Jaunted

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Is Virgin America Secretly Psyching Up to Launch Hawaii Flights?

Okay, who wants to go to Hawaii? Really, the better question would be who doesn't to go to Hawaii? Even though it seems all the state can do is cry about how they need more tourists, airlines have been upping their island game all season. Heck, Hawaiian Airlines is gearing up to begin NYC-Honolulu direct service next month, while that Mokulele thing is doing some other island-hoppy stuff and now we may be able to throw Virgin America an "aloha."

The SFO-based low-cost airline is flying their birds back and forth between San Francisco and Hawaii already...but not with paying passengers. Instead, the FAA is onboard as, according to the NYCAviation discussion board, the airline's Airbus A320s undergo ETOPS trials.

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'Put a Bird on It' and Take 20% Off a Virgin America Flight

Oh hey— do you live in California or Oregon? Well, as if you needed any more reason to be excited for the start of Virgin America flying to Portland, the airline has launched a contest called "Arts and Aircrafts" with IFC's hit show "Portlandia." Of course there's a prize in it: a free flight to PDX and the opportunity to party in an airplane hangar.

To enter, go HERE, pick one of your Facebook photos, then, well, YOU PUT A FRIGGIN' BIRD ON IT (as we've done with this photo). Don't worry if you don't understand the reference, you will soon enough. The top-voted photo winners will get a free trip to PDX on Virgin America's inaugural flight in a few weeks, in addition to joining in on the Portland hangar party.

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Virgin Takes on In-Flight Filmmaking (on Three Airlines!) with 'Departure Date'

Leave it to Richard Branson to take on in-flight filmmaking.

Last week the Virgin Group's film and TV company left the studio behind and teamed up with Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia airlines to shoot and edit a half-hour movie aboard several different commercial flights.

Departure Date, which follows a developing romance between two people who meet on a plane, was entirely shot in nine days on previously scheduled flights over three continents, from Los Angeles to London, Dallas-Fort Worth and Sydney, Australia.

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End Your Week with New Routes from Air France, United and Allegiant

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· United:
Those residing in The Triangle are getting a new nonstop option this summer to go along with their new airport, and it’s going to take passengers all the way across the country. United is planning to launch nonstop flights between Raleigh-Durham and San Francisco beginning on August 15, although technically the first flights leave SFO on August 14. The new routes will do their thing aboard some of the airline’s Boeing 737-800s, and the flights are scheduled to be a daily option. United is the only carrier flying back and forth without a stop between the two cities, so you can expect to pay a bit of a premium for the right to do so.

· British Airways:
This week brings new route news from British Airways, as it looks like they’ll be sending some of their planes, passengers, and pilots to somewhere new. The airline is planning to link London-Gatwick with Algiers beginning at the start of the summer season. It’s going to be an option seven times per week, and all the flying fun will be done with some of the airline’s Boeing 737s. A weekend is North Africa sounds like a good way to get out of town right after the madness of the Olympics is over, so if you call London home—or just like to visit—this might just be something to look into.

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New Routes from American, Alaska Airlines and Virgin America

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· Virgin America:
We’ve definitely mentioned this once or twice before, but this week officially marked the beginning of Virgin America’s new options to and from Philadelphia. The flights all the way over to Los Angeles are now doing their thing, and the flights to San Francisco initiate on April 10—that’s like just days away. Apparently Virgin America is like the first domestic airline to start up some new service to and from PHL in like eight years, so it’s definitely a welcome addition—especially for the fare competition.

If you’ve flown Virgin America before you know what to expect, but if not, we’ll fill you in. Expect plenty of friendly faces, WiFi equipped aircraft, loads of media in the seatback screen, and the ability to order snacks and beverages right from the comfort of your seat.

· Alaska Airlines:
It’s about a four-hour ride between the two cities, but thanks to Alaska Airlines and their new route you can now just fly instead. This week Alaska Airlines—with plenty of help from their buddies over at Horizon Air—announced that they’ll be flying nonstop between Portland, Oregon and Pasco, Washington beginning on August 27.

The flights will head back and forth each and every day of the week, and they’ll do their thing with Bombardier Q400s soaring across the skies. There’s even a little bit of a fare sale to celebrate, so if you’re in the market for a flight to Pasco you can now grab one for as low as $69 each way.

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Two Airplanes That Have Facial Hair and One That Needs It

At this point we're dead sure that Virgin America is attempting to solidify their budding reputation as hipster airline of choice. C'mon—their last three big route announcements were Palm Springs, Philly and Portland and now—AND NOW—they've actually gone and given one of their planes facial hair.

Granted the unshaven A320 references the beard of San Francisco Giants pitcher Brian Wilson, as this Airbus is Virgin America's tribute livery to the baseball team. Hitting the skies on April 2, the plane (named "Fly Bye Baby") heralds the opening of the airline's sponsored Club Level lounge at AT&T Park (with mood lighting, natch) and the beginning of a contest.

Planespotters! On your marks, get set, go...spot the bearded airplane, snap a photo and share it using the hashtag #FlyTheBeard to be entered to win roundtrip tickets. Virgin will pick a winner once a month until the end of baseball season. Beyond that, a single winner will score season tickets for 2013. Niiiice. Full contest rules here.

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A Super Easy Way to Score 20% Off a Virgin America Flight

Virgin America is touching down in Philadelphia on April 4 and to celebrate they'll be throwing a tailgate party on the tarmac.

To promote the event, and their new Philly fares, they are giving "the ultimate tailgater" 6 passes to their tailgate party, a trip on Virgin America, and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia prize packs. They're also giving you the opportunity to vote for your favorite tailgater's photo and, in exchange for your vote, they'll give you 20% off your next flight!

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Virgin's Threesome of Frequent Flyer Programs Learns to Share and Share Alike

Two years after Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America and Virgin Australia agreed that any of their loyalty program members could earn miles while flying on any of the Virgin airlines, it's finally been concluded that