRGIN America SEA-SFO return PICS & VIDEO
It’s March 17th and less than 24 hours before my inaugural flight on Virgin America out of Seattle to San Francisco. I’ve been in love with flying and planes since I was very young – even obtained my pilots certificate. With 1MM with the One World alliance mainly from AA I’ve had a chance to be around the globe a number of times and the crème de la crème for me has been Cathay Pacific but never have I been so excited 
to try a new carrier then now. The USA needs some stiff competition for sure domestically so it’s with great anticipation that I start this travel report about my first time as a passenger on Virgin!
I’ve purchased an F ticket outbound and then a Y ticket for the return seats 2A and 3C, respectively. At the time of booking I was hopeful that the outbound in F would have some food of some sorts other than drinks and I guess the Y return should be typical of their product offering regardless of the time.
I’m saving my outbound check-in for at the airport so I can see what it is like there. I did however just use web check-in for the return portion since I only have 45 minutes as a layover and I don’t want to go outside of security whilst in San Francisco. Web check-in worked great – I was using my Firefox browser on my Mac and while I thought it was a little slow from the point of my clicking the mouse it all worked well. I did like getting the boarding pass as a pdf file and saved it.
So it’s off to bed before an exciting day of flying the Virgin A320 tomorrow.
CHECKIN
Arrival at the airport was as smooth as it gets. Virgin America’s signage was right next to Northwest Airlines. I arrived for the 510P VX733 flight to SFO. It was not thee first flight out of SEA for VX but still same inaugural day so it was close enough for me to still consider it the inaugural flight. Red carpet was rolled out for F class checkin. As has been reported you can use the kiosks or counter to check in. I decided to try the kiosks and it’s just as simple and easy as doing web check in. Amazing how “apple-ish” the whole area seems with all the white around you. The boarding pass was just a little short thing compared to other carriers – I’d learn something else about this on the return. Since I was so early and it was so dead at check-in I got to chat it up with the VX staff there and even the station manager came out to say hello. I could not get any info about their frequent flyer program that you can’t already find out on their website. Very friendly staff, smiles everywhere. There CEO was there earlier and of course while he made now route promises I heard he said it’s a possible goal to perhaps offer VX from SEA direct to NYC or even Chicago. Plenty of VX staff around to help you out should you need it. Pleasant experience! ^
GATE AREA
Gate area as you can see in the pics was decked out with red carpet, red everything it seemed including a huge wall banner. Earlier they had t-shirts and a full buffet spread from what I hear. I did not have to wait long before the SFO flight arrived and was unloading and preparing for return to SFO with me aboard.
FIRST CLASS
At the time of boarding even with a bar-code on my boarding pass seemed it was not working for any of us so they manually typed in the computer that I had boarded. Walking down the jetway there were two styles of headphones for you to take with you – earbuds and then the typical over the ear kind.
Upon entering the a/c for sure it was different. Seems many shades had been pulled and indeed you were basked in the blue and red lights with the purple clear acrylic dividers and then you could see those all leather white F seats. ^ The lead FA greeted me and I went to my 2A seat. We had 5 out of the 8 F seats filled and I had Dexter next to me who was testing out VX just like me though he was headed to SAN.
F - SEATS
Truly amazing! ^ Literally reminds me of J class on some international flights with all the legroom. At 5ft 11in I could literally stretch my feet straight out and have another 3 to 4 inches before touching the seat in front of me. If it was me I’d loose those 3 inches and see if it was feasible for even another row of F seats. Later in the flight I found out from the FA indeed they were considering adding a third row. Time will tell. Everything about the seat worked except the massage function.
Recline was huge, leg rest was nice though I thought it was a little slow to rise up.^ My left arm rest was a full arm rest. My right arm rest was not. It was ala Cathay Pacific where they have an oval cut out in them since it also stores the remote control. This was probably my biggest dis-like of these seats and I find it annoying so that is where my pillow went. They did provide bright red pillows and blankets. I don’t ever like the side lights and prefer to use the overhead lights but at night to be respectful of your neighbors it makes sense. Standard over head controls existed. I must say the seat controls are very german – reminds me of a Mercedes or BMW how they are shaped. I think they have space to add a seat pocket for all windows seats, right between the seat and the window. There is a little table between the seats that folds – it’s cool how they designed the folding portion.^
MEAL
Quite surprisingly they were going to serve dinner.
^ I was not expecting it as I thought with such a short flight we’d likely only get appetizers and drinks. Sadly they had NO bubbly.
