Few people take to the skies these days for the pleasure of it -- life in coach can definitely be a drag.
But Virgin America is doing a lot of small things that make their flights much more enjoyable than many competitors.
Each coach seat has a monitor and you get a choice of 20 movies ($8 each), plus music videos, live TV, premium TV (hot shows such as "The Office" and "Ugly Betty" cost $1.99), as well as dozens of albums for listening. There are games, a kid's corner, and a chat feature to IM friends in other rows. Want to use your laptop? There's a plug available at your seat. And if you're hungry, you can swipe your credit card on your monitor and order something to eat -- any time. Shocker: the food's good; the choices are limited but tasty.
Other noteworthy touches include a rack of small water bottles (free) available at all times. We like the idea of the mood lighting -- pink sidelights and purple overhead lights -- even if the mood it conjures up is a tropical bar from 1982. Still, who else plays music in the bathrooms (where the soap is Method) or has animated the informational instructions at the start of the flight in a way that's actually fun to watch?
Some of these features are available from other airlines, but VirginAmerica seems to have a winning combination of them. It's all in the details.
written on Monday Nov 26, 2007
taking off.
