When some sweet airline news comes down the pipeline, we get a little shiver of a thrill. The latest carrier to give us those goosebumps of expectation is Virgin Atlantic, as they've got a slew of updates hitting the sky later this year:

· New Upper Class seats, coming Spring 2012.

100 million GBP. That's how much Virgin Atlantic is laying out to get you all laid out in "enhanced" Upper Class seats and enjoying all their spring 2012 upgrades. While we don't yet know specifics like seat width, gadgets or even the design, we do know that the seats will debut on the airline's London-New York route in just a few months. Following this, VS planes will get the Upper Class refresh throughout the world, over a period of three years. Stay tuned, since details can't be kept secret much longer.]]> JetSetCD 2012-02-08T12:20:56-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/18/51728/9249

Last time we checked in with the happenings of Aussie aviation, Virgin Australia was opening up new lounges all over their network, repainting planes and re-branding airports. It seems, however, that they may have saved that best for last. This week was the official launch of Virgin's business class cabin across their entire fleet of Boeing 737s and Airbus 330s.

Rewind to April 2011, when Virgin Australia was still Virgin Blue, and very busy refreshing itself to become a new airline capable of going head-to-head with rival, Qantas. Since the collapse of Ansett in 2001, Qantas has been the sole player in the domestic business class market. Fast forward to now, where Virgin Australia is sparkly and shiny, and has eliminated their low-cost model to become a premium airline contender. ]]> jetflyboy 2012-01-18T11:40:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/28/152224/81

As many already know, we have a serious obsession with airline cocktails, and so much is our passion that we've created a whole first-Friday-of-the-month feature called In-Flight Cocktail of the Month, which highlights the special concoctions that flight attendants whip up with only a cocktail shaker, some tiny liquor bottles and a whole lot of hope that it won't make you drunk and unruly.

Up until now, Virgin Atlantic's In-Flight Cocktail of the Month accolades have been the liquidy soundtrack to our past two summers. But a cocktail is for life, not just the hot months, so for December we're warming up with the SFO Clubhouse's signature cocktail: the Virgin Kiss. ]]> juliab 2011-12-02T14:04:58-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/27/16363/712

You may remember we told you a little while back about a rather underwhelming experience in Virgin Atlantic's economy class from London to Vegas. Luckily, we're pleased to report the food was much, much better.

First, a bit of background. This member of Jaunted is not a fan of airline food—even in business class. We were also seriously unimpressed with the meals consumed in premium economy a couple of years back, with the exception of a recent excellent Full English Breakfast. Alas, we still didn't have much hope for economy.

But what do you know...for economy, it was actually very decent.]]> juliab 2011-11-28T16:35:51-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/27/213259/89
This could be yours

In the only bit of "Cyber Monday" news worth mentioning (you won't hear us say those words again today, by the way), Virgin America is working together with Gilt City to offer private flights on their Airbus A320s to anywhere they fly (in the US).

That's right—you can have the plane to yourself or bring along 145 friends, so long as you've got $60,000 (inclusive of taxes and fees) to shell out for the round-trip experience. But that's not all! Virgin America will also throw in the naming rights to one of their planes, in-flight catering on your trip, and flight crew (duh) while Gilt City passes out an amenity to each passenger. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-11-28T10:00:22-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/7/03930/6347

Let's play a game! How many Virgin companies can you name off the top of your head?

Without looking it up, here's what we can come up with: Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic (who remembers Virgin Express?), V Australia, Virgin Australia, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Oceanic, Virgin Trains, Virgin Balloons, Virgin Megastores, Virgin Limobike, Virgin Money, Virgin Radio, Virgin Active, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Wines (!!) and wow—so many more. Just mentioning the fact that we recently took a Virgin Train from London to Liverpool produced the following reaction from a friend: "THEY DO TRAINS TOO?!"

Yes indeed Virgin does do trains, and now there's something else to add to that long list of what they do do: Virgin Hotels. That's right; Sir Richard Branson wants you to sleep with him...finally. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-11-09T09:40:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/7/03847/2928

For a year and a half, we've featured an In-Flight Cocktail of the Month and managed to get mighty tipsy in the process. Over the course the last 18+ months, one airline has had the most stand-out cocktails worthy of the feature and that is Virgin Atlantic with their Virgin Redhead, "New" New York Sour and Indian Summer.

Free drinks on flights? Awesome, right? Well, not so awesome if you're flying economy because the free cocktails were limited to meal service. A change in the economy menu, announced this week, now brings a complimentary welcome cocktail to those in the back of the plane.]]> JetSetCD 2011-11-07T15:20:01-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/