Non-stop from SEA to LAX starts in mid-April

On the way there I had the steak sandwich. Didn't finish it. On the way home I tried the Chicken Caesar salad, which was marginally better. The pre-packaged items, i.e. chips, cookies, were fine. More selection would be nice eventually.

I'm comparing it to the AA aircraft that I've always encountered on the LAX-JFK route, the 762.

I had the steak sandwich on a recent IAD-LAX flight. Don't eat much airplane food usually, but it was actually pretty good.

Hello again,

Here is an overall review of VX. If you haven't been following the thread, my disclaimer is that this is only my personal experience and nobody elses so your experience on VX may vary however, I've yet to go wrong with them and I'm very satisfied as a VX customer. Here are pictures as follows:

San Francisco International Airport

First Class Check-In
http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx/vxsfofirst.jpg

Main Check-In
http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx//vxsfomain.jpg

Web Bag Drop-Off
http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx/vxsfowebdrop.jpg

Gate
http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx/vxsfogate.jpg

First Class Seating
http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx/vxfc1.jpg
http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx/vxfc2.jpg
This is the layout for First Class. Nice plush leather seats which I find are very posh in my opinion. Nice and comfy as it has a built-in massage system and also, the bottom folds out like a reclining chair with a foot rest.

As you can see, on the side are the controls for the seats along with the remote control for the RED IFE system. Also on the arm of the seat is the pull-out table which can be converted into a book stand. Those two tubes you see are adjustable lights rather than overhead lights.

http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx/vxfc3.jpg
Notice the amount of leg room? :)

Main Cabin
http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx/vxmain1.jpg
I only managed to snap a shot of this photo of the Main Cabin as the cleaning crews were busy and in a hurry. This is a shot of the seats just behind First Class. The seats are pretty comfortable overall and there's enough leg room to be a happy flyer. Generally, the RED IFE is the seat itself.
http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx/vxredmain.jpg

Again, my apologies for lack of review on RED. As my flight was only 1 hour long on both trips, I never got the opportunity to take full advantage of it. Besides, this time around, the lady beside me was fidgeting non-stop and made me feel uncomfortable. Everytime she wanted to talk to me, she would slap me on the arm or elbow me. I found that very annoying and had to ask her to stop. Not only that, she was talking very loudly and obtrusively. I did see the fellow on my right use RED and he seemed to be quite entertained with the content.

Food - First Class
http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx/vxfood1.jpg
http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx/vxfood2.jpg
This was the snack box provided to me on my first flight on VX. First class on VX from SFO to LAX - a short 1 hour flight which in my opinion, does not justify a full-blown meal. :p

As you can see, from left to right, small bite sized snack portions - yoghurt with field berries, assorted fruits, and a ham & cheese roll complimented with a pickle (and the small grape tomato you see on the bottom.)
http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx/vxfood2.jpg

The picture below is my most recent flight (yesterday.) Sorry for the poor picture quality - snapped with my Nokia 6300.
http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx/vx3.jpg
Again, from left to right - bocconcini covered in a light olive oil and pesto dressing, custard type of dessert with strawberry, and a roll of prosciutto with olive and artichoke. Pretty tasty for a small afternoon snack.

Tom Bradley Los Angeles International Airport
Not much here. I'm personally not a fan of LAX. I find that it's an old run-down airport that is seriously due for a major upgrade. But this is the gate in general. Check-in is similar to the ones at SFO.

http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx/vxlax1.jpg
http://www.aspirationmedia.ca/misc/vx/vxlax2.jpg

Again, I apologise for the lack of photos (quality too.) I hate snapping pictures of the general public because I know there are some people who don't like being in pictures without prior consent (I'm one of them.) I hope this helps by giving you a small idea of what to expect on VX and hope you enjoy your flights with them. It's only been my second flight with Vx but I still intend to fly with them in the very near future on a regular basis once service starts at SEA.

Oh, and on both occassions, both my flights departed and arrived early by 15 - 20 minutes. This is not a big problem for me. The overall check-in process is great. This time around when I checked in from LAX, I did the self-check in as I did not have any baggage. While doing so, the system asked if I wanted to ugprade for an extra $50 to first class, I said sure! So really, my $44 economy class ticket easily turned into a $100 first class flight. I won't complain. :D

For you first class lovers, I would suggest you try their first class service on transcon flights in order to take full advantage of their service such as meals, RED and other benefits as a first class flyer. Their prices are great so I would recommend that you give it a shot. I'm a little spoiled because I started on VX on first class and I think I'll continue to do so.

