VIRGIN AMERICA review :  23 November 2008 : by C Richardson   (USA)

First Class LAS-SFO and back. Somewhat disappointed. Food portions for flight are adequate - if you are a small hamster. Snack from LAS-SFO was three shotglass-sized hors d'oeuvres, of prosciutto, mushrooms, etc which children will not eat. Flight attendant tried to get food from economy for the kids, but were out; gave them Pringles and a vending machine type pastry instead. No martinis (no Vermouth) but offered shaken Vodka as a substitute; wines were very dry (for food only apparently. if there had been any food). Seats were fine but in-flight entertainment must be well on its way to becoming an industry joke - on both flights two of our four headsets were inop and volume would not come on for some channels. SFO-LAS snacks consisted of weak coffee with two of those mini-muffins you can buy 18 of at supermarkets for $3.99. Flight attendant also stingy with sugar for coffee (??). First Class bathrooms used by most of the front end of economy class despite announcements not to - flight attendant sat idly by and watched (when not nodding off). In sum, Virgin America's seats may be worth a $50 upgrade if you need the extra room, otherwise forget it. If you spend full fare for First Class on VA you are criminally cheating yourself.

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  23 November 2008 : by Kenneth Fong   (USA)

I am a loyal customer of Virgin America and have flown them 6 times since their launch: SFO-JFK, SFO-IAD, SFO-LAS, SFO-LAX in both first class and economy, red-eye & morning departures. In general, I have found the overall customer experience to be excellent. To start with, I find their website to be easy to use and navigate; flight planning is very easy (unlike United's!). Check-in has always been speedy and I have never had to wait for more than 5 minutes at every airport. Departures have been timely, for the most part; and when they have not been, the staff takes great efforts to inform passengers to set expectations. Flight attendents have always been courteous, professional, and fun. The in-flight services (ability to order meals, TV, customization of music playlist, and especially, electrical plugs in every seat) are excellent. I like the ambient lighting (very calming), and the fact that the planes are consistently clean. I experienced some problems with the TV reception on a couple of flights, but it didn't upset me. I am looking forward to their internet service (I hope they expedite getting that service established). I would agree with others that compared to Southwest, the space between rows is shorter (I don't fly JetBlue). I can see how that could be noticeable for taller (or larger) persons, but since I'm only a 5'5" man, it's ok for me (one of the few advantages in life of being a short male!). Finally, the pricing is very competitive. I have signed up with their frequent flyer program, but have not cashed in on any free flights yet, so I don't know how easy or difficult that experience would be. They have a different rewards system / points collection process than legacy airlines (like United), and points collection is correlated with ticket price you paid (not distance). For instance, I've taken 2 SFO- JFK flights, but the points I got for each trip was very different because I paid different prices for each flight. Also, I believe that they do not yet allow point sharing with other airlines (like other Virgin carriers) hey should. All in all, I would highly recommend Virgin America. I have found it to be a great customer experience from end-to-end.

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  18 November 2008 : by Nancy Peters   (USA)

The comfort of the flight that we took from SF to NYC and back was great. The planes were on time. The reality is that on all fights now you are sandwiched in but the comfort of these seats allowed for more legroom and side comfort.

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  11 November 2008 : by T Cheung   (Hong Kong)

Round Trip SFO-LAS in first class. Very good and comfy seat. Better than most regional C seats in most Asian Airlines. Complimentary snack is tasty and the IFE has lots of variety. Service is excellent and even the Captain came and introduce himself to all F passengers - a thorough surprise for such a short domestic flight.

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  22 October 2008 : by J Campbell   (USA)

LAX to JFK and back. Live TV did not work. Flight attendant blamed it on the satellite. No apologies. They simply need to say that they will come down the aisle once with beverages, then serve screen-placed orders after that. Male flight attendant was pleasant. The females were 50+ and very confused. Not near the image VA promotes in advertisements. Both flights were on-time or early.

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  22 October 2008 : by P Tyrrell   (USA)

JFK-LAX. Excellent experience all around from bag drop to baggage claim in LA. Checked in online and at JFK it took all of 2 minutes to check bags, (no charge) and roll through security. Departed on time. In flight entertainment was awesome, (travelled with two teenagers and their blessing made this a home run). Seats very comfortable and the mood lighting was such an improvement over most domestic transcon in economy. Cabin crew was great, very friendly and in stylish uniforms that brought to mind the 60's and 70's. Arrived early and all bags arrived safely and quickly.

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  21 October 2008 : by W Corson   (USA)

SFO-LAX-IAD: Upgraded to first class for $285 (on top of paying only peanuts for the economy seat to begin with). Check in a breeze, flights on time and service was great. Although the food wasn't exactly gourmet, it was still a 3 course meal served on china with real cutlery. Excellent service. Saving the best for last though, the seats themselves are worthy of the extra cost. I'm a relative big guy (6 feet/250 pounds) and I had more than enough room. The seats are comfortable, the pitch generous (I believe 55 inches) and the recline and message features fantastic. Their economy product is superior to other carriers.

