I would like to try Virgin America before it gets totally absorbed by Alaska Airlines. I wish airlines in the US would retain the separate brands the way they do following mergers in Europe, but that is not the case. I will plan the trip during my next visit to the US in September or October as a round trip that will begin on the East Coast (NYC or BOS), but not necessarily restricted to those parameters.

A quick look at fares to the West Coast reveals pretty decent Main Cabin fares but highly expensive First Class ones ($999 upwards OW). First Class reduces a lot (I saw $551) when flying via somewhere else to the West Coast (via Dallas, I think) but I am not sure there is any value to doing it this way and enjoying the VX experience. Is there any way to get a better price for First, through special offers (in a similar way to SWISS (LX) business saver fares), or through an offer during check in (perhaps if Main Cabin Plus is booked originally)? Obviously, First would be the best way to try a US airline's product, but I don't mind traveling in a lower class.

Virgin offers upgrades from Main Cabin to first on transcons for $399 if space is available on the day of the flight. Otherwise those fares tend to be quite high. Jetblue Mint pricing starts out at $599 which is a much better value.

It really depends upon how much you want to spend and what exactly you are trying to experience.

Thanks, interesting info. Would booking Main Cabin Plus make a difference as to the chamces of getting offered an upgrade to First at that price? Or are such upgrades offered only exceptionally?

What I am hoping to is enjoy the Virgin America experience before it disappears completely, whatever the class, but ideally in First if I can manage it. Is there any point in taking the transcon routing with a transit in Dallas? That would involve two 3 hour flights to get to the West coast.

The fees for upgrading are here:

https://www.virginamerica.com/cms/vx-fees#/upgrades

It is $240 to upgrade from Main Cabin select to First on a transcon flight. VX only has 8 first class seats on each plane so it could very well be full so I would not count on being able to purchase an upgrade. I would imagine the upgrades would be more likely to be available going through Dallas. The service would be less elaborate but would also be more affordable to upgrade at least one segment.

My only Virgin America experience was in first class, SFO-AUS. Great service, and the seats are far better than standard domestic first class seats. Though a step below lie flats on the NYC-SFO/LAX transcons. Virgin America economy seems good (by economy class standards), similar to JetBlue.

Your best option is book a routing via Dallas, and hope for an upgrade on at least one of the segments. But if you really want the best experience for the money, look into JetBlue Mint as sfozrhfco mentioned. As low as $599 for a lie flat on a transcon which beats the Virgin America experience IMO.

Fare inventory changes so you may find a cheaper F if you check later. If it's the only VX flight and you enjoy F already, then go for the F experience. Upgrading on VX isn't as easy as with UA or other American companies; that's one of the nice parts of VX. We once flew a 4-hour flight where every seat was full except a single F seat next to my wife, which was being offered for $300 at the gate.

VX often puts premium cabin on sale over holiday weekends, when business demand is low. Sign up for their emails to get notified of sales.

Thanks for the tips, I will do so. What you mean, gaobest, is that I won't get an offer so easily at check in or at the airport, I imagine. So I'll try and get a sale deal (would also help to have firm dates in the diary too) by signing up for the alerts. Still not sure about the routing, would be nice to do some more sectors. But in the time frame it will probably be NYC-DAL-SFO(or LAX) and then back on the direct transcon SFO/LAX-NYC. Or something like that. The routing which passes though Dallas on the outbound to the West coast is considerably more in the reverse direction (i.e. LAX-DAL-NYC).

I just did this and it will be interesting to see the sorts of offers that come up. I hope there are a few premium cabin ones. The real definitive trip planning for this one will take place in a couple of months, as plans are not yet clear.

I found a reasonable price for 1st class on a route I need to fly, JFK-FLL, which is offered for $208 one way. It's a morning flight on the only entirely East Coast route that VX flies but that's ok and the price is good!

Excellent! Enjoy the flight!
Recently flew SFO/ord again - July and September. For the September ord-SFO flight, there were 2 open F seats but I don't know the upgrade cost. I think July was full. Next flight in November...