First came the three appetizers in clear plastic containers. Marinated portabella mushrooms, Soba Noodles and finally sweet Thai beef salad. I found everything quite good and they could have increased the portions of all and made that a meal all to itself. Drinks were included in real glasses. Dinner followed and you had a choice of two entrees. I chose the Duck Ragu served with gnocchi and carrots.^ Quite tasty and was not as salty as other airplane meals. The other entrée to choose from was veggie ravioli. The FA said they will always serve meals on every flight between SEA and SFO. The entrees came on ceramic white plates. In between the appetizer and entrée the FA came around and served rolls. Two kinds to choose from including butter or margarine. I thought it was weird the roll was merely placed on your tray, no plate no nothing and I had not seen how those trays came out of the carts – just a passing though about sanitation is my point. While the FA did describe the service she would provide and the menu somehow as good as F was I somehow though they should have had something printed – not sure why I’d think this as with other domestics it’s not always done. There is no curtain in the galley for the FA at this time she said they had them and there was some problem so they had to have some customization before they will return. Meals I heard are on a three month rotation and they have just started a new rotation. Dessert was merely chocolates and I did inquire they had Bailey’s but that was all.
Other flights offer the following for meals: Lunch - Stuffed Mushroom or Smoked chicken quiche with apples, banana bread and muffins. Breakfast – Stuffed tomato with asparagus and bacon potato hash or three cheese frittata. FA said every meal comes with the three appetizers though they vary with time of day. Transcon’s get additional half turkey bacon wrap (sounded like what was in coach). Red eyes will have appetizers and muffins only it sounded like they had more food but no one was eating vs. sleeping.
ENTERTAINMENT
RED is just awesome^ and very much similar to Cathay’s and British Airways my two closest reference points. AVOD which includes a touch screen and a remote control. The touch screen again kinda made me think about sanitation and all those other people before me who may have touched the screen. Music came up on the screen just like ITunes and included 48 pages of songs from all genres you could pick from. There was live TV (just like JetBlue) which at the time seemed like 19 channels were functioning and then what they dubbed Premium TV which was free in F but you had to pay for it in coach. Sorry I am not going to pay for Ugly Betty. As reported yes they were having issues with the audio and it seems like because of the jacks or the headphones provided. I used my Bose set and it worked fine but my seatmate had real issues with his audio including when he did fire up the games his whole system froze and had to be restarted. Google maps was awesome but very slow to update and at times just frozen unless you refreshed the page. I think VX could use RED to put on the F menu and then you can read it for yourself. Plenty of movies were on RED too. In F I and seatmate next to me found how you positioned the screen to be awkward at times because of limited swivel room as it was right next to your seat mates. The really cool part was the CHAT function – whether it was seat to seat or in a room viewing one of the TV channels.
STAFF
I thought most all their staff was very friendly. Tracy was the lead FA and she is number 4 on the seniority list having flown with other carriers she was very nice and bubbly and did well. I found it very interesting that the pilot came out of the cockpit for making the pre-flight announcement and welcome. Additionally his uniform was very relaxed dressing in all black similar to the coach FA’s but with a little tinge of red near the collar. Tracy said they are going to change that and add epaulets’ for the pilots and well deserved if you ask me considering their training. Just seems like the respectful thing to do IMHO. When the pilot made some announcements I found it interesting that he referred to everyone as the “in-flight team.”^
COACH
With a very short 15 minutes in SFO, long enough to stretch my legs and use the restroom I was back again boarding the return flight – this time in coach. While I had used web check in I decided to ask at the gate if they would re-print my boarding pass and they obliged which then came out as the typical version we are all used too although using colorful red stock.
Y - SEATS
My seat was 3A the bulkhead and yes I did pay an extra $15 for this seat. ^ I did not really want anyone in front of me and I also wanted to be close to F class to make sure I did not miss anything to report on. Coach seats were fine. I’d call them typical of any coach with the exception of the black leather and headrests. Arm rests between seats went up slightly but not completely and again each arm rest had the oval cutouts where the remote control was stored. Once airborne I did roam the a/c to see what the rest of the plane was like in coach. I would pay the extra $$ to get a bulkhead seat but I think my preference next time would be to take the exit row seats. I do like to stretch out my legs completely and not because I’m tall but feels better for my knees. Note that the first row of exit row seats had NO recline but the second row did and typical the window seats have limited arm rests. It was either by perception or design but I thought the window seats had less width than the aisle seats. What was really cool was how the tray tables folded out from in front of you they were spring loaded too. ^
The bad part of coach is any other seat other than the bulk head or exit row in my opinion. I sat in a few and the seats are very close to each other. When the person reclines you are literally like 4 inches from their head. Recline was stellar in coach but with someone in your face like that it’s very uncomfortable and for me even hard to get out of my seat. This to me is thee worst part of the whole experience.
