Virgin America is the hip, new airline with cool in-seat displays complete with TV shows, games, and the ability to order food. So it only makes sense that they’ve tapped Califonia-based startup MOGL to power their Elevate frequent flyer dining rewards program.
MOGL is a loyalty rewards app that serves restaurants by using gamification and a bit of charity to increase engagement and repeat… → Read More
Loopt has gone through quite a few incarnations, and this morning that tradition continued as the mobile social network announced it was entering the daily deals space with a service called U-Deals. In essence, U-Deals lets users request their own deals. After submitting an idea for a deal, users can then drum up interest by way of social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, etc. → Read More
Air travel promises to become cleaner, if industry actions ahead of the huge, annual Paris Airshow are any indication.
Virgin America— a company that’s been reporting on its own greenhouse gas emissions since 2009— ordered $1.4 billion worth of new, super fuel-efficient engines from CFM International the companies announced on Wednesday. The move should help keep energy costs down, and reduce… → Read More
Everyone loves loyalty points. But it’s often a pain to get them because different companies all have their own programs that require you to remember numbers. Topguest’s goal is to unify that experience by letting you earn points simply by checking-in on social networks like Foursquare and Facebook. And now they’re adding a new layer to the mix: Instagram photos.
Yes, beginning today when the… → Read More
Google is going to make a lot of frequent flyers, and Virgin America, happy this holiday season. As a gift to people who fly on Virgin America’s WiFi-equipped planes, Google will be footing the bill for everybody on board between November 10, 2009, and January 15, 2010.
For Google, this is a smart marketing move because it generates tons of good will among everyone who flies Virgin America. But… → Read More
In the world of business, social media, led by Twitter, is forcing companies to augment the offshoring of reactive customer service with the nearshoring of proactive customer engagement. The conversations that power social media are sparking a sense of urgency to identify influential voices and talk to customers in a place and time of their choosing (generally, in public and online).
For… → Read More
Whether we realize it or not, there’s a race going on in the skies above us. With the advent of wireless Internet access creeping into what once our sanctuary of solitude at 37,000 feet has now become a domain for self-righteous dingbats to livestream their flights for all to see.
Leading the way is Virgin America who announced today that they are the first airline in all the land to offer … → Read More
A few weeks back I hopped onto my first Virgin America flight with Aircell’s Gogo service on-board. It wasn’t the first time I’ve reviewed Gogo and if you recall I was on the first commercial Gogo flight with American Air. The plan was to interview James Weatherson, Virgin America’s inflight entertainment engineer, while I was up in the air, but there was a scheduling mix up and the… → Read More
Come chat with me on Ustream on my Virgin America flight and watch people walk by! I’ll be turning on my camera every hour or so and I’ll be chatting live from 35,000 feet. I’ll also be IMing with Virgin America’s IFE engineer James Weatherson around 6PM PT today and I’ll post a transcript. He’s in charge of the Red entertainment system on-board all VA flights and we’ll find out what… → Read More
Aircell has reduced the price of their in-flight Wi-Fi service Gogo to $7.95 for users who just want to connect their handheld devices. Let’s face it, when you’re stuck in coach on an American flight, you don’t want to pull out your laptop only to have it crushed by the passenger in front of you. Gogo is currently available on American Airlines, Delta and Virgin America for $12.95 on flights… → Read More
Just a quick update for the transcon flying tech folk. Virgin America updated their online booking system to show you which flights are wired for Wi-Fi so, you know what you’re getting yourself into before you board the plane. Also, starting April 5th, the following routes will all be wired for Wi-Fi: Boston to LA, Boston to San Francisco and Dulles to Los Angeles. → Read More
It’s not every day we get a chance to sit down with one of the world’s richest and most industrious men. Actually, Sir Richard is only the 236th richest person in the world according to Forbes. I thought he’d be higher. *shrug* Anyway, we had the esteemed pleasure of taking Sir Richard’s IM interview virginity last week as he was jetting back to his private island, Necker.
CBS’ The… → Read More
Doug Aamoth reporting from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. Today in the B terminal I saw some good-looking New England Patriots cheerleaders, a good-looking Maria Menounos, and then everything went all haywire when two guys in bumblebee tutus showed up followed by Richard Branson dressed like a patriotic psychiatrist’s wet dream. → Read More
Virgin America, my favorite domestic airline, is launching service to and from Boston today with three daily routes from LA and two daily routes from San Francisco. This is important for those traveling between Boston and California because all flights to and from Boston are equipped with Aircell’s Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi service.
