Originally Posted by
Stefan Daystrom
Have they announced that this will definitely happen?
Nope. Therein lies the problem - why would I shift business away from the Star Alliance to a very small carrier unlinked to anyone else? The only compelling reason I'd fly Virgin America is if I have good tie-ins at least to Europe. Would prefer a partnership that can get me to Asia too, but I'd start with Virgin Atlantic's own metal to London.
The much easier way to eventually fly Upper Deck on Virgin to Europe is through partner activity with some partners who give way more to Virgin than to most any US airlne. Like Avis giving you a flat 1000 Virgin (Atlantic) miles per rental, when for US-based airlines it (and other rental companies) only give a platry 50 miles a day. There are equivalents in some hotel programs too.
True - I know I can go the partner route, but it still doesn't give me any incentive to actually
fly Virgin.
These same reasons are why I don't fly a lot of U.S. niche carriers. When I redeem awards, I'm doing it for leisure travel and I want maximum choices, maximum destinations, many partner options. Love the Virgin idea, but I hope they tie it in to the rest of their network.