ENTERTAINMENT
Same as in F class however they charge for premium TV (99 cents) and movies ($7). The cool part was the ability to order food directly from your TV screen and the selections were not too bad. Snacks ranged $1-$2, Meals which were ala tide you over cold lunch kinda things are $9-$12. Premium drinks like liquor and alcohol were $5-$6. The jack where you plug in your headset is in a really bad position and likely to cause jack problems which will translate to audio issues. It’s on the inside of the armrest closest to your thigh – DUH! Not good. Pre take off safety video was a cartoon and when in F the FA does the demonstration.
LAVS
Nothing special seemed typical of any carrier
STAFF
While they were friendly in Y they came around once for drinks and then disappeared into the rear of the a/c and only came around to pick up trash. I guess it was ok but did not seem anything special compared to other carriers.
SUMMARY:
VX 733 SEA – SFO Flight Level 40,000 @ 452 kts – ship N842VA
VX 732 SFO – SEA Flight Level 38,000 @ 514 kts - ship N842VA
First Class – On a 5 point scale I’d give them 4 points ^ get the bubble, galley curtains, massage function and ear phone jacks working and clearly it’d be a 5 point score. Still VX F to me beats all other domestic carriers (I’d rate others in the high 2’s or a 3 at best) even with some growing pains as they work out the kinks. I’m not usually an early adopter but made an exception considering the product and I’d easily look to purchase and fly them more as they add routes that serve my needs.
Coach – If your willing to pay extra for bulkhead or exit row I think it’s a clear winner giving them all 5 points! Again hands down I think they have a product to compete head to head with JBLU and it leaves the others in the dust to play catch up. However if your not buying up for these seats and just sitting in any other coach seat then I’d give it a 3 out of 5 points. Legroom is the issue and if I’m Branson I’d add 3 to 4 inches in coach and really go head to head with JBLU and it would clearly blow everyone away.
Elevate – this could really put things over the edge depending on what they offer. Time will tell but hopefully it will be sexy, cool, hip as they want their brand to be.
I’m scheduled on them again April 24th SEA-LAX for another try.
SAFETY VIDEO
TRAY TABLE
RED TV
to try a new carrier then now. The USA needs some stiff competition for sure domestically so it’s with great anticipation that I start this travel report about my first time as a passenger on Virgin!I’ve purchased an F ticket outbound and then a Y ticket for the return seats 2A and 3C, respectively. At the time of booking I was hopeful that the outbound in F would have some food of some sorts other than drinks and I guess the Y return should be typical of their product offering regardless of the time.
I’m saving my outbound check-in for at the airport so I can see what it is like there. I did however just use web check-in for the return portion since I only have 45 minutes as a layover and I don’t want to go outside of security whilst in San Francisco. Web check-in worked great – I was using my Firefox browser on my Mac and while I thought it was a little slow from the point of my clicking the mouse it all worked well. I did like getting the boarding pass as a pdf file and saved it.
So it’s off to bed before an exciting day of flying the Virgin A320 tomorrow.
CHECKIN
Arrival at the airport was as smooth as it gets. Virgin America’s signage was right next to Northwest Airlines. I arrived for the 510P VX733 flight to SFO. It was not thee first flight out of SEA for VX but still same inaugural day so it was close enough for me to still consider it the inaugural flight. Red carpet was rolled out for F class checkin. As has been reported you can use the kiosks or counter to check in. I decided to try the kiosks and it’s just as simple and easy as doing web check in. Amazing how “apple-ish” the whole area seems with all the white around you. The boarding pass was just a little short thing compared to other carriers – I’d learn something else about this on the return. Since I was so early and it was so dead at check-in I got to chat it up with the VX staff there and even the station manager came out to say hello. I could not get any info about their frequent flyer program that you can’t already find out on their website. Very friendly staff, smiles everywhere. There CEO was there earlier and of course while he made now route promises I heard he said it’s a possible goal to perhaps offer VX from SEA direct to NYC or even Chicago. Plenty of VX staff around to help you out should you need it. Pleasant experience! ^
GATE AREA
Gate area as you can see in the pics was decked out with red carpet, red everything it seemed including a huge wall banner. Earlier they had t-shirts and a full buffet spread from what I hear. I did not have to wait long before the SFO flight arrived and was unloading and preparing for return to SFO with me aboard.
