EIPremier

After my last pair of VX flights at the end of April, I received an email with a unique code valid for one free round-trip ticket anywhere Virgin America flew. By some luck, I had been targeted for the "fly 2 get 1 free" offer. Of course, I knew there would be caveats associated with this promotional award. It was, of course, capacity controlled, and the expiration was May 31, which gave me a four week window. VX only flies to seven cities (SEA, SFO, LAX, SAN, LAS, IAD, JFK), and IAD avail was non-existent, so that made the decision pretty straightforward. NY, NY. I would fly the LAX-JFK red-eye flight, since it would maximize my time in NY (I had wanted to book SAN-SFO-JFK both ways, but the SFO-JFK red-eye was unavailable on the outbound).

The trip started stressfully. I had to take the train from northern San Diego County to LA Union Station, where I'd catch the LAX Flyaway coach. The day prior to my departure, there had been a complete suspension of service along the Orange County Metrolink line (which Amtrak shares). I only found this info by searching the Metrolink webpage, as Amtrak.com had no info what-so-ever, merely stating that train status was unavailable due to a "service disruption." Turns out a contractor had struck a gas line while working along the tracks, forcing that portion of tracks to be closed. This caused all service on one of the busiest rail corridors in Southern California to be suspended for about six hours. Fortunately, things were back to normal by the end of the day.

Due to the limited bus schedule, I arrived at the Solana Beach Amtrak station some 40 minutes before my train's scheduled departure. Of course, whenever you're early, they're late. An announcement came that the train was delayed leaving San Diego due to mechanical problems. The passengers, no doubt seasoned Amtrak riders, did not seem fazed by this announcement. The only one showing visible aggravation was the rent-a-cop assigned to monitor the platforms, who kept badgering the ticket agent for more info as to when the train would arrive ("I have to meet every train!!"). To her credit, the agent was very polite, and gave frequent updates. I guess he wanted to plan his trip to the donut shop.

The train left about 40 min late, and we lost another 15 min or so en route to LA. Without dedicated express/local/freight tracks running the length of the line, there is no knowing what delays one will encounter if one train falls out of its "schedule block." Our limited-stop train creeped along through most of OC, following a local Metrolink train (they actually made our train stop at a signal to let the slower train go ahead of us). More proof that claims to be "making up time" are just lip service. In fact, the goal is to keep the other trains running on-time at the expense of trains that are already running late, just like with the airlines. We suffered another delay at Fullerton (lost power), which fortunately was solved relatively quickly after they reset the breakers. I shouldn't complain, though, as the journey was pleasant and comfortable. Load factor was maybe 60% and I enjoyed a pair of seats to myself (unassigned seating, except in business class). Seat pitch in "economy" was about 38" with power outlets at every row. The sandwich from the café car wasn't half bad, either.

10 May 2008
VX 312 LAX-JFK A320-214 N631VA

I hustled through magnificent Union Station, and made the intended bus to LAX. I hadn't been to LAX T6 in eons. I have to say, T6 may even steal away T3's dubious distinction of "most rundown terminal." Check-in was uncrowded, but a few passengers were experiencing issues at security. First, the ID checker quibbled at the photo ID of the lady ahead of me, noting that her driver's license had expired last November. Said passenger unconvincingly feigned ignorance (I hope she didn't drive to the airport). Fortunately, she managed to produce two forms of military ID and was let through without being subjected to superfluous scrutiny. After going through security, I heard an announcement stating that someone had left a CD entitled "Emily's wedding photos" at the security checkpoint. This announcement was repeated several times over a ten minute period. Was the wedding that forgettable?

The gate area had the unique, sleek VX gate displays, which oddly don't seem to exist at any other airport VX serves (I assume because of common use gate arrangements). VX now uses gates 67A, B and 69B at LAX. Not much other activity, although I saw a dreadfully dingy Delta 737-800 with winglets boarding for JFK (serious swaths of missing paint in the nose area). Boarding began 40 minutes prior to departure. The mood lighting was on, and I have to admit, the pink and blue LED glow is quite entrancing on a nighttime flight (the mood lighting is less noticeable on daytime trips).

