Virgin America Review

I had the opportunity to fly first class on Virgin America for the first time on Monday. I had to get SFO early in the day, so that was the best choice vs. United (who blow chunks). It cost a bit more to sit in First Class, but I wanted to catch some sleep, so…..

I was sitting in the second row of the first class cabin (only two rows), and I slid my bag underneath the seat in front of me. That’s when the punk flight attendant in first class told me I couldn’t store a bag under my seat (company policy). Stupid rule, but whatever.

The seat was better than a standard domestic business class seat, not as good as an international seat. Didn’t lay flat, but went back quite a bit, with a foot rest as well.

I fell asleep pretty quickly, and woke up about halfway through the flight. I powered up my laptop to find…..the plane had wifi!!! This was my first time experiencing wifi on a plane. It’s amazing how much more work I can get done on a plane with an internet connection.

They served me some horrific breakfast sandwich, which might have been horrific because it had been sitting around for a while. It was a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a croissant. The croissant was like rubber, the sandwich had spinach and some kind of tomato-based sauce on it. I’m all for fine dining, but do you really need to mess with the simple perfection of a breakfast sandwich?

All in all, not a bad experience. The mood lighting and music were horrible. The in-flight entertainment system was pretty good, although I didn’t have time to watch a movie on it while working. I did find a few new songs from Fall Out Boy that I liked, which I downloaded on my laptop from iTunes.

Would I do it again? Sure. Would I pay more than $200 for the first class experience cross country? I don’t think so. I guess if I desperately needed sleep, sure. But other than the seat, there appears to be no other difference between first and coach.

Other than the fact that I could actually store my bag under my seat in coach. 😉