FIRST CLASS
At the time of boarding even with a bar-code on my boarding pass seemed it was not working for any of us so they manually typed in the computer that I had boarded. Walking down the jetway there were two styles of headphones for you to take with you – earbuds and then the typical over the ear kind.
Upon entering the a/c for sure it was different. Seems many shades had been pulled and indeed you were basked in the blue and red lights with the purple clear acrylic dividers and then you could see those all leather white F seats. ^ The lead FA greeted me and I went to my 2A seat. We had 5 out of the 8 F seats filled and I had Dexter next to me who was testing out VX just like me though he was headed to SAN.
F - SEATS
Truly amazing! ^
Literally reminds me of J class on some international flights with all the legroom. At 5ft 11in I could literally stretch my feet straight out and have another 3 to 4 inches before touching the seat in front of me. If it was me I’d loose those 3 inches and see if it was feasible for even another row of F seats. Later in the flight I found out from the FA indeed they were considering adding a third row. Time will tell. Everything about the seat worked except the massage function. Recline was huge, leg rest was nice though I thought it was a little slow to rise up.^ My left arm rest was a full arm rest. My right arm rest was not. It was ala Cathay Pacific where they have an oval cut out in them since it also stores the remote control. This was probably my biggest dis-like of these seats and I find it annoying so that is where my pillow went. They did provide bright red pillows and blankets. I don’t ever like the side lights and prefer to use the overhead lights but at night to be respectful of your neighbors it makes sense. Standard over head controls existed. I must say the seat controls are very german – reminds me of a Mercedes or BMW how they are shaped. I think they have space to add a seat pocket for all windows seats, right between the seat and the window. There is a little table between the seats that folds – it’s cool how they designed the folding portion.^MEAL
Quite surprisingly they were going to serve dinner.
^ I was not expecting it as I thought with such a short flight we’d likely only get appetizers and drinks. Sadly they had NO bubbly. First came the three appetizers in clear plastic containers. Marinated portabella mushrooms, Soba Noodles and finally sweet Thai beef salad. I found everything quite good and they could have increased the portions of all and made that a meal all to itself. Drinks were included in real glasses. Dinner followed and you had a choice of two entrees. I chose the Duck Ragu served with gnocchi and carrots.^ Quite tasty and was not as salty as other airplane meals. The other entrée to choose from was veggie ravioli. The FA said they will always serve meals on every flight between SEA and SFO. The entrees came on ceramic white plates. In between the appetizer and entrée the FA came around and served rolls. Two kinds to choose from including butter or margarine. I thought it was weird the roll was merely placed on your tray, no plate no nothing and I had not seen how those trays came out of the carts – just a passing though about sanitation is my point. While the FA did describe the service she would provide and the menu somehow as good as F was I somehow though they should have had something printed – not sure why I’d think this as with other domestics it’s not always done. There is no curtain in the galley for the FA at this time she said they had them and there was some problem so they had to have some customization before they will return. Meals I heard are on a three month rotation and they have just started a new rotation. Dessert was merely chocolates and I did inquire they had Bailey’s but that was all.Other flights offer the following for meals: Lunch - Stuffed Mushroom or Smoked chicken quiche with apples, banana bread and muffins. Breakfast – Stuffed tomato with asparagus and bacon potato hash or three cheese frittata. FA said every meal comes with the three appetizers though they vary with time of day. Transcon’s get additional half turkey bacon wrap (sounded like what was in coach). Red eyes will have appetizers and muffins only it sounded like they had more food but no one was eating vs. sleeping.
ENTERTAINMENT
RED is just awesome
^ and very much similar to Cathay’s and British Airways my two closest reference points. AVOD which includes a touch screen and a remote control. The touch screen again kinda made me think about sanitation and all those other people before me who may have touched the screen. Music came up on the screen just like ITunes and included 48 pages of songs from all genres you could pick from. There was live TV (just like JetBlue) which at the time seemed like 19 channels were functioning and then what they dubbed Premium TV which was free in F but you had to pay for it in coach. Sorry I am not going to pay for Ugly Betty. As reported yes they were having issues with the audio and it seems like because of the jacks or the headphones provided. I used my Bose set and it worked fine but my seatmate had real issues with his audio including when he did fire up the games his whole system froze and had to be restarted. Google maps was awesome but very slow to update and at times just frozen unless you refreshed the page. I think VX could use RED to put on the F menu and then you can read it for yourself. Plenty of movies were on RED too. In F I and seatmate next to me found how you positioned the screen to be awkward at times because of limited swivel room as it was right next to your seat mates. The really cool part was the CHAT function – whether it was seat to seat or in a room viewing one of the TV channels.STAFF
I thought most all their staff was very friendly. Tracy was the lead FA and she is number 4 on the seniority list having flown with other carriers she was very nice and bubbly and did well. I found it very interesting that the pilot came out of the cockpit for making the pre-flight announcement and welcome. Additionally his uniform was very relaxed dressing in all black similar to the coach FA’s but with a little tinge of red near the collar. Tracy said they are going to change that and add epaulets’ for the pilots and well deserved if you ask me considering their training. Just seems like the respectful thing to do IMHO. When the pilot made some announcements I found it interesting that he referred to everyone as the “in-flight team.”
