Matt Molnar
2007-12-02, 02:56 AM
This is long delayed, but here goes. Sorry for the lack of pix.
Date: Friday, October 25, 2007
Route: John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) - Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Airline: Virgin America
Flight: 317
Aircraft Type: Airbus A320
Aircraft Registration: N622VA
Scheduled Departure Time: 7:05pm
Wheels Up Time: 9:00pm
Scheduled Arrival Time: 8:10pm
Actual Arrival Time: 9:50pm
It was a hellish week at work, and though I wanted to leave the office around 4:45 for my 7:05 flight because I was worried about security lines at Terminal 4, I ended up leaving a few minutes after 5. The transit directions website trips123.com told me if I caught the 5:23 LIRR to Jamaica, I would make it to JFK at 6:00. So I took a cab to Penn Station, jumped on the LIRR, and grabbed the AirTrain.
There had been a steady drizzle the whole day, and as I approached the airport on the train, it looked like the visibility had deteriorated badly: the ATIS claimed a ceiling of 800 feet. An ontime departure seemed highly unlikely.
I made it to T4 a few minutes past 6, but thankfully no one was there. The Virgin America check-in lines were literally deserted. I had checked in and printed my boarding pass online so I just had to check my bag, which they tagged and I brought to the TSA area nearby.
I got through security quickly, and VA's gate, Gate 20, is literally just past it. Surprisingly the gate area was packed: the 6:35 San Francisco flight had been delayed, so passengers of both flights were sitting there. Many people were confused because although Gate 20 can park two aircraft at a time, the LCD display at the gate showed only the SF flight. Unless you asked someone or heard the announcement, you weren't sure what was going on.
On a normal day I would have been really bummed this debacle, but today I had left the office with a few important items still on my plate. While I was waiting in the terminal I managed to connect my laptop to my office machine via my Sprint wireless broadband card and finish up some important stuff. Phew.
Eventually the SF flight pulled up, unloaded and boarded, and we followed. Walked down the long split ramp to the jetway and boarded.
I was in awe of the interior of the plane. The lighting was subdued but perfect. The black leather seats were gorgeous. The music was upbeat. It was like walking through the door of a nice lounge, not a typically drabby airliner.
I headed back to my seat in 18A, plopped my camera bag in the overhead and sat down. This was the most comfortable airliner seat I had ever felt, more comfortable than the US Air first class seats I had tried at LGA Kids Day. The width was just right, and the leg room was fine. I took out my laptop and did some more work.
Turned out I would have an extra 90 minutes or so to finish up. After we finally pushed back around 7:30, we started taxiing. Departures were off the 4s according to ATIS...why were we headed toward the end of 13? Because that's how long the queue was. In a grim tone the captain announced that we would likely not be taking off for quite awhile, at least an hour, probably longer. About 40 minutes later he told us that this was the longest line he had ever seen at JFK. He instructed the cabin crew to hand out bottled water.
At exactly 9pm, 115 minutes after our scheduled departure, we made it to the south end of runway 4 and took off.
As we approached cruise altitude I began playing with the "Red (Beta)" IFE system. To date the only other truly interactive IFE system I had used was that on Delta's transcons. Red is far superior in its appearance, speed and functionality. The interface is clean and intuitive, it changes screens quickly
The part I was most excited about was the ability to order food from your seat, and this was extra important at this point because I had been hungry before I boarded the plane, and far more so 2 1/2 hours later without food. I ordered a sandwich with a Sprite and a bag of cookies, swiped my credit card, and waited. And waited. You're able to check the status of your order through the screen, and it kept saying it was on its way. About 30 mins later the flight attendants were well into their regular service when one got to me. Their carts have flat screen computer displays on top of them, apparently to handle on the spot transactions and let them know when someone places orders through Red. When she asked what I wanted, I told her I had already ordered quite awhile ago. She said they were having problems with the system and her display didn't show my order. It didn't matter too much as she had all the stuff I ordeed on the cart, so she gave it to me, but it still took longer than I would have liked.
The sandwich was excellent, salami, provolone and pesto on a nice roll. Served with a cup of some sort of Greek salad with feta, lettuce, onions, cherry tomatoes, also very good. Chocolate cookies were above average as well. Total was $10. Soft drinks are free, and in the rear galley there is a display of bottled water which you can help yourself to.
Flight was mostly uneventful other than that. Flew mostly over the great expanses of nothing that make up much of middle America. Only notable cities passing below were Indianapolis and Kansas City. On approach to LAX I saw one of the numerous forest fires that had swept the region that week.