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  21 October 2008 : by E Mallari   (USA)

San Francisco-San Diego roundtrip. Check-in took less than 5 minutes in San Francisco, we did not check in any luggage both ways. SFO-SD flight left and arrived on time. Boarding was orderly. Plane clean, leather seats very comfortable, served free soft drinks and juice, IFE with touch screen TV, live-tv satellite signal was lost midway through the flight but free movies and music remained available. Moving map display only in 2D, it's like looking at a road map. I think other airlines have better graphics, Virgin America should consider upgrading theirs. San Diego airport check in area was very crowded due to the proximity of the American Airlines check in counters. AA passengers formed a long line, passed by them to reach Virgin America's check in counters that had a short line. We got our boarding passes in less than one minute while AA check-in line barely moved. Flight to San Francisco left 4 minutes early, arrived about 20 minutes early. Flight was smooth, I redeemed the coupon that I received last May 2008 when I participated in Virgin America's pre- boarding "bowling" near the gate. I got a free mini bottle of white wine from the coupon. IFE worked perfectly this time around. This is our third round trip flight with Virgin America since October 2007 and my third review of this airline. So far they haven't disappointed me. I will choose this airline again.

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  3 October 2008  -  M Harvey    (Australia)

Customer Rating : 5/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

SEA-SFO. The best airline in regards to service that I have flown with in the USA. From check in, gate agents, flight attendants and pilots, all were friendly and helpful, and they seem to enjoy their jobs. Something that is missing on other US carriers I have flown.

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  3 October 2008  -  Fraser Campbell    (UK)

Customer Rating : 5/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

First

LAS-SFO First Class. This was the second flight my wife and I took on VX on this US trip. The first was SFO-LAX in the premium seats in economy. wwe decided to upgrade to First from LAS to SFO to check the difference (managed to bag $50 u/g using on-line checkin). The staff are a breath of fresh air. Seat comfortable, drinks served with a genuine smile. RED entertainment system worked well. Arrived early into SFO. Bags a bit slow but otherwise impeccable flight.

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  3 October 2008  -  Matthias Miguet    (France)

Customer Rating : 5/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

First

SAN-SFO. Booked economy seat for $66 and paid extra $50 for first class upgrade at check in. Best airline I flew. Highly recommended.

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  28 August 2008  -  D Salazar    (USA)

Customer Rating : 5/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

SFO-SAN return, SFO-LAX return, both econ. Everything from check-in to cabin interiors are hip and trendy, and ground staff and cabin crew act like they love their jobs. Seat back entertainment system is top-notch: free TV, video games, and you can order food right from your seat. Leather seats are nice and include comfortable headrests. They use the international terminal at SFO, which is much nicer than the domestic terminals. Bag delivery was quick; I waited about 5 minutes at the carousel for all flights. The only negatives are that the econ seat pitch is slightly less than JetBlue, and one can't yet redeem frequent flyer points yet.

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  28 August 2008  -  Barry Carr    (Australia )

Customer Rating : 5/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

SFO-JFK-SFO mid August. Two very good flights. Both left on time and arrived early. Modern aircraft, comfortable seats; acceptable seat pitch; very friendly and hop cabin crew. What is truly excellent, though, is the range of services available even to Y passengers. The most important of these is power at every single seat - which makes using a laptop and powering an ipod very easy. The inflight free tv is also very good even if it is subject to temporary interruption. Good selection of music and films. Only complaint is that the food is limited and overpriced. Good cheese, fruit and crackers dish, though.

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  22 August 2008  -  S Johnson    (USA)

Customer Rating : 3/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

SFO-IAD return. My choice of carrier is price driven. Virgin America is very economical and a good product. Flight departure/ arrival on time as scheduled. Ground and cabin attendants were very friendly and helpful. Aircraft new and clean. The down points: the Vegas style colored lighting. Seating is very cramped especially if the seat in front of you is in the reclined position. The my PTV crashed and was reset. Very limited free tv shows lost signal through out the flight. Gaming and music good. I would fly them again for the convenience and price.

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  19 August 2008  -  C Chouleur    (France)

Customer Rating : 5/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

SEA-SFO. The best domestic flight that I ever made ! Hip and comfortable airplane interior. Food can be ordered through the IFE and Music , video and Tv selection excellent. Fun and pleasant crew. On time departure and landing, and luggage delivered fast. What else can you dream of ?

VIRGIN AMERICA review :  30 June 2008  -  John Juenemann    (USA)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

IAD-SFO Return. The seats were comfortable, though there was not as much legroom as on a Southwest or JetBlue flight. IFE was good, although the channel selection was not so great. It would have been nice to have a channel guide. The TV reception kept breaking up. One great thing they had was that you could order your own food and drinks. Soft drinks were free and alcohol was not. The food quality was ok, but having it to order was a big plus. Virgin America has normal plugs under the seats so you can plug in your laptop iPod or any other device with USB power, and in the future plug into the internet.