^COACH
With a very short 15 minutes in SFO, long enough to stretch my legs and use the restroom I was back again boarding the return flight – this time in coach. While I had used web check in I decided to ask at the gate if they would re-print my boarding pass and they obliged which then came out as the typical version we are all used too although using colorful red stock.
Y - SEATS
My seat was 3A the bulkhead and yes I did pay an extra $15 for this seat. ^ I did not really want anyone in front of me and I also wanted to be close to F class to make sure I did not miss anything to report on. Coach seats were fine. I’d call them typical of any coach with the exception of the black leather and headrests. Arm rests between seats went up slightly but not completely and again each arm rest had the oval cutouts where the remote control was stored. Once airborne I did roam the a/c to see what the rest of the plane was like in coach. I would pay the extra $$ to get a bulkhead seat but I think my preference next time would be to take the exit row seats. I do like to stretch out my legs completely and not because I’m tall but feels better for my knees. Note that the first row of exit row seats had NO recline but the second row did and typical the window seats have limited arm rests. It was either by perception or design but I thought the window seats had less width than the aisle seats. What was really cool was how the tray tables folded out from in front of you they were spring loaded too. ^
The bad part of coach is any other seat other than the bulk head or exit row in my opinion.
I sat in a few and the seats are very close to each other. When the person reclines you are literally like 4 inches from their head. Recline was stellar in coach but with someone in your face like that it’s very uncomfortable and for me even hard to get out of my seat. This to me is thee worst part of the whole experience. ENTERTAINMENT
Same as in F class however they charge for premium TV (99 cents) and movies ($7). The cool part was the ability to order food directly from your TV screen and the selections were not too bad. Snacks ranged $1-$2, Meals which were ala tide you over cold lunch kinda things are $9-$12. Premium drinks like liquor and alcohol were $5-$6. The jack where you plug in your headset is in a really bad position and likely to cause jack problems which will translate to audio issues. It’s on the inside of the armrest closest to your thigh – DUH! Not good. Pre take off safety video was a cartoon and when in F the FA does the demonstration.
LAVS
Nothing special seemed typical of any carrier
STAFF
While they were friendly in Y they came around once for drinks and then disappeared into the rear of the a/c and only came around to pick up trash. I guess it was ok but did not seem anything special compared to other carriers.
SUMMARY:
VX 733 SEA – SFO Flight Level 40,000 @ 452 kts – ship N842VA
VX 732 SFO – SEA Flight Level 38,000 @ 514 kts - ship N842VA
First Class – On a 5 point scale I’d give them 4 points ^
get the bubble, galley curtains, massage function and ear phone jacks working and clearly it’d be a 5 point score. Still VX F to me beats all other domestic carriers (I’d rate others in the high 2’s or a 3 at best) even with some growing pains as they work out the kinks. I’m not usually an early adopter but made an exception considering the product and I’d easily look to purchase and fly them more as they add routes that serve my needs.Coach – If your willing to pay extra for bulkhead or exit row I think it’s a clear winner giving them all 5 points! Again hands down I think they have a product to compete head to head with JBLU and it leaves the others in the dust to play catch up. However if your not buying up for these seats and just sitting in any other coach seat then I’d give it a 3 out of 5 points. Legroom is the issue and if I’m Branson I’d add 3 to 4 inches in coach and really go head to head with JBLU and it would clearly blow everyone away.
Elevate – this could really put things over the edge depending on what they offer. Time will tell but hopefully it will be sexy, cool, hip as they want their brand to be.
I’m scheduled on them again April 24th SEA-LAX for another try.
SAFETY VIDEO
TRAY TABLE
RED TV
Mar 31, 2008, 11:14 pm
#4
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Dallas, Texas
Programs: AA Exp. Bonvoy Gold, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum.
Posts: 1,186
Enjoyed the trip report very much! Thanks for the great pics. I wish virgin would come to Dallas but I am sure that will never happen since AA has a strangle hold on the market and crushes anyone who tries to break into it.
