After all sorts of bureaucratic delays revolving around its foreign ownership, Virgin America expects to launch service on Wednesday with two daily flights between its San Francisco (SFO) hub and New York (JFK) – and five daily flights linking SFO and Los Angeles (LAX). The airline plans to serve 10 U.S. cities within a year and is shooting for 30 within five years. It has announced it will fly to and from San Diego – but it hasn't said when that service will start.
“That service is confirmed, and it's likely to happen sooner than later,” said Abby Lunardini, Virgin spokeswoman. “We're hoping that it will be very soon.”
The company's goal, says CEO Fred Reid, “is to provide top-notch service at low fares.”
Introductory fares are a definite bargain: The airline is offering two classes of service: economy and first, sold one-way with no advance-purchase requirements. Fares are $139 in coach and $389 in first class for the transcontinental route, $44 coach and $149 first class for the California corridor route (plus taxes).
The airline is flying all-new Airbus 319/320 aircraft. First class has eight seats in 2x2 configuration, with 55 inches of pitch (front-to-rear spacing between seats), 165 degrees of recline with a full-extension padded leg rest and foot rest, and a built-in massage feature. Economy, on the other hand, is cattle-car cramped: Uncomfortably narrow seats are in a 3x3 configuration, with a 32-inch pitch that allows minimal leg room and minuscule work space. (JetBlue flies the same aircraft, but its coach seats offer at least 2 more inches of seat pitch.)
But even the coach cabin is equipped with the latest high-tech bells and whistles – no surprise for an airline backed by British billionaire Richard Branson and his Virgin group. Every seat has a 9-inch screen, with access to Dish TV programming plus more than 25 pay-per-view movies on demand ($8). Passengers get a small QWERTY keyboard, which they can use to order meal and beverage options, send and receive e-mail and text messages, communicate with passengers in other seats, and play games. Audio options include more than 3,000 MP3 music files – and there are plenty of plugs to power whatever gadgets you bring from home. Passengers who make purchases can pay with a credit or debit card they can swipe at their seats.
Instead of miles, Virgin America's frequent flyer program, EleVAte, gives five points for every dollar spent on VA travel– with free tickets starting at 4,900 points, with no restrictions on redemption.
Details: www.virginamerica.com, (877) 359-8474.
Feel the love
If you were a flower child in the '60s, tuck a fresh flower into your graying hair and make it to San Francisco on Sept. 2. That's when the city will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love with an all-day free concert at Golden Gate Park's Speedway Meadows. Among dozens of acts confirmed for the 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. fest: Country Joe McDonald, Taj Mahal, Canned Heat, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Jesse Colin Young, Banana (from the Youngbloods), Tyran Porter and Dale Okerman (from the Doobie Brothers), Michael McClure and Ray Manzarek (from the Doors), Brian Auger and Barry “The Fish” Melton (from Country Joe and the Fish).
Details: www.2b1records.com/summeroflove40th.
Readers' tips
Plastic bottles are OK: “I'm sure you've received lots of comment about the tip from the reader who warned about the health hazard of reusing empty plastic water bottles. (July 22) This is nothing more than an 'old wives' tale' – with absolutely no scientific basis behind it. ... I have read in technical journals that there has been shown to be no problem with plastic water bottles. If there were, common sense tells you that there would be more plasticizer in the new bottles than in used ones. There is absolutely no problem in refilling plastic bottles (with clean water). Readers do not need to worry.”
– Les Wynston, professor of biochemistry emeritusCalifornia State University Long Beach
More on those bottles: “Your reader who extensively researched the problems associated with reusing plastic water bottles may not have researched it quite enough. See these references to variations on this urban legend: www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/petbottles.asp www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/d/dioxins.htm
– Tom Curtis, Fallbrook
Got a tip?Send it to alison.darosa@uniontrib.com or mail to Latitudes and Attitude, P.O. Box 120191, San Diego, CA 92112. Please include prices, Web sites, addresses and phone numbers for the places you write about. And be sure to include your own daytime phone number. Alison DaRosa can be reached at (619) 293-2036.
