New Virgin America routes to be announced soon!

by Melanie Nayer on

Rumor at 36,000-feet is that Virgin America will announce its long-delayed service to Chicago later this month, but that’s not all that the low-cost airline has in store for its domestic travelers.

I caught up with Virgin America CEO David Cush via online chat onboard my flight from Los Angeles to Boston earlier this week and learned about a few more cities the airline has in the pipeline.

Cush said he’ll likely have some news for flight attendants later this week about new planes and new routes. While the general public will have to wait until a bit later this year, in-flight sources suggest to me that Dallas, Orlando and Atlanta might be the next target cities.

But here’s the best news from my main cabin seat: Cush told us that Virgin America is considering service to Canada saying, “We certainly plan on expanding to Canada at some point (maybe sooner rather than later) and are very excited about it.”
No clues yet on which city the airline will service, but among the strongest Canadian candidates, our money is on either Toronto or Whitehorse.%Gallery-87349%

Before you go, be sure to check out Episode 4 of Gadling’s Travel Talk TV, which features good and bad pilots, Holi, and a sofa in an aquarium!

Virgin America’s Fly Girls premiere party: insider access

by Grant Martin on

The launch date of CW network’s reality television show Fly Girls is drawing near, the inside story of five, sexy Virgin America flight attendants working, traveling and crashing through the crazy jet set life together.

While the official series premiere date is March 24, Virgin America gave a few lucky folks an inside preview of the series on a secret flight between Los Angeles and Las Vegas last week. The chaps at Gadling were lucky enough to score a few tickets for the ride.

Things kicked off in Los Angeles at terminal 4 of LAX on Friday the 26th, wayward passengers filtering in from all corners of the continent to participate in the festivities. Our good friend Johnny Jet met us at the gate, and before long the lovely ladies from Fly Girls as well as David Cush, CEO of Virgin America appeared from the jet bridge and welcomed the salivating passengers aboard.


The brief flight from Los Angeles to Las Vegas was only 50 minutes long, but Virgin America and CW were able to pack in plenty of activity, from the Fly Girls themselves handing out specially crafted Veev cocktails to celebratory announcements to the climax of the flight: an exclusive preview of the pilot episode.

Cheers erupted as the show came to a close and the aircraft landed at McCarran airport, and as the crowd snaked towards the Palazzo and Emeril’s Stadium, there was a steady buzz of excitement and festivity growing.

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The Fly Girls would reemerge on the red carpet in front of the Palazzo Las Vegas, posing with countless celebrities and answering questions about the show, just before heading into Lagasses Stadium for an on-stage kickoff and all night dance party. For more details on that you can check out this week’s Travel Talk.

It was a fantastic way to begin what’s sure to be an interesting and revealing look into the lives of Virgin America flight attendants in the Fly Girls series. Be sure to tune in on March 24th to see the premiere.

Richard Branson’s new toy: A submarine with twist

by Melanie Nayer on

Some people hop in the water with a rubber duckie or scuba mask, Sir Richard Branson goes down under in a submarine.

Virgin’s founder and self-made billionaire Branson already owns an international airline company, record label, mobile phone company, a few Caribbean islands and toys that would make James Bond jealous, and now he’s adding one more piece of fun to his flare: the Necker Nymph.

The UK’s Daily Mail reports this submarine-turned-plane can “dive to depths of up to 130-feet,” and is being rented out to the lucky guests who are visiting Branson’s private home on Necker Island. The Nymph has enough room for one pilot and two guests. Before you hop in the tube, though, guests must undergo scuba training and few safety trainings. Once you’ve passed your required courses, get ready for a scene.

If you’ve never been underwater in the British Virgin Islands, here are a few things you can expect to see on your way to Necker:

  • Centuries-old shipwrecks, including those captained by Blackbeard himself
  • Schools of fish, surrounded by mile-long reefs and coral
  • Dolphins and whales, depending on the time of year you travel
  • Underwater caves and spectacular rock formations

The Nymph comes at a price. You can rent this wild ride for $25,000 a week, but only after you’ve shelled out the minimum £55,000 (approximately $88,000) for seven nights on the luxury catamaran, the Necker Belle. Of course, all this can be yours only after you rent out a private stay at Necker Island (prices vary, but start at around $50,000).

Side note: I was privileged to set foot on Necker Island and I can assure you the price is worth the journey.

Daily Pampering: V Australia Business Class service to Sydney

by Grant Martin on

Seats 5H and 5K are the best two seats in V Australia‘s fleet. Nestled in the back right corner of business class, these two lie flat seats are separated from the rest of the cabin by a series of curtains, creating a minature, private room in which one can cross the Pacific Ocean. Combined with V Australia’s top quality service and inflight product, its a 14 hour journey that will breeze by in a flash.

From Los Angeles, you’ll start the journey near midnight local time, resting up in the V Australia lounge above Terminal 3 before making the quick transition to the 777-300 bound for Sydney. After a few Hendricks and Tonics in the in flight bar, a wide variety of dinner options will be served, capped off with a glass of port and one of the hundreds of shows available on the inflight entertainment system.

Once you’re ready for bed you can change into your free pajamas and sandals in the lav while flight attendants turn down your bed, leaving a sheet, duvet and chocolate. Then, after you fill out your breakfast card it’s an easy 9 hour sleep until you gently awake 3 hours outside of Australia to find a flight attendant handing you a strawberry smoothie.

Before you know it you’re on the ground in Sydney, salt and pepper shakers, sandals and pajamas stuffed in your carry on as you prepare to disembark into the southern hemisphere. After a flight like that, what else is there to look forward to?

Get your daily dose of Pampering right here or at 4PM every weekday at Gadling.

CW network to launch series on Virgin America flight attendants

by Grant Martin on

Have you ever wondered what Gadling’s resident flight attendant Heather Poole does in her spare time? It’s the stuff that legends are made out of — or maybe TV shows. That’s what the CW is banking on as they prepare to launch their new series called ‘Fly Girls’ this spring, in which they follow a hand full of Virgin America flight attendants around the country, working on planes, dating rockstars, hitting up parties and enjoying the life of young jetsetters.

As a recent article in the LA Times puts it, think Gossip Girl meets The Hills — in the airline industry. The perfect recipe for drama, right?

As to Virgin America‘s role in the overall series, they’re trying to stay hands off. That same article quotes Porter Gale, the VP of marketing as keen on letting the production crew do its thing without any egregious VX branding or advertorial throughout the series. Good call.

Having personally met two of the crew around which this series is based I’m interested to see how their personalities filter through CW. In real life they’re fantastic, friendly people and my hope is that the camera doesn’t change this.

Either way, ‘Fly Girls” premiers in March, at which point you can see Louise (left) and Mandy (right) in action. Keep an eye out for them in the skies in the meantime.