Virgin

First of all let me say that I am a loyal Jetblue flyer. But I found a good deal with Virgin Airlines and even though I've never used them, I thought I'd give them a try (yes, that makes me a virgin to Virgin).
When I arrived at the large, open JFK terminal I passed the rows and rows of cold, impersonal airlines. Then I see a red banner in the corner that says Virgin Atlantic check in here. How inviting! It's like a birthday banner. I round the corner and it's a little airport-check-in sanctuary. They have these modern "kiosks". Sleek screens on this very smooth white counter. I think there were even red carpets. I checked in with ease and my little square boarding pass pops up from the counter. I go drop off my bag to the friendly attendant. He was this older, German gentleman (a la President Dieter F. Uchtdorf) and he informed me that I had a window seat and that as of now, no one was sitting next to me. SWEET!! I thought that it was really nice of him to tell me that.

The next leg of my experience I do not blame on Virgin. Must remember to wear socks to the airport! There is something so skeezy about walking around barefoot through security. I might as well lick the pose on the subway. Another thing to blame myself for is my case of being chronically early. I ended up with a lot of time to kill. It's okay tough because I got to eat breakfast, read Vanity Fair, listen to Kelly Clarkson and stare out the window, although visibility is about 30 feet, it's very foggy outside...needless to say my hair looks pretty bad. Also, I wanted to mention that the bathrooms at this terminal are small and icky. AND there is NOT a great food selection. I can get any kind of duty free perfume but can't find a decent muffin or orange juice. Where are you Dunkin Donuts? Starbucks? McDonalds?

It's time to board the plane, so far its like every other time. But then, I get on the plane and it looks like a club! The seats are black and the cabin lights are purple (I expected the lint on my dress to start glowing!) There's this cool, jazzy, techno music playing. There's a screen at every seat. The backs of the seats including the tray tables are this smooth, bright white plastic (although in this lighting nothing is 'bright'). I woke up pretty early, maybe I'm dreaming? Airplanes aren't supposed to be purple!

I squeeze down the aisle to my window seat. Hmmm... I look at the top- 18A. Look at my boarding pass- 18A. Why is there a passenger in my seat? Could Virgin fail me after all? Noooo, turns out it was a misunderstanding. After we got it worked out I settled into my chair... One thing I noticed and it sounds very silly, but the seatbelt buckles were VERY shiny. The belts were black like the seats, and the buckles were just so sparkly! The plane is also outfitted with WiFi! It's $12.00 though... no thanks.

I also discovered the magical entertainment they have. It is a touch screen with all sorts of goodies: TV, music, music videos, games! And the other amazing feature is the controller to the tv. It comes out so it feels just like a real remote control. Yay for channel surfing! The flip side of the remote is the controller for the games, including a full keybord.

They have to pause my game of Mahjong for the safety information which is this funny little animation.

The rest of the flight was pretty standard.

Part Two of the story has nothing to do with the airline, but it was funny to me and needed to be included. I documented this on the flight right after "the incident" here is what I wrote:

Flight VX251. 9 May 2009. Somewhere over the Rockies

OMG this "crusader against the swine flu" just turned around shoving napkins at me shouting, "Miss! Miss! Could you cover your mouth!" which she repeated again. I had no idea what she was talking about. I had my headphones on, minding my own healthy-proper-hygienic-etiquette business and apparently someone in the vicinity was coughing, causing her to freak out, blame me and try to save the rest of the innocent passengers from some kind of disease. Sheesh lady get a grip!

After we landed the woman turned around and said to me in her cool, raspy, slow, Los Angeles voice, "I apologize for waving those napkins at you like that." I forgave her of course and thought the whole thing was pretty funny.

Overall I had a great experience with Virgin. I am not forsaking Jetblue- but the times I don't flywith them, I'll probably be on Virgin!