Virgin Airlines: Alex Albrecht Was Right
I must admit, right off the bat, that I have a little bit of Virgin guilt; I left the Virgin Mobile phone service to jump ship to the iPhone (and their obstreperous deal with AT&T, who have sent me 100% erroneous bills, so far). So I expected to be a bit biased in favor of the new airline. Aside from hearing the initial Diggnation reports from Alex Albrecht, I’d heard little more than secondhand anecdotal about flying Virgin, all of it uniformly positive. So I was prepared to like them.
I can now say that flying Virgin is about as nice as flying first class on Delta, for about half the price. I know this sounds lame, but I hope they jack their prices up a little bit, just so Southwest and Delta don’t lose too many of their price-sensitive customers over the whole deal. (Note to new airlines: filling your first flights with influencers/bloggers is a pretty freakin’ smart thing to do.)
Without giving the whole anecdotal experience, I’m going to do a 2-minute highlight rundown. These are just a few reasons I think I’m switching from United, unless I’m traveling a route that Virgin doesn’t fly.
10. Bottled water is expensive at the airport. At JFK or SFO, a 33 oz. bottled water typically costs about $5. If you can suffer through the pre-boarding sans water (due to FAA security restrictions), it’s all-you-can-drink once you get on board. And the cute little bottles are available in little glowing bins next to the restroom. Economic benefit: $5.
9. The mood lighting is no joke. When you walk into the plane the pink and purple mood lighting really is calming. I can’t picture how someone could go into full-on screaming jerk mode with this kind of lighting; it would be like starting a tiff with a server in some hipster nightclub. What are the other airlines even thinking with harsh fluorescent lighting? Economic benefit: $10 (What I’d be willing to pay to arrive 25% more relaxed).
The music selection is an extension of the mood lighting. The plane is like one fairly well-chosen iPod, programmed by thirtysomething Londoner. Looking through the selection, I realized that it would entertain my dad, one of my octogenerian great uncles (if they could figure out the interface) or my 21-year-old brother. My in-flight playlist consisted of some interesting surprises: the new Orbital, Bloc Party, Cold War Kids, High School Musical (so, I was curious), John Legend, a few interesting early U2 tracks, and a bunch of Led Zeppelin album tracks that I hadn’t heard in a while. The 3000+ track library contained a few things I didn’t expect to find on a plane: Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, a bunch of Steve Earle, and an hour’s worth of good Frank Zappa. A few audiobooks would be a heavenly addition. (Economic benefit: $5 - not having to use my iPhone/iPod on the flight, period.)
7. Non-branded coffee, and it’s good. I’ve had enough burned Starbucks on United to last a lifetime. (Economic benefit: nothing, but there’s something to be said for not drinking bad coffee).
6. Allows for prosumerish full-control of the in-flight experience. Want to watch a movie? $8. Want to eat the fruit and cheese plate (mediocre)? $7. The plane’s Linux-based Red in-flight entertainment system, while still obviously in beta, gets the job done. While it may feel like they’re nickel-and-diming you on the amenities, the base flight of the flights are great, and they don’t box everyone in to watching the same crappy movie. While I’m unsure if average joes are going to start a chat session with the person across the aisle, the feature will be radically popular with groups traveling together. Who knows, maybe it’ll get kids to think that chatting with their parents is cool. (Economic benefit: at least $50. Having a dynamite playlist probably allowed me to get more done than I would have at work, with no email to interrupt me.)
5. Really loud music in the bathrooms. It may seem a little intense to do your business to really loud salsa music, but if it gets each person in and out of the restroom 10 seconds faster, that’s a heck of a lot less waiting around for everyone. (Economic benefit: $1. I’d pay that much to get in to the bathroom 10 seconds faster whenever I went on a flight.)
4. No obnoxious announcements. Not once on the flight were persons told to stay in their own cabin. It’s sort of implied, by the black-outfitted flight attendants, as if by doing so, you’re being, well, uncool. The only thing that came close to being a little too cheeky is the announcement that the airline doesn’t accept cash.
3. Exit row: $25. United, I’m sick of begging. Please, just let me pay the extra $25 up front so that I don’t have to beg, plead and flash my cheesy Premier Associate card so that I can have an exit row seat. Virgin just lets me lock it down when I make my reservation. (Economic value: $0, since I paid for it.)
2. The plugs, the plugs. Being able to calmly sit and do email on the snappy T-Mobile connection in the terminal was good enough, but not having to stake out an outlet and sit on the floor like my dog, Teddy, was worth ten bucks to me. Getting off a plane having just listened half of Stevie Wonder’s Songs In The Key of Life because you saw it on the in-flight system - bonus. Getting off of a plane with a fully charged laptop? Double-bonus. (Economic value: $0, since I’d get this on United.)
1. Total lack of logo-based branding Virgin America’s in-flight branding was more like, “Welcome to the Virgin Mobile building” than “You’re flying in a really exciting airline today!” It made me realize that, in all of their attempts to reach me, United and Southwest have failed with their in-flight magazines and mediocre toiletries that don’t reach my demographic. Virgin, in providing a low-key whole-experience brand (fresh flowers at check-in, relaxed staff, super-clean planes) spoke more than a dozen logos and forced smiles could. (Economic benefit: I’d be willing to pay $8 to get rid of all the logos. And another buck to empty the seat pocket.)
So, from my initial estimates, even if the cost of the United flight is the same as Virgin’s, the economic value of the Virgin Flight is $80 higher. Thus, even if Virgin jacks up the price of the SFO-JFK run to $190-200, each way, I’m still game. The math works.
Wish-list: Individual droppers of Natural Tears to fight in-flight dry eyes, better breakfasts, planes that never lose connection with the satellite feed.
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