The black leather seats were adequately comfortable, and the 32" pitch was tolerable, but not great. As I have said before, I find there is more legroom in coach on WN compared to VX, even though the seat pitch on WN is at best an inch greater. I guess WN must just employ a thinner seatback. Load was about 70%, and I had an empty middle seat next to me. Good thing, as I'm not sure I'd be eager to pay the (now) $50 fee to upgrade to an exit row or bulkhead. There were the usual red pillows and blankets in the overheads, although they did run out toward the end of the boarding process. Pushback was early, although our taxi to the north side of the airport was JFKesque. Busy time of night, I guess.

After takeoff, row after row of seats reclined in rapid-fire succession. Quite the domino effect. I reclined my seat back a little, since my knees were jammed against the seatback, but Mr. Gumby, seated directly behind me, decided he would not tolerate any transgression of his personal space, and attempted to shove my seatback forward. Of course, he could have just politely requested that I return my seat to its upright position. I turned around and suggested that he move to either of the two adjacent empty seats, which he did after a few grumbles. The girl in the window seat was a UCLA student, and we spent much of the rest of the flight chatting.

Our in-flight "team members" were Anthony, Kai and Hollywood. Looked to be a pretty young crew. There was an initial pass through with the beverage cart, after which all snacks/drinks were ordered through Red. The flight attendants receive the orders on tablet PCs. Unfortunately, I encountered what appeared to be a rather serious glitch. Each of the three times I ordered something, the flight attendant delivered the order to the person seated on the aisle seat across from me. I'm assuming the f/a knows left from right. Fortunately, this was quickly sorted out, since the other passenger had not ordered anything. RED allows passengers to customize their mixed drink orders, choosing the mixers and whether they want ice or not. It would be nice if RED offered the option of ordering soft drinks with/without ice too.

There were four BOB meal choices, all of which were cold: caprese half sandwich with bean salad (vegetarian), cold cuts on a bed of lettuce, cheese plate, and turkey bacon spinach wrap. All BOB meals were served in little green boxes, and were priced at $9, apart from the caprese which was $8.50. The usual chips/fruit leather/cookies/granola bars were available for $1-2. The cheese plate featured wedges of three cheeses (some nice Port Salut, a gouda-type cheese and something else that escapes me), along with crackers, a few bits of walnut and apricot, and some grapes. Pretty decent, though could have used a few more crackers and more of the walnuts and apricots. The Wente Chardonnay '05 ($5) was pretty good---certainly better than the usual coach swill. I later had a gin and tonic.

I explored Red a bit, noting the nice selection of foreign language TV programs, and then listening to Radiohead, Earth Wind and Fire and a few others artists. A really relaxing flight, though I never succeeded in falling asleep. There was no pre-arrival pass with the beverage cart, but I did order orange juice, which was delivered after about 25 minutes, loaded with ice (ugh). The Google map showed us fly over the Bronx, then north of LGA, and then out into the Atlantic past Jones Beach St. Park. We then banked right, and landed on runway 31R at 5:24, well ahead of schedule. Our taxi to T4 was quite long, but not long enough apparently, as we had to wait an additional 15 minutes while they found a ground crew to marshal us in. We then waited another five minutes while they found someone to connect the jetbridge. But, at least I could watch CNN while I was waiting.

I took the AirTrain to Jamaica station, and then caught the "E" subway train to Manhattan, which unfortunately was jam packed and running local. No issue though, I wasn't in a hurry. I arrived at 53rd and Lex, and took a nice walk over to Rockefeller Center. The weather was beautiful, so I took the elevator up to the Top of the Rock. They were actually filming some sort of science show on the upper obs deck. It wasn't too crowded at 8:15am, as the only other visitors seemed to be a group of French tourists. As it so happened, I heard French being spoken extensively at all the museums I visited in the city. They must love the exchange rate. The view was spectacular in all directions, affording a great of Central Park to the north, and to the south, partial views of the new NYT and Bank of America buildings, the Empire State Building, Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

That accomplished, I had a tasty (and amazingly cheap) breakfast nearby (omelette, potatoes and toast). I visited the gothic St. Patrick's Cathedral, with its spectacular stained glass windows. I then caught the subway uptown to visit the Whitney, which featured their biennial collection. The building, design by Marcel Breuer, definitely struck me as "brutalist." A noteworthy building, certainly. Nothing about the exhibit was particularly memorable, except, somewhat inextricably, a film featuring commentary by a bizarre lady sporting horns who appeared to have just been in a fist fight. Afterwards, I walked over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The collection is vast, and the floor plan is positively labyrinthine. At times, I felt like a rat trying to negotiate a particularly challenging maze. Still, the breadth and depth of the collection is pretty astonishing. It's hard to really appreciate it all in one visit.

