Virgin America Named Top Domestic Airline In The Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards Survey - The Only U.S. Airline To Win Nine Years In A Row

SAN FRANCISCO, July 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin America, the airline known for reinventing the travel experience, has been named the "Top Domestic Airline" in Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards readers' survey for an unrivalled ninth consecutive year – representing a win of this award every year the airline has been in service. To celebrate and thank its loyal flyers, Virgin America today launches a network-wide fare sale, with Main Cabin fares as low as $39* (taxes and fees included, restrictions apply) in addition to an Elevate® 50 percent bonus points offer.**  This year, Virgin America received an official top score of 83.59 in Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards domestic airline category, which evaluates all airlines for cabin comfort, in-flight service, customer service and value.  The awards are widely recognized as one of the largest and most prestigious awards in the travel industry with over 200,000 readers participating in this year's survey.

"It's a tremendous honor to be recognized as the 'Top Domestic Airline' by Travel + Leisure readers for the ninth consecutive year," said David Cush, Virgin America President and CEO.  "To be recognized in this way year-after-year – even as our competitors have tried to catch up with Virgin America, is a testament to our innovative onboard experience and the amazing guest service our teammates deliver every day.  We are thankful to our loyal flyers and the more than 3,000 Virgin America Teammates who have worked so hard to change this industry for the better – by creating an airline that people love."

Fare sale tickets start from $39* in Main Cabin (taxes and fees included, restrictions apply) and must be purchased by 5:00pm PT today for travel between August 23, 2016 and February 8, 2017. Tickets are on sale now at www.virginamerica.com and at 1.877.FLY.VIRGIN***.  Virgin America is also thanking flyers today with a sweet Elevate points offer: Travelers can earn 50 percent more Elevate points on all routes when they book and fly now through August 31, 2016.**  For more details, visit: www.virginamerica.com/cms/promos/7-6-16-elevate. Virgin America's Elevate program has pioneered a number of loyalty benefits in the U.S. industry, including being the first program to offer dynamic reward pricing – the ability for guests to redeem reward points for any unsold seat on any flight with no blackout dates. 

"Congratulations to Virgin America on achieving a remarkable number one ranking for the ninth consecutive year," said Travel + Leisure Editor Nathan Lump.  "The airline has many loyalists in the Travel + Leisure audience who sing its praises for everything from a fun and stylish sensibility to responsive customer service to an innovative entertainment system and in-flight amenities."

For over 20 years, Travel + Leisure has enlisted their loyal travel consumers to share their knowledge of the World's Best travel options. Travel + Leisure is one of the travel industry's most respected publications with a readership largely comprised of sophisticated world travelers. The magazine's 2016 World's Best Awards are announced online at www.travelandleisure.com/worlds-best and in the August issue – and includes rankings of best hotels, cities and airlines, to name a few.  

As the only airline headquartered in California, Virgin America has grown a loyal following of flyers for its brilliant guest service, unique design and tech-forward amenities.  Virgin America's new fleet of Airbus A320 Family aircraft offer custom-designed mood-lit cabins and amenities like fleetwide WiFi, power outlets and touch-screen personal entertainment. The airline's Red™ in-flight entertainment platform includes more than 25 films on demand, live TV, interactive maps, video games, seat-to-seat chat, music videos, a 3000 song library and an on-demand menu – so flyers can order a cocktail or snack from their seatback any time during a flight – and even send a drink to another seat.  Despite being the first (and still only) U.S. airline to offer WiFi fleetwide as of 2009, Virgin America has continued to invest in creating a leading onboard experience.  The airline upgraded to a faster, ground-based WiFi via Gogo's ATG4 product as of 2014, and in 2015, launched a new connectivity partnership with ViaSat to bring significantly faster satellite WiFi to its new delivery aircraft – allowing travelers to stream Netflix at 35,000 feet.  The satellite WiFi service is flying on 10 of the airline's newest delivery aircraft as of this month. In 2015, Virgin America launched the next generation of its Red® entertainment platform, which offers higher resolution, capacitive touch screens and an Android-based software platform that allows for more content and interactivity. In 2015, the airline also became the first to launch a "surround sound" listening experience in-flight via the Red platform.  