I am by no means, a travel expert. I simply like to share my experiences with others so your experience may vary. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! :)

Great pictorial and review. Thanks.

I also vaguely recall that AA built several airports and navaids in northern Mexico when it started flying to MEX back in the 1940s--at the time there were no navaids, nor airstrips fit for commercial aircraft to use in an emergency.

LAX is an abbreviation for Laxative.. because LAX gives you the $#!+$. :D

Yet again a great report!

I am very excited to fly on VX when they come to SEA.

Just wondering, is there a way to see a slideshow of your pictures? Also does FT have the ability to have pictures imbeded into trip reports like airliners.net does?

Thank you very much for posting the slideshow. The pictures are very nice. I can't imagine that there is so much space in first class! Domestic First Class!

I flew on VX IAD-LAX the weekend before Xmas on the morning flight. Their check-in computer was down so I was unable to check-in online or at the kiosk. The staff was unfortunately not very organized about dealing with the problem. I had paid $25 extra for an exit row middle seat (they were the only assignable seats left) but I asked for and was given an aisle seat at the counter. Their printers did not work so they were unable to print a boarding pass with the new seat. I did not get the $25 back for the regular row. I did get the slightly better headphones but I had brought my own.

The entertainment system worked pretty much as advertised. It provided a distraction for the entire flight, although after a while I am sure it will wear off. Ordering drinks through the seatback was convenient.

The pilots seemed a little inexperienced as we landed on the north complex in dry weather but they overshot the main cross taxiway and we had to take the long way around, making for a very long taxi to the gate. Despite this, because we landed early, the gate was not ready.

Based on my limited experience, they are not quite ready but they seem like they could be better than B6, once they get their act together.

Not making any excuses AADC10, but your three comments all have reasonable explanations...
1) Systems Down procedures don't have to get used often (thank goodness). Considering the overall newness of everyone at VX, it's understandable that some confusion existed when their systems were unavailable.
2) You gave up a premium row seat and are looking for a credit for your $25 - so just call Guest Care on 877 FLY VIRGIN (listen for the Guest Care option under OTHER) and ask a representative to help you with a travel credit.
3) The pilots may have been told to use the full length of the runway for any number of reasons - and knowing they had that much room, they put the plane down later than usual. Or, they may have picked up some ground winds that made it tougher to stick at the usual touchdown point. I have taken many UA flights where we had to go to the end of the runway and take the long way around, because of the number of aircraft waiting to cross 24L, we had to take the last position to cross. I wouldn't attribute that to inexperience. Given those were all your complaints, hopefully you'll consider them again for another trip.

I think that if you (AADC10) called their customer care line and explained to them what had happened, I'm sure they'd be more than happy to provide you with credit.

I had my second flight on VX last night. This was my first "short-haul" flight (SFO-LAX). I was in 2F on the 4:15pm flight. (Same seat as I was in on my SFO-JFK flight).

I continue to be impressed. It seems like they continue to grow expert at the systems and processes.

The flight left the gate past the departure time, and I was a bit annoyed that there seemed to be no sense of urgency when it became apparent that it would be late, but the flight landed on time, so it had no net effect on me.

The food in first was not to my liking. I am a very picky eater, and there was nothing in there that didn't have something unappealing to me. I would prefer that there be at least one item that was "safe" for anyone, even if it is a bag of chips or a piece of cheese without any dressing or sauce on it. It was very "California Cuisine", which makes sense for the route. I'm sure I could have asked for something from the back, but it was a short flight and I had dinner reservations for when I landed.

Still nobody in the chat room!

I don't remember if I mentioned it in my last trip report or not, but there's one thing that I really dislike about the IFE, and that's the stretching of the picture for live TV. It's bad enough that I'm watching TV on a small monitor without HD, but to have to watch a distorted picture with the people stretched out is unacceptable. I hope that they will add black sidebars to the picture for 4:3 channels or add 16:9 channels.

I would never dream of flying a different airline in a route where they serve. Still hoping for Miami, so that I can abandon everyone else.

What do you mean when you write "CA Cusine"? Does that mean pesto or local wines?

I noticed that the SEA-SFO flights are padded more than AS or US flights, maybe VX expects to be late?

You are very picky to be complaining about the TV quality, any TV is better than no TV (except channel 9). Note: picky is not a bad thing, just often times annoying

I hope eleVAte comes soon.