Virgin America Celebrates Seven Years, Thanks Loyal Flyers With A Network-Wide Fare Sale

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin America, the California-based airline known for its upscale service and low fares, is celebrating its seventh anniversary and seventh straight year as the Top Domestic Airline in Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards with help from the San Francisco Giants and San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee who named August 8, 2014 Virgin America Day. As a thank you to its loyal flyers, Virgin America launched a network-wide fare sale with Main Cabin fares as low as $47*. Tickets are on sale now at www.virginamerica.com and 1.877.FLY.VIRGIN (1.877.359.8474)** and must be purchased by 11:59 PM Central Time on August 7, 2014.

"Over the past seven years, our Virgin America teammates have remained focused on a single goal: to make the flying experience good again for travelers," said Virgin America President and CEO David Cush "We want to thank all our loyal guests who have embraced a better way of flying and helped us earn an impressive array of some of the travel industry's most coveted awards. Of course, we wouldn't be where we are today without the hard work of our dedicated teammates."

"Since its launch in 2007, Virgin America has built a large presence at SFO and created more than 2,800 jobs while continuing to grow roots in the Bay Area through charitable partnerships," said San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee. "Our City is proud that Virgin America calls San Francisco its home, and it's with great pleasure that we once again celebrate 'Virgin America Day' in San Francisco."

On August 16, the Official Airline of the San Francisco Giants extends the birthday celebration with "Virgin America Day" at the ballpark as the hometown team takes on the Philadelphia Phillies. Earlier this month, the airline launched a contest for Giants fans and Virgin America plane spotters alike to upload an original photo of our #FlyTogether San Francisco Giants plane, "Fly Bye Baby" for a chance to win two round trip tickets to any Virgin America destination, two tickets to the "Virgin America Day" game and to throw out the ceremonial first pitch that day***. And as a special thank you to its supporters and hometown fans, Virgin America is offering the first 40,000 attendees at the game a two-for-one flight voucher****.

"We're proud to have San Francisco's hometown airline, Virgin America, as the Official Airline of the San Francisco Giants," said Giants President and CEO, Larry Baer. "Since 2008, our partnership with the award winning airline has been a huge success -- we've won two World Series Championships, launched three unique areas in our ballpark (the Virgin America Club Level, the Virgin America Loft, and the Flight Deck) and made sure that even from 35,000 feet, Giants fans never miss a game thanks to live broadcasts and a custom Giants channel fleetwide on Virgin America's Red® In-Flight Entertainment System."

In the past year, Virgin America has marked a number of notable milestones:

• In September 2013, Virgin America continued its commitment to worthy causes and local community organizations by partnering with Make-A-Wish Foundation Greater Bay Area.
• In that same month, the airline was voted "Best Premium Class" among domestic airlines in the Conde Nast Traveler Business Travel Poll. 
• That award was followed the next month by Virgin America taking top honors as "Best U.S. Airline" in the prestigious Conde Nast Traveler 2013 Readers' Choice Awards.
• Emirates and Virgin America announced a frequent flyer partnership in October that allows members of both airlines' frequent flyer programs to earn and redeem points or miles for travel across the networks of two airlines respectively recognized among the best-in-class for global and U.S. domestic service.
• Virgin America, the airline that first put an irreverent twist on the in-flight safety video in the U.S., marked a major milestone later that month by taking pre-flight safety education to new heights with the first-ever domestic safety video set entirely to music and performed in dance.
• The airline assisted the City of San Francisco Animal Care and Control (SFACC) for the fifth edition of "Operation Chihuahua Airlift" by flying the pups from San Francisco to the New York area so they can be adopted quickly into loving homes in time for the holidays.
• In February 2014, Virgin America teamed up with Here on Biz to launch the first in-flight social network.
• In March, the airline announced plans to significantly expand its Dallas presence by operating new daily nonstop flights from Dallas' Love Field (DAL) to New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in 2014.
• That same month, Virgin America reported its first-ever full year net profit with a net income of $10.1 million.
• For the second straight year, Virgin America was named the top-ranked airline in the Airline Quality Rating (AQR), an annual analysis of airline performance conducted by Wichita State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
• In June, Virgin America partnered with SF Pride for the seventh consecutive year as the "Official Domestic Airline of San Francisco Pride".
• The airline took top honors in July of this year for Best Low-Cost Airline in the U.S. for the fifth consecutive year as well as Best Staff Service among North American airlines for the fourth year in a row in the 2014 World Airline Awards (formerly Skytrax awards).

Photos and broadcast quality b-roll of Virgin America's unique aircraft can be found here.

Media Contact:
Patricia Condon 650-906-8147 or [email protected]
Sean Harris 650-554-1971 or [email protected]

EDITORS NOTE: Virgin America is a U.S.-controlled and operated airline and is an entirely separate company from Virgin Atlantic. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group is a minority share investor in Virgin America.

About Virgin America: Known for its mood-lit cabins, three beautifully designed classes of service and innovative fleetwide amenities — like touch-screen personal entertainment, WiFi and power outlets at every seat, Virgin America has built a loyal following of flyers and earned a host of awards since launching in 2007 — including being named both the "Best U.S. Airline" in Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards for the past six consecutive years and "Best Domestic Airline" in Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards for the past seven consecutive years. For more: www.virginamerica.com

*Fare Sale Terms and Conditions: *All Main Cabin fares are one-way and require a 14-day advance purchase.  Tickets must be purchased by 11:59pm CT on Thursday, August 7, 2014. Travel must occur between August 26, 2014 and February 11, 2015.  Travel to/from PHL must occur by October 6, 2014. Travel for DAL-SFO, DAL-LAX, DAL-DCA must occur between October 13, 2014 and February 11, 2015.  Travel for DAL-LGA must occur between October 28, 2014 and February 11, 2015.  Travel for PSP-SFO must occur between September 11, 2014 and February 11, 2015.  JFK-PSP service starts on November 21, 2014.  Lowest sale fares are available only on certain itineraries.  Lowest sale fares are only valid for travel on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday.  Blackout dates are 10/13/14, 11/10/14, 11/26/14 – 12/1/14, 12/19/14 – 12/31/14, 1/1/15- 1/4/15, 1/16/15, 1/19/15.  Seats are limited, subject to availability, and may not be available on all flights. Flights may not operate daily. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable. For travel solely between points in the Western Region (LAS/LAX/PDX/PSP/PVR/SAN/SEA/SFO/SJD only) changes or cancellations can be made for a $75 fee per guest through all channels, plus any increase in fare, if applicable. For all other itineraries, changes or cancellations can be made for a $150 fee per guest through all channels, plus any increase in fare, if applicable. Any remaining balance will be placed in a guest's travel bank, good for travel on Virgin America for one year from date of issue. Changes or cancellations of a booking made with Elevate Points will be subject to a $100 redeposit fee per guest. Guests who no-show without a change or cancellation prior to the scheduled departure time will forfeit the amount of this fare. In addition, any future flights booked in the same reservation will also be canceled and the fare will be forfeited. Tickets purchased from Virgin America through our reservation call center will cost an additional $20 per guest per itinerary. Any added cost associated with purchasing tickets from Virgin America through our reservation call center will be non-refundable. Fares will not be honored retroactively or in exchange for any wholly or partially used ticket. Fares, routes, fees and schedules are subject to change without notice. Virgin America will accept up to ten pieces of checked baggage, up to 50 pounds each, per ticketed guest traveling within the U.S. The fee for each piece of checked baggage up to 50 pounds is $25. Additional fees apply to baggage exceeding these weight limitations, and other baggage restrictions may apply.

**Any guest calling within the United States has access to a complimentary telecommunication relay service by dialing 711. For more information, go to: http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/telecomm.asp

***Full rules for Virgin America San Francisco Giants #FlyTogether Contest here.

****Terms and Conditions - SF Giants/Virgin America Day – Two for One Offer: This offer ends at 11:59pm PT on September 1, 2014. This offer is valid only for nonstop or connecting travel; offer is not valid for any multi-city itineraries. One time use promo code is valid for non-refundable Main Cabin tickets only. Travel must occur between September 3, 2014 and Dec 11, 2014 or between January 8, 2015 and February 28, 2015. Tickets require advance purchase of 14 days. Discount is not valid for travel on Fridays or Sundays. Additional blackout dates are 10/9/14 – 10/14/14, 11/6/14 – 11/11/14, 11/19/14 – 12/3/14, 12/12/14 – 1/7/15, 1/15/15 – 1/20/15 and 2/12/15- 2/17/15. Promo code may be used only towards newly booked travel and may not be applied to prior bookings. Promo code discount will be deducted off of base fare. Base fares do not include Passenger Facility Charges of up to $9 each way, September 11th Security Fees of up to $5.60 per one way trip, where each one-way trip may include a connection or stopover between two domestic flights not exceeding 4 hours,  and a Federal Segment Tax of $4.00 per domestic segment. A segment is a takeoff and landing. For service to/from Mexico, base fares do not include the U.S. Immigration User Fee of $7, the U.S. APHIS fee of $5, the U.S. Customs processing fee of $5.50, a U.S. International Arrival/Departure Tax of $17.50 each way and additional taxes/fees of up to $70, including: Mexico International Departure Tax and Mexico Tourism Tax. Promo code may not be redeemed for cash. Promo code may only be used for bookings made on virginamerica.com and is only valid on itineraries of exactly 2 guests only. Offer is not transferable and cannot be combined with any other offers. Seats are limited, subject to availability, and may not be available on all flights. If travel is changed or cancelled, promo code discount will become invalid. For travel solely between points in the Western Region (LAS/LAX/PDX/PSP/PVR/SAN/SEA/SFO/SJC/SJD only) changes or cancellations can be made for a $75 fee per guest through all channels, plus any increase in fare, if applicable. For all other itineraries, changes or cancellations can be made for a $150 fee per guest through all channels, plus any increase in fare, if applicable.  Any remaining balance will be placed in a guest's travel bank, good for travel on Virgin America for one year from date of issue. Promo code cannot be used on Elevate points reward bookings. Guests who no-show without a change or cancellation prior to the scheduled departure time will forfeit the amount of this fare. In addition, any future flights booked in the same reservation will also be canceled and the fare will be forfeited. Tickets purchased from Virgin America through our reservation call center will cost an additional $20 per guest per itinerary. Any added cost associated with purchasing tickets from Virgin America through our reservation call center will be non-refundable. Fares will not be honored retroactively or in exchange for any wholly or partially used ticket. Fares, routes, fees and schedules are subject to change without notice. Virgin America will accept up to ten pieces of checked baggage, up to 50 pounds each, per ticketed guest traveling within the U.S. The fee for each piece of checked baggage up to 50 pounds is $25. Additional fees apply to baggage exceeding these weight limitations, and other baggage restrictions may apply.

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SOURCE Virgin America