Landed at LAX without a problem, about 55 minutes behind schedule.Overall my first flight on VX was exceptional despite the wx delay. I was already looking forward to my flight back.
http://map9.flightaware.com/flight_track_map.rvt?ident=VRD317;airports=KJFK%20 KLAX+;key=7053f6da266a2a2ac7e3d32fd59fb0d667f61c55 ;keytime=1196577838;height=600;width=800;departure time=1193356320;arrivaltime=1193374620
Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Route: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) - John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Airline: Virgin America
Flight: 312
Aircraft Type: Airbus A320
Aircraft Registration: N626VA
Scheduled Departure Time: 9:15pm
Wheels Up Time: 9:40pm
Scheduled Arrival Time: 5:40am
Actual Arrival Time: 5:10am
After a few days seeing the sites, spotting, and staying at the fantastic Westin Bonaventure in downtown LA (decent rooms, service was AWESOME), it was time to head home. Since my gf had booked her flight on Delta, which leaves from Terminal 5 while VX uses T6, we were hoping to find a way to wait for our flights together. The terminals are indeed connected on the outside, but on the inside, it wasn't clear if they were. Luckily we spoke to a TSA agent who informed us there is indeed a passage between the two past security. We sat at a bar/restaurant in T5 until it was time for me to head off to T6.
It was my intention to head to work after arriving the next morning, so I took an Excedrin PM and planned on sleeping every minute of the flight. This worked pretty well, and it's always great when you have a row to yourself. I managed to grab a pillow and blanket from an overhead a few rows back, pushed my seat back a little, plugged my headphones in, turned on the IFE's "Sleep" radio station, and huddled up against the wall. I was asleep soon after we took off.
I woke up as we were beginning our descent, somewhere over New Jersey. It was still quite dark, probably around 4:45am. We landed on 31L and got to the gate pretty quickly, about 30 mins early. I got my bags and proceeded to Terminal 3, where my gf would be landing shortly, and where we would catch a cab home. Her flight was on time.
Overall a great experience. Maybe I'm giving them too much credit after only two flights, but Virgin America is my new favorite airline. If they can figure out a way to continue delivering the product they do now and make money doing it, competing carriers, especially jetBlue, are going to have some very serious problems. I can't wait until they add more JFK routes.
http://map7.flightaware.com/flight_track_map.rvt?ident=VRD312;airports=KLAX%20 KJFK+;key=421c8be1dc734783c169440288d7cf470d8bea46 ;keytime=1196578650;height=600;width=800;departure time=1193805120;arrivaltime=1193821620
An odd post script: On our cab ride home to Astoria from JFK that morning, traffic slowed nearly to a halt on the Grand Central as we passed Shea Stadium. We ended up taking a shortcut...THROUGH LGA! The winding roundabout roads are ridiculous to drive through, but it definitely saved us about 10 minutes...it turned out the accident was RIGHT IN FRONT of LGA...not a good spot for the road to close during the morning rush. Anwyay, pretty sure it was my first time being in JFK and LGA in the same day. :)
Date: Friday, October 25, 2007
Route: John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) - Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Airline: Virgin America
Flight: 317
Aircraft Type: Airbus A320
Aircraft Registration: N622VA
Scheduled Departure Time: 7:05pm
Wheels Up Time: 9:00pm
Scheduled Arrival Time: 8:10pm
Actual Arrival Time: 9:50pm
It was a hellish week at work, and though I wanted to leave the office around 4:45 for my 7:05 flight because I was worried about security lines at Terminal 4, I ended up leaving a few minutes after 5. The transit directions website trips123.com told me if I caught the 5:23 LIRR to Jamaica, I would make it to JFK at 6:00. So I took a cab to Penn Station, jumped on the LIRR, and grabbed the AirTrain.
There had been a steady drizzle the whole day, and as I approached the airport on the train, it looked like the visibility had deteriorated badly: the ATIS claimed a ceiling of 800 feet. An ontime departure seemed highly unlikely.
I made it to T4 a few minutes past 6, but thankfully no one was there. The Virgin America check-in lines were literally deserted. I had checked in and printed my boarding pass online so I just had to check my bag, which they tagged and I brought to the TSA area nearby.
I got through security quickly, and VA's gate, Gate 20, is literally just past it. Surprisingly the gate area was packed: the 6:35 San Francisco flight had been delayed, so passengers of both flights were sitting there. Many people were confused because although Gate 20 can park two aircraft at a time, the LCD display at the gate showed only the SF flight. Unless you asked someone or heard the announcement, you weren't sure what was going on.
On a normal day I would have been really bummed this debacle, but today I had left the office with a few important items still on my plate. While I was waiting in the terminal I managed to connect my laptop to my office machine via my Sprint wireless broadband card and finish up some important stuff. Phew.
Eventually the SF flight pulled up, unloaded and boarded, and we followed. Walked down the long split ramp to the jetway and boarded.
I was in awe of the interior of the plane. The lighting was subdued but perfect. The black leather seats were gorgeous. The music was upbeat. It was like walking through the door of a nice lounge, not a typically drabby airliner.
I headed back to my seat in 18A, plopped my camera bag in the overhead and sat down. This was the most comfortable airliner seat I had ever felt, more comfortable than the US Air first class seats I had tried at LGA Kids Day. The width was just right, and the leg room was fine. I took out my laptop and did some more work.