Update: We’ve got a list of all Wi-Fi-enabled VA flights after the… → Read More
I don’t know about you guys, but $109 for a flight from NYC to the west coast is dirt-cheap. Sure, airline flights are neither gadget-y nor gear-y, but VA has Wi-Fi-enabled flights and Doom on-board. Just book your transcon flight by February 17th and fly by April 1st. Virgin America flies from NYC’s JFK to Las Vegas, San Diego, Las Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.
For those traveling… → Read More
Our buds over at Jaunted just gave us the heads up that Virgin America will begin rolling out Aircell‘s Gogo service, which we reviewed back in August, on November 22. The “beta” flight will take off from SFO, VA’s HQ, to JFK. Virgin plans to roll out the in-flight broadband service on one plane per week with a full rollout scheduled by March 2009. Oh, and they won’t… → Read More
Heh. Not really. But I am bummed out because I missed Virgin America’s first “Superfly Wednesdays” from NYC to LA because I’m sick. As most of you know already, VA’s in-flight entertainment system, RED, allows seat-to-seat messaging and this would have been the perfect opportunity for me to send a little message to Jaslene Gonzalez, a previous winner of… → Read More
It’s that time of the year, again. School’s out, for some, and it’s time for a vacation with the family. The cost of airfare seems to be quite horrendous as of late so you might as well take advantage of what you can. Virgin America, my personal favorite, is having a short and sweet sale on airfare until May 23, but you’ll have to travel by June 25 to take advantage. They… → Read More
I’m sitting in the Virgin America gate at JFK waiting for my flight to Seattle and I come across this tidbit of news. I’m both stoked and bummed at the same time. I’m stoked because this is a pretty rad deal for Mariner’s fans and I grew up rooting for them, which explains my hatred for the Yankees, but I’m bummed because I forgot my DS at home. If you’re unfamiliar with the Nintendo… → Read More
Once again, Virgin America is having a bonanza on airfare until the 25th so long as you fly by June 11th. So cash in now and fly on the dopest gadget-friendly airline in the US. Yours truly will be boarding a VA flight Wednesday morning for Seattle and I can’t wait. To refresh, VA flies into and out of Seattle, NYC, LA, SF, DC and SD. → Read More
Aircell announced today the completion of the GoGo network. We’re stoked on this because it means unadulterated (no VoIP) in-flight Wi-Fi. American Airlines recently installed the Aircell ATG system on one their Boeing 767-200 planes. It’s currently being tested and should deploy throughout the fleet sometime this year. Virgin America is also slated to roll out the Aircell service this year. → Read More
Go on. Give it a try. You have until March 14. Virgin America → Read More
Airline fares? Yeah, I’m telling you about discount fares on Virgin America because it’s the geekiest domestic airline out there right now. No need to use SeatGuru to find out which seats have outlets because every seat on VA has an outlet. RED is a pretty badass in-flight entertainment suite considering you don’t have to pay for it like you would on other airlines. Oh, and wait… → Read More
Today Continental announced that they will be offering Wi-Fi, but it will be the same crippled mess that you’ll find on JetBlue. It’s not all bad, though. The agreement with LiveTV will also bring 36 channels of live TV directly to your seat via DirecTV. First-class passengers will receive the service (TV) for free while passengers in economy-class will have to muster up $6. The Wi-Fi… → Read More
Over the weekend at Sundance, Paris Hilton was introduced to Virgin America’s all encompassing handset and was apparently blown away. How has she not been on a VA flight yet? I take Branson’s latest baby everywhere I go. Everywhere they travel, that is. VA, please add Portland, OR so I don’t have to take Frontier Air back to NYC. Anyway, Director of Inflight Entertainment and… → Read More
The Web is coming to your airplane seat, real soon. And not just e-mail and IM on one JetBlue plane. Starting in March, I am told, American Airlines will start offering Web access on-board, followed shortly by Virgin America. Both will use an air-to-ground system from Aircell. (Boeing’s failed Connexion broadband in the air service, in contrast, was an unwieldy satellite system). Alaska… → Read More
Remember how I said Virgin America was ‘eh’, well, now you can decide for yourself. VA just shot me an e-mail with a coupon code for 25 percent off all flights booked by December 7th for travel between November 26th and March 19, 2008. There are a few blackout dates: November 21 and 25, 2007, December 19, 2007 through January 6, 2008, February 14, 15 and 18, 2008. This applies to Main… → Read More
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