Afterwards, I took a nice stroll through Central Park, and then headed back to my hotel. On the way, I dropped by the art deco lobby of the Chrysler Building, which is my all-time favorite skyscraper. Pity they won't let visitors beyond the lobby. The lobby of the Chanin building, connected to Grand Central, is even more ornately art deco. I checked into my hotel, the Millennium UN Plaza, located at One UN Plaza (1976), a rather striking building, covered in green-blue glass. The building reminded me slightly of the Johnson/Burgee Pennzoil Place in Houston. The hotel occupies the 28-39th floor of this building (the height of this building was restricted so as to not exceed the height of the UN building). My room on the 34th floor had a giant floor-to-ceiling window, affording an unobstructed view extending from the old Met Life building to the Empire State Building to the Chrysler building to the Met Life/ex-PanAm eyesore to the striking Citicorp Center. Quite possibly the best view from any hotel in New York. I spent some time just looking out at the Chrysler and Empire State buildings brilliantly illuminated at night. The room was also fairly spacious by NYC standards, and even had a kitchenette, with what appeared to be original 70s appliances and countertops. I took a swim in the indoor pool at the 27th floor fitness center and then called it a night.

Next day, I got a slightly late start. Caught the Lexington line at Grand Central. First stop was the Cooper Hewitt, which had a wonderful exhibit about the evolution of Rococo into Art Nouveau. The lovely furniture also complimented the building's ornate wood interior beautifully. There were a couple really spectacular modern designs as well. Afterwards, I walked to the Guggenheim, but was aghast at the huge line out the door. So, I went to the MOMA, which I liked very much. It was absolutely jam packed, but there were numerous interesting exhibits. These entire room installations certainly seem to be the trend nowadays. There were a lot of interesting light/optics installations as part of Olafur Eliasson's, "Take your Time," including a black room with camera lights and fog machines, another black room with strobe lights, a room with multi-hued neon lights and a rotating multi-dimensional mirror at the center. There was a Flavin installation, although I liked the one in Houston better. Some interesting works on the top floor, including one showing the time-lapsed routes of San Francisco taxi cabs, tracked by satellite, a time-lapse of aircraft routes across the US, and a socially provocative piece showing the incarceration rate by city block in Brooklyn. Of course, there is also an entire floor full of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist (including Van Gough's Starry Night), Cubist and Surrealist works. Next up was the spectacular Morgan Library, though I had to make my visit brief. The Italianate library and rotunda in the McKim building are especially breathtaking. Gotta love those Robber Barons. I liked the addition too. After that, I walked over past the new NYT building, and then took the train down to Greenwich Village, SoHo and the NYU area. Most of Greenwich Village was sleepier than I expected, although the streets were more bustling in East Village. I went to a bar, and then had a nice dinner. No, I didn't get any tattoos or piercings.

On my last day, I got up early and walked past the famous Seagram Building, by Mies van der Rohe, and the Lever House. I then went uptown to the Frick museum, which included a couple of lovely El Grecos. I then gave the Guggenheim another shot. Today there was no line, although the exterior was still sullied by scaffolding. The main exhibit was "I Want to Believe," by Cai Guo-Qiang. Right off, one is struck by the "exploding" Chevys suspended in the inner atrium (hey, at least they didn't use Ford Pintos), with neon lights radiating out from inside each car. One of themes of the exhibit was terrorism, and oddly, the neon lights also fit in with a secondary theme of acupuncture. There were a number of gunpowder prints at the top of the ramp, and a bit lower were ascending wolves crashing into a clear glass window. Also, there was an in situ clay re-creation of the "Rent Collection Courtyard," depicting class struggle between Feudal landlords and Chinese peasants, originally erected as a propaganda piece at the dawn of Mao's Cultural Revolution. Some think it's a shameless copy, but I thought it was the most moving and memorable part of the entire exhibition. I liked how the clay had cracked and worn away in places, which made it that much more poignant. Overall, the whole exhibit was a really wonderful example of a site-specific installation. I initially dismissed the exhibit as pretentious nonsense, but after reflecting on it for a bit, decided I really liked it.

