It'd be easy to imagine Virgin Atlantic's headquarters is in San Francisco. But it's not. This is a British airline - based in London. But unlike the other British airline - and arch rival - British Airways, it's very cool, very chic. But fortunately it is similar to its rival in some important respects: its ontime performance is great, the ground and inflight service is efficient, and baggage handling reliable. And more importantly, its rates are usually much better, even on short notice and this is the single most important point in favor of this airline.

Check-in: It's a non-event, which per me, is the hallmark of a good check-in. The staff is efficient, even friendly, the line moves quickly, and before you know it you are handed your boarding pass in a bright, hard-to-miss, holder. So far so good.

The cabin: I have only tried the economy class here, so I can't comment on the others. But as you enter the coach area, you notice the brightly colored seats - red, orange, yellow, blue. The music playing in the background is definitely not elevator music. The flight attendants are also dressed in bright red. Nothing muted about this interior! There inflight magazine is appropriately named "Hot Air" and even the duty-free sales catalog is cheekily titled "Retail Therapy". A clear, cool plastic bag has lot of goodies in it too: basic toiletries, brightly colored socks (this is one pair you will be hard-pressed to lose!), a pen, a pad, and few other things I can't quite recall. The headphones are multi-colored too ... you get the drift.

The leg room is not bad, and seats quite comfortable, though I feel British Airways has a slight edge on this. There are no footrests unlike in BA. I like the fact that the armrest on even the aisle-facing side goes up for easy entry and exit, something that's not very common (usually only the ones in the middle - that separate seats - go up.)

The choice of entertainment is pretty much on par with most other international carriers. Kids have games too. The food is passable and unimaginative as airline food usually is. Somehow for this airline, I was expecting something interesting - like some new-fangled fusion stuff. You know, San Francisco-style.

The $$ (or is it ££?) Okay, let's get down to what's the one of the most important factor for lot of us - how good are the fares? Well, if you're flying to London, perhaps the best! It's true that British Airways can usually match Virgin's fare for tickets purchased seven days or more in advance, but if you plan to fly less than a week from now, Virgin is the way to go. I got my round-trip tickets from SFO to London about 4 days in advance for $668 in mid-April (through Travelocity). You can get similar rates on British 7 days in advance, but 4 days in advance was over $1500! If you are willing to be more flexible, and plan in advance, you can manage SFO-London fares for less than $500 in April. The flight is non-stop and the times are pretty convenient (leaves SFO at 4:30pm and arrives London Heathrow at 10:30pm the next day).

So is there anything that BA is better at? Yes - surprisingly you can't do electronic ticketing on Virgin. For a pretty modern-thinking airline, that's pretty strange. I personally am so used to e-ticketing, that I find this somewhat of a nuisance - but otherwise, Virgin Atlantic pretty much is a great bet - especially on short notices.

And I think you will agree with the proclamation on their website: "More experience than our name suggests."






Recommended: Yes