Virgin America Named "Best U.S. Airline" In Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards For The Eighth Straight Year

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin America, the California-based airline known for reinventing flying, has today been named "Best U.S. Airline" in the coveted Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards – for an unprecedented eighth year in a row. This year, over 128,000 readers of the premium travel magazine participated in the annual survey, continuing an award-winning streak for Virgin America, which has picked up this distinction every year since it started flying. Also today, Virgin America launches new inflight streaming partnerships with Spotify to provide access to the entire catalogue of over 30 million songs, and the New York Times to stream breaking news to guests' personal devices for free onboard the airline's new ViaSat WiFi-equipped aircraft through March 2, 2016. To celebrate and thank its loyal flyers, Virgin America today launches a network-wide 'Leader of the Pack' fare sale, with Main Cabin fares as low as $38* (taxes and fees included and restrictions applying). Tickets are on sale now at www.virginamerica.com and at 1.877.FLY.VIRGIN** and must be purchased today by 11.59 pm CT. 

"The influential readers of Condé Nast Traveler believed in our airline from day one and we are honored that they continue to count Virgin America as the 'Best U.S. Airline' for the eighth straight year," said Virgin America President and Chief Executive Officer, David Cush. "Over 128,000 readers cast votes this year, making this is one of the largest and more prestigious independent travel surveys.  To win this award yet again, despite our growth over the years, is an incredible credit to our Teammates -- who believe in the mission of this airline and who work every day to go above and beyond for our guests.  Despite having the best and most consistent product in the skies today, we are continuing to invest in next generation in-flight entertainment, innovative design and topnotch service. Our goal remains to create a different kind of airline -- one that people not just tolerate, but actually love to fly with." 

To celebrate, Virgin America is today launching a 'Leader of the Pack' fare sale – with seats in Main Cabin from $38* (taxes and fees included and restrictions applying). For a full list of sale fares, visit the airline's deals page.  In addition, the airline is offering a Double Points, Double Status Credits frequent flyer promotion on Virgin America flights for guests that book and fly by November 19, 2015. For more, visit: www.virginamerica.com. The 2015 Readers' Choice Awards will be reported in the November issue of Condé Nast Traveler magazine. 

Virgin America also today teams up with Spotify to offer all Spotify users streaming access to its entire music catalogue of over 30 million songs from 35,000 feet on any connected device onboard a ViaSat WiFi-equipped aircraft flying in the mainland U.S***. In addition, Spotify provided song pools based on hundreds of millions of playlists to help Virgin America curate over 60 city-inspired music "Mood Lists" that will inspire and excite guests for their destination. Guests can enjoy in-flight playlists such as New York's "Empire State of Mind", Chicago's "Welcome to the Windy City," all of which can also be found at virginamerica.com/spotify. Virgin America's boarding music is also available as the "#SpotifyOnboard" playlist. New Spotify users can listen for free or take advantage of a free Spotify Premium 30-day trial. 

Virgin America's exclusive collaboration with the New York Times offers guests complimentary in-flight access to a collection of Times content, including breaking news, from Business, Travel, Technology and 'Most Viewed,' on any connected device onboard a ViaSat WiFi-equipped aircraft flying in mainland U.S. Guests may also sign up to receive a free 30-day All Digital Access subscription, good for use both in the air and on the ground.  It builds on Virgin America's recent announcement that the entire Netflix catalogue of award-winning television series and movies can now be streamed in-flight.  All of this is made possible by Virgin America's recent connectivity partnership with ViaSat to bring even faster WiFi to the airline's 10 new Airbus A320 aircraft, which are being delivered from fall 2015-mid-2016. 

In addition to a Main Cabin that offers custom-designed leather seating with a deeper, more comfortable pitch, Virgin America's First Class cabin offers plush white leather seating with 55 inches of pitch, 165 degrees of recline and lumbar massagers. The carrier's Main Cabin Select service offers 38 inches of pitch, free food and cocktails, an all-access pass to media content, dedicated overhead bins and priority check-in/boarding. The Red in-flight entertainment platform offers guests their own seatback touch-screen TV, with more than 25 films, live TV, interactive Google Maps, videogames, a 3,000 song library and an on-demand menu, which allows flyers to order a cocktail or snack from their seatback any time during a flight.

Since its 2007 launch, Virgin America has created more than 2,800 new jobs and expanded its network to include Austin, Boston, Cancun, Chicago, Dallas Love Field, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Los Cabos, Newark, New York (JFK), LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Orlando, Palm Springs (seasonal), Portland, Puerto Vallarta, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington D.C. (IAD and DCA), Honolulu (as of November 2, 2015) and Kahului, Maui (as of December 3, 2015). 

Photos of Virgin America's unique aircraft and broadcast quality b-roll can be found at:
https://www.virginamerica.com/cms/about-our-airline/photos.html.

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 the "Best U.S. Airline" in Condé Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice Awards and "Best Domestic Airline" in Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards for the past eight consecutive years. For more: www.virginamerica.com

* Leader of the Pack T&Cs: Tickets must be purchased by 11:59pm CT on Tuesday, October 20, 2015.  Main Cabin fares are one-way and require a 14- day advance purchase for the following markets: SFO-AUS/LAS/SEA/PDX/LAX/PSP/SAN, DAL-LAS/SFO/LAX/LGA/DCA and LAX-SEA/LAS.  Travel must occur between November 3, 2015 and March 5, 2016.  For all other markets, Main Cabin fares are one-way and require a 21-day advance purchase and travel must occur between November 10, 2015 and March 5, 2016.  Travel for SFO-HNL must occur between November 3, 2015 and March 5, 2016.  Travel for JFK-PSP must occur between November 21, 2015 and March 5, 2016. Travel for SFO-OGG must occur between December 3, 2015 and March 5, 2016. Lowest sale fares are available only on certain itineraries.  Lowest sale fares are only valid for travel on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday.  For SFO-HNL/OGG, lowest sale fares are only valid on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Blackout dates include:11/6/15, 11/28/15– 11/30/15, 12/18/15 – 12/31/15, 1/1/16 – 1/4/16, 1/15/16, 1/18/16,2/12/16, and 2/15/16.  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 Continental Western Region (LAS/LAX/PDX/PSP/PVR/SAN/SEA/SFO/SJD only) and DAL-LAS, changes or cancellations can be made for a $100 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

*** Virgin America's ViaSat InFlight Internet will become available on Hawaii services mid-2016.

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SOURCE Virgin America

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