I made one more stop, which was the famous NY main library. Truly unparalleled, at least among the libraries I've visited. I loved the ornate, Italianate ceilings. I think my productivity would be enhanced greatly by studying in such a building, provided I didn't spend all my time staring at the ceiling. Then, it was off to JFK T4 via the E line again.

13 May 2008
VX 230 JFK-SFO A320-214 N622VA "California Dreamin'"

Same flight crew as on the outbound. I had the whole row to myself, which made the 5 hr 33 minute flight pretty comfortable. Again, if it had been a full flight with the seat in front of me reclined, it might have been pretty miserable. Took off from runway 4L, and then made a sharp right turn, flying ENE along the northern Long Island coast for a bit before heading north over the Sound and then finally turning northwest. There were close to 20 on-demand movies, but I think $7 is too much to charge per film, so I am boycotting it. However, I had no problem passing the time listening to music, watching the Google map airshow, and watching TV. The TV signal did drop a few times, but it wasn't bad. Overall, they seem to have worked most of the kinks out, though I still am leery of the game function. I ordered the wrap on the return, which was decent, though again, not something I'd order unless really hungry. $9 is expensive, especially when the sandwich doesn't even come with chips, but the price is on par with airport eateries. I saw the BOB boxes flying past me throughout the flight, not to mention liquor bottles, so I guess VX knows what the market will bear. Those F/A's really were kept busy fulfilling the RED orders, and of course, it means lots of ancillary revenue for VX. I actually ordered a second drink midway through the flight, and it was never delivered, even though RED showed it as delivered. Wonder if the F/A (same one as last time) delivered it to the wrong seat again. Yes, there is the bottled water bar in the back of the plane, which is great, except the VX bottled water tastes really alkaline. Landed 30 minutes early on runway 28L and taxied to gate A5.

I then had dinner at the end of the A pier of the Int'l Concourse, directly above the departure gate for my next flight.

VX 1878 SFO-SAN A319-112 N526VA "Jane"

Very light load on this flight, perhaps 25%, and we departed 13 minutes early. It was a short taxi from gate A11 (end of the A pier) to runway 1L. Once again, the mood lighting is really cool on the nighttime flights. There were a couple regular WN pax seated behind me, trying VX for the first time. The F/A brought them the F snack (tapas trio), and glasses of wine. Of course, I was very jealous, but I guess first-impressions count. The F/As didn't offer to pick up any service items until the very end of the flight. RED worked well, except the seat-to-seat chat didn't appear to be working (though I only tried once). I just watched TV and a couple short films for the rest of the flight, and we were soon in San Diego.

A grand time in a grand city, and another great trip on VX!

As an aside, this was my first A319 flight on VX, and I was shocked to see that there is no rear galley at all, given that this aircraft flies transcon too. There was still the "mood music" playing in the lavs, and the mood lighting was normal, although there was no bottled water bar. There is just a tiny forward galley with space for two, narrower than usual, drink carts, and a trash cart. They actually left one of the drink carts sitting unsecured in the rear galley area for most of the flight, since there was obviously no where to dock it except in the front galley. I guess that would allow the F/A's to more easily fulfill any BOB orders that came in while seated in the rear of the aircraft. I really don't know how they manage to offer all the Y BOB/snack/drink choices on a transcon, plus a full F meal service. Also, on both the A320 and A319, the rear jumpseats are right next to the lav doors, which must be awkward for the F/A's. Not surprisingly, the F/A's sat in empty Y seats near the rear on all of my flights.

MatthewLAX

Great report! Thanks for sharing.

BiziBB

Excellent report, EIPremier!
I felt like I was coming along for the NYNY architectural tour.
It looks like our trip this year won't happen but if it does, your report is a good start for one unusual (for us) hotel option.

I have added a link to your report in the VX Trip Reports Index, in the airline's forum sticky.

camsean

Thanks for an interesting and detailed trip report.

chanp

great report. i wouldnt mind paying $9 for a decent meal over a crappy one at $5-6