Virgin America Wins Best Domestic Airline in Conde Nast Traveler's Annual Business Travel Poll

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin America, the California-based airline that is reinventing domestic travel, took the top honors for "Best Business/First Class" among domestic airlines in Conde Nast Traveler's 2010 Business Travel Poll.  The annual survey of the magazine's business travelers ranked Virgin America as the top U.S. airline for the third consecutive year, as reported in the October issue of Conde Nast Traveler.  To thank its loyal business guests, the airline today launches a "Taking Care of Business" two-day fare sale with low fares in the airline's Main Cabin and its premium Main Cabin Select service.

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

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"We're honored to receive the highest marks for the third consecutive year from the road warriors who fly the most and expect the best," said Virgin America President and CEO David Cush.  "With a host of innovative amenities, our cabins offer business travelers an office in the sky that keeps them comfortable, connected and productive at 35,000 feet."  

Two independent firms asked 25,900 Conde Nast Traveler readers identified as business travelers to rate hotels, airports and airlines on a variety of criteria.  Final scores (out of 100) represent the percentage of readers who rated a hotel, airport, or airline "excellent" or "very good."  Virgin America rated an overall score of 89.7 -- its two nearest competitors ranked at 82.2 (Midwest) and 68.1 (Continental) respectively.    

"Taking Care of Business" fare sale tickets must be purchased by 11:59pm PDT on September 23, 2010. Fares start from $39* in Main Cabin and $99* in Main Cabin Select, and restrictions, taxes and fees apply.  For most of the network, travel on fare sale tickets must occur between September 27, 2010-December 15, 2010. Tickets are on sale today on the airline's Web site (www.virginamerica.com) and at 1.877.FLY.VIRGIN.**

Virgin America offers business travelers high-tech amenities, including WiFi, standard power outlets near every seat and a first-of-its-kind on-demand menu.  The airline's mood-lit, custom-designed new cabins offer the Red™ entertainment platform at every seat.  The Red platform features over 700 hours of media content, including live TV news like CNN and CNBC.  

"Taking Care of Business" sale fares include the following, and restrictions, taxes and fees apply*:

Since its August 2007 launch, Virgin America has swept the major reader-based travel awards, including Conde Nast Traveler's 2008 and 2009 Readers' Choice Awards.  In addition to a Main Cabin that offers leather seats with a deeper, more comfortable pitch, Virgin America's First Class cabin features international-grade amenities, including plush white leather seats with 55 inches of pitch and lumbar massagers.  The carrier's premium Main Cabin Select service, offers 38-inches of seat pitch, complimentary food and cocktails, an all-access pass to entertainment options, dedicated overhead bin space, one free checked bag and priority check-in/boarding.  In May 2009, Virgin America became the first airline to offer WiFi on all its flights.

Virgin America flies to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Toronto, Orlando (starting October 6, 2010), Dallas-Fort Worth (starting December 2010), Los Cabos (starting December 16, 2010) and Cancun (starting January 19, 2011).

EDITORS NOTE: Virgin America is a U.S. owned, controlled and operated airline.  It 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: Headquartered in California and launched in August 2007, Virgin America employs over 1600 people. The airline's base of operations is San Francisco International Airport.  Virgin America offers in-flight internet service on every flight and hosts the largest in-flight entertainment library in the North American skies via the Red™ platform.  In addition to a 30-film library including foreign language films and Hollywood blockbusters, Red offers live TV, games, seat-to-seat chat, 3,000 MP3s, Google maps, the world's first seatback digital Shop platform and more. In three years flying, Virgin America was named "Best Domestic Airline" in the Conde Nast Traveler 2008 and 2009 Readers' Choice Awards and "Best Domestic Airline" in Travel + Leisure's 2008, 2009 and 2010 World's Best Awards.  Elevate is Virgin America's first-of-its-kind loyalty program, which offers guests the ability to redeem points for any unsold seat -- on any Virgin America flight, at any time. For photos and more: www.virginamerica.com

About Conde Nast Traveler:  Truth in Travel: Many travel publications accept free travel and accommodations. Conde Nast Traveler does not, and its correspondents, as far as possible, travel anonymously. They experience travel the way consumers do, both the good and the bad, and report on it fairly and honestly. Conde Nast Traveler, named to Adweek's 2008 Hot List of top ten magazines in the United States, has an audience of 3.1 million and is published by Conde Nast Publications, Inc. Conde Nast Traveler's Web site is cntraveler.com.

*Terms and Conditions (applies to current system only):  All fares are one-way, based on travel originating from the US, and require a 7-day advance purchase.  Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.  Fare sale starts 5:00pm PDT September 21, 2010.  Tickets must be purchased by 11:59pm PDT September 23, 2010. Travel must occur between September 27, 2010 through December 15, 2010.  Service to/from Orlando (MCO) begins October 6, 2010.  Blackout dates are November 24, 2010; November 27-29, 2010.  For Main Cabin, higher sale fares are available for travel on Fridays and Sundays.  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 $15 per guest per itinerary.  Any added cost associated with purchasing tickets from Virgin America through our reservation call center will be non-refundable.  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. For international travel, fares do not include the U.S. Immigration User Fee of $7 or the U.S. APHIS fee of $5.  For service to/from Toronto, fares do not include additional taxes/fees of up to $50, including: Airport Improvement Fee, Canadian Security Fee, Goods and Services Tax, and Harmonized Sales Tax.  Bookings made at a Canadian point of purchase are subject to a $16.10 International Arrival/Departure tax, each way.  Virgin America will accept one (1) piece of checked baggage up to 70 pounds for free for each Main Cabin Select ticketed guest and one (1) piece of checked baggage up to 70 pounds for $25 for each Main Cabin 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.

**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

***Terms and Conditions (applies to DFW travel only):  All fares are one-way.  Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.  Fare sale starts 5:00pm PDT September 21, 2010. Tickets must be purchased by 11:59pm PDT September 23, 2010.  For LAX-DFW service, travel must occur between December 1, 2010 and February 15, 2011.  For SFO-DFW service, travel must occur between December 6, 2010 and February 15, 2011.  Blackout dates are December 17-18, 2010; December 23-24, 2010; December 26, 2010; December 30, 2010; January 2-3, 2011.  For Main Cabin, higher sale fares are available for travel on Fridays and Sundays.  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 $15 per guest per itinerary.  Any added cost associated with purchasing tickets from Virgin America through our reservation call center will be non-refundable.  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. 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 free for each Main Cabin Select ticketed guest and one (1) piece of checked baggage up to 70 pounds for $25 for each Main Cabin 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.

SOURCE Virgin America