Virgin America's on-demand menu remains unique in the U.S. airline industry – allowing travelers to order a meal or cocktail from their seatback screen at any time during a flight.  This, coupled with the airline's locally-focused menu, has helped Virgin America capture numerous food awards – including most recently the "Best Domestic Airline for Food" in Travel + Leisure's  2015 World's Best Awards.  In addition to its curated on-demand meals in Main Cabin and its premium plated First Class service, the airline has forged unique "foodie" partnerships with the likes of Dean & Deluca and San Francisco's own Philz Coffee, Anchor Steam craft beer and Humphry Slocombe ice cream.  

Since its 2007 launch, Virgin America has expanded its network to include Austin, Boston, Cancun, Chicago, Dallas Love Field, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Los Cabos, Newark, New York (JFK and LGA), Orlando, Palm Springs, Portland, Puerto Vallarta, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington D.C. (IAD and DCA), Honolulu and Kahului, Maui.  Earlier this year, Virgin America launched nonstop flights from Los Angeles to both Honolulu and Maui – expanding on its service from San Francisco.  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.

For more about Virgin America's unique guest experience, visit: https://www.virginamerica.com/cms/fly-with-us.

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

A list of travel industry "best in class" awards Virgin America has won since its launch in 2007 can be found at: https://www.virginamerica.com/cms/about-our-airline/awards.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 both the "Best U.S. Airline" in Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards and "Best Domestic Airline" in Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards for the past nine consecutive years. For more: www.virginamerica.com

*Terms and Conditions:  Main Cabin tickets must be purchased by 5:00 pm PT on Wednesday, July 6, 2016.  Fares are one-way and require a 21-day advance purchase.  Travel must occur between August 23, 2016 and February 8, 2017.  Lowest sale fares are available only on certain itineraries.  Lowest sale fares are only valid for travel Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday.  For Hawaii, lowest sale fares are valid for travel Monday through Thursday.  2016 blackout dates include: 9/5 – 9/6, 10/10, 11/10, 11/14, 11/19-11/28, 12/22 – 12/31.  2017 blackout dates include: 1/2 and 1/16.  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), DAL-LAS, and DEN-SFO, 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 additional 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.

**Elevate Offer Terms and Conditions: Only one registration is required to participate in this offer. In this offer, you will earn 50% bonus points per $1 spent on the base fare for a total of 7.5 points per $1 spent on the base fare for all qualifying flights booked and flown between July 6, 2016 and Aug 31^st 2016.The typical earn for Elevate members is 5 points per $1 spent on the base fare. To qualify for this offer, guests must a) be enrolled in Elevate prior to registering for the offer, b) register for the offer prior to their travel date and c) correctly add their Elevate account number to their reservation prior to their first travel date. Any changes or cancellations might result in disqualification from the offer. All travel not normally eligible for earning reward points, including Elevate reward bookings, are excluded from this offer. Bonus Elevate points cannot be transferred between accounts and will only be earned if the member has entered their Elevate membership number in their booking. If the member has chosen to earn points or miles with a partner airline loyalty program, these flights will be excluded from this offer and no bonus points will be earned on your travel with Virgin America. This offer is not combinable with any other Virgin America earn promotions. If 2 offers are applicable for one guest the most generous points offer will be applied. Only tickets that are ticketed on a Virgin America prefix ('VX') and operated on Virgin America will qualify for this offer subject to these terms. Bonus Points will be posted to the member's account within 4-6 weeks after qualifying flights are flown. Other Elevate program terms and conditions apply, as detailed at https://www.virginamerica.com/cms/elevate-frequent-flyer/member-guide 

***Any guest calling within the United States has access to a complimentary telecommunication relay service by dialing 711. More information is available here.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160706/386480
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160706/386481
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090123/VIRGINAMERICALOGO

SOURCE Virgin America

Related Links

http://www.virginamerica.com