Turned out I would have an extra 90 minutes or so to finish up. After we finally pushed back around 7:30, we started taxiing. Departures were off the 4s according to ATIS...why were we headed toward the end of 13? Because that's how long the queue was. In a grim tone the captain announced that we would likely not be taking off for quite awhile, at least an hour, probably longer. About 40 minutes later he told us that this was the longest line he had ever seen at JFK. He instructed the cabin crew to hand out bottled water.
At exactly 9pm, 115 minutes after our scheduled departure, we made it to the south end of runway 4 and took off.
As we approached cruise altitude I began playing with the "Red (Beta)" IFE system. To date the only other truly interactive IFE system I had used was that on Delta's transcons. Red is far superior in its appearance, speed and functionality. The interface is clean and intuitive, it changes screens quickly
The part I was most excited about was the ability to order food from your seat, and this was extra important at this point because I had been hungry before I boarded the plane, and far more so 2 1/2 hours later without food. I ordered a sandwich with a Sprite and a bag of cookies, swiped my credit card, and waited. And waited. You're able to check the status of your order through the screen, and it kept saying it was on its way. About 30 mins later the flight attendants were well into their regular service when one got to me. Their carts have flat screen computer displays on top of them, apparently to handle on the spot transactions and let them know when someone places orders through Red. When she asked what I wanted, I told her I had already ordered quite awhile ago. She said they were having problems with the system and her display didn't show my order. It didn't matter too much as she had all the stuff I ordeed on the cart, so she gave it to me, but it still took longer than I would have liked.
The sandwich was excellent, salami, provolone and pesto on a nice roll. Served with a cup of some sort of Greek salad with feta, lettuce, onions, cherry tomatoes, also very good. Chocolate cookies were above average as well. Total was $10. Soft drinks are free, and in the rear galley there is a display of bottled water which you can help yourself to.
Flight was mostly uneventful other than that. Flew mostly over the great expanses of nothing that make up much of middle America. Only notable cities passing below were Indianapolis and Kansas City. On approach to LAX I saw one of the numerous forest fires that had swept the region that week.
Landed at LAX without a problem, about 55 minutes behind schedule.Overall my first flight on VX was exceptional despite the wx delay. I was already looking forward to my flight back.
http://map9.flightaware.com/flight_track_map.rvt?ident=VRD317;airports=KJFK%20 KLAX+;key=7053f6da266a2a2ac7e3d32fd59fb0d667f61c55 ;keytime=1196577838;height=600;width=800;departure time=1193356320;arrivaltime=1193374620
Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Route: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) - John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Airline: Virgin America
Flight: 312
Aircraft Type: Airbus A320
Aircraft Registration: N626VA
Scheduled Departure Time: 9:15pm
Wheels Up Time: 9:40pm
Scheduled Arrival Time: 5:40am
Actual Arrival Time: 5:10am
After a few days seeing the sites, spotting, and staying at the fantastic Westin Bonaventure in downtown LA (decent rooms, service was AWESOME), it was time to head home. Since my gf had booked her flight on Delta, which leaves from Terminal 5 while VX uses T6, we were hoping to find a way to wait for our flights together. The terminals are indeed connected on the outside, but on the inside, it wasn't clear if they were. Luckily we spoke to a TSA agent who informed us there is indeed a passage between the two past security. We sat at a bar/restaurant in T5 until it was time for me to head off to T6.
It was my intention to head to work after arriving the next morning, so I took an Excedrin PM and planned on sleeping every minute of the flight. This worked pretty well, and it's always great when you have a row to yourself. I managed to grab a pillow and blanket from an overhead a few rows back, pushed my seat back a little, plugged my headphones in, turned on the IFE's "Sleep" radio station, and huddled up against the wall. I was asleep soon after we took off.
I woke up as we were beginning our descent, somewhere over New Jersey. It was still quite dark, probably around 4:45am. We landed on 31L and got to the gate pretty quickly, about 30 mins early. I got my bags and proceeded to Terminal 3, where my gf would be landing shortly, and where we would catch a cab home. Her flight was on time.
Overall a great experience. Maybe I'm giving them too much credit after only two flights, but Virgin America is my new favorite airline. If they can figure out a way to continue delivering the product they do now and make money doing it, competing carriers, especially jetBlue, are going to have some very serious problems. I can't wait until they add more JFK routes.
http://map7.flightaware.com/flight_track_map.rvt?ident=VRD312;airports=KLAX%20 KJFK+;key=421c8be1dc734783c169440288d7cf470d8bea46 ;keytime=1196578650;height=600;width=800;departure time=1193805120;arrivaltime=1193821620
An odd post script: On our cab ride home to Astoria from JFK that morning, traffic slowed nearly to a halt on the Grand Central as we passed Shea Stadium. We ended up taking a shortcut...THROUGH LGA! The winding roundabout roads are ridiculous to drive through, but it definitely saved us about 10 minutes...it turned out the accident was RIGHT IN FRONT of LGA...not a good spot for the road to close during the morning rush. Anwyay, pretty sure it was my first time being in JFK and LGA in the same day. :)