Jaunted

As far as we know, this is the first time that an airline has added an "open tab" ability to the in-flight entertainment, and boy oh boy does it cut down on the work of the flight attendants. Not only can passengers place their food orders via the seat-back TVs, but they can watch the pay-per-view movies, order more drinks and food, and not have to pay for it until a single swipe when the plane begins its final descent. The full details:

Guests can now swipe their credit card just once per flight and order food, cocktails, movies and more—and keep a tab running during the flight. The tab will stay open until a guest closes it, or until the plane descends and reaches 10,000 feet at which time it will automatically be closed. Virgin America has been cashless since its launch in August 2007.

While people are sippin' on a few new drinks (we're eyeing the new Mile High-tini, a drink made of Illy iced cappuccino and vodka and suggested by a VX crew member), they can play around with the in-flight map, powered by Google Maps. It's now been enhanced with terrain view and eight levels of zoom. It's getting to the point where—even at 35,000 feet—you can see your house from here. Not to mention that Virgin America still has fleet-wide Gogo Wifi, so you could always open up your laptop and play around with Google Earth for even more fun.

All of these upgrades are available on all Virgin America flights starting today. Awesome.

[Photos: Virgin America]