Virgin America Celebrates the Lone Star State's Independence Day With $99* DFW Fares and a Texas-Sized Groupon

SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- On the 175th anniversary of Texas Independence Day, Virgin America announces some special offers to encourage Dallas-Fort Worth travelers to declare their independence from the old way of flying on the airline named best in the U.S. in Conde Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice Awards and Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards for the past three years.  In addition to offering low fares from $99* (restrictions, taxes and fees applying) on Virgin America's Texas routes, the airline is once again teaming up with daily deal Web site Groupon – this time for a $75** off Groupon on its flights from Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW). Travelers can purchase a $25 Groupon good for $100 in air travel for a roundtrip purchase** on the airline's stylish new flights from DFW to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) or Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).  When more than 25 people accept the offer, thousands of Groupon customers in Dallas-Fort Worth will score the same discount off a revolutionary roundtrip flight experience.  Travelers can find the deal today on Groupon's Dallas Web page: www.groupon.com/deals/virgin-america-dallas

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090123/VIRGINAMERICALOGO)

Virgin America's DFW-LAX and DFW-SFO fares start from $99,*restrictions, taxes and fees applying. Tickets are on sale today on Virgin America's Web site (www.virginamerica.com) and at 1.877.FLY.VIRGIN (1.877.359.8474).***  Virgin America launched its low-fare, upscale service to DFW last December, with two daily nonstop roundtrip flights from both LAX and SFO.  The airline adds an additional nonstop roundtrip frequency to its DFW schedule from each city as of April 6, 2011 – offering DFW travelers three conveniently-timed daily nonstop roundtrip flights to both LAX and SFO.  

This is the second time that Virgin America has joined forces with Groupon.  Last month, the airline teamed up with the group-buying site to offer the first Groupon deal aimed solely at air travel, when it announced its new nonstop service to Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD).  The Virgin America Groupon Featured Deal sold out in minutes.

With beautifully-designed cabins, outstanding service and a host of inventive amenities, Virgin America has captured a loyal business and leisure travel following since its August 2007 launch.  The airline's new Airbus A320 Family aircraft feature mood-lit cabins, standard power outlets near every seat and comfortable leather seating.  The Red™ in-flight entertainment platform offers every guest their own seat-back touch-screen with 30 on-demand films, live TV, Google Maps, videogames, seat-to-seat chat, music videos, a 3000 MP3 catalog and an on-demand menu – so flyers can order a cocktail or meal right from their seatback any time during a flight.  In May 2009, the airline became the first to offer Gogo™ WiFi on every flight.  In addition to a Main Cabin that offers every traveler a personal touch-screen entertainment platform, power outlets and custom-designed leather seating with a deeper, more comfortable pitch, the airline's First Class offers plush white leather seating with 55 inches of pitch, 165 degrees of recline and lumbar massagers. The airline's Main Cabin Select offers 38-inches of pitch, free food and cocktails, an all-access pass to the Red system's countless media options, dedicated overhead bins and priority check-in/boarding.  

Virgin America flies to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Toronto (ends April 6, 2011), Orlando, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Cabos, Cancun and Chicago (starting May 25, 2011).

For photos: http://www.virginamerica.com/about/airline-photos/virgin-america-pictures.html

For broadcast quality video of aircraft and mood-lit cabins: http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/virginamerica/48650/

About Virgin America: Headquartered in California and launched in August 2007, Virgin America offers guests attractive fares and a host of innovative features aimed at reinventing air travel. The airline's base of operations is San Francisco International Airport's International Terminal. The airline's new aircraft offer interactive in-flight entertainment systems and power outlets near every seat for electronic gear. Virgin America offers Gogo™ in-flight internet service on every flight and hosts the largest in-flight entertainment library in the North American skies via the touch-screen Red™ platform. In just three over years flying, the carrier was named "Best Domestic Airline" in the Conde Nast Traveler 2008, 2009 and 2010 Readers' Choice Awards and "Best Domestic Airline" in Travel + Leisure's 2008, 2009 and 2010 World's Best Awards.

About Groupon: Groupon, launched in November 2008 in Chicago, features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, eat, see and buy in more than 500 markets around the world. Groupon uses collective buying power to offer unbeatable prices and provide a win-win for businesses and consumers, delivering more than 900 daily deals globally. For more information, visit http://www.groupon.com

*Fare terms and conditions: All Main Cabin fares are one-way, based on travel originating from the US, and require a 7-day advance purchase. Tickets must be purchased by 11:59pm PST March 4, 2011. Fares do not include Passenger Facility Charges of up to $9 each way, September 11th Security Fees of up to $5 each way and a Federal Segment Tax of $3.70 per domestic segment. A segment is a takeoff and landing. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable. Travel must occur between March 9, 2011 and September 6, 2011. Blackout dates are May 27, May 30, July 1, July 4, July 5, September 2, and September 5, 2011. Seats are limited, subject to availability, and may not be available on all flights. Flights may not operate daily. Changes or cancellations can be made for a $75 fee if changes are made on Virgin America's website (www.virginamerica.com) or a $100 fee through all other channels, including the call center and at the airport, plus any increase in fare, if applicable. Changes or cancellations of a booking made with Elevate Points will be subject to a $75 redeposit fee. Guests who no-show without a change or cancel 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 one (1) piece of checked baggage up to 70 pounds for $25 for each ticketed guest. The fee per guest for each additional checked bag up to 50 pounds from the second (2) to the tenth (10) is $25. Additional fees apply to baggage exceeding these weight limitations, and other baggage restrictions may apply.

**Groupon terms and conditions: This offer is for a unique promo code good for $100 off roundtrip travel on Virgin America between San Francisco (SFO)/Los Angeles (LAX) and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) in the following non-refundable Main Cabin fare classes: S, L, M, U, E, H, B, or V. Promo code may only be used once and is only valid for a single guest roundtrip itinerary.  Tickets must be purchased at least 7 days in advance of outbound travel and before 11:59pm PST on June 1, 2011.  This offer is not valid for travel to any other destinations or one way or multi-city itineraries.  $100 will be deducted from the roundtrip base ticket price only; government-imposed taxes and fees are additional and promo code may not be used towards such taxes and fees, which include: Passenger Facility Charges of up to $9 each way, a September 11th Security Fee of up to $5 each way and a Federal Segment Tax of $3.70 per domestic segment. A segment is a takeoff and landing.  All travel under this offer must occur between March 9, 2011 and September 6, 2011. Blackout dates are May 27, May 30, July 1, July 4, July 5, September 2, and September 5, 2011. Promo code may be used only towards newly booked travel and may not be applied to prior bookings. 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 one (1) guest. Offer 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. Changes or cancellations can be made for a $75 fee if changes are made on Virgin America's website or a $100 fee through all other channels, including the call center and at the airport, plus any increase in fare, if applicable. Increase in fare is calculated as the difference between the new fare and the amount originally paid post-discount. Tickets purchased through Virgin America's reservation call center will cost an additional $20 per guest per itinerary; this amount is non refundable if travel is changed or cancelled. 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 one (1) piece of checked baggage up to 70 pounds for $25 for each ticketed guest traveling within the U.S. The fee per guest for each additional checked bag up to 50 pounds from the second (2) to the tenth (10) 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.

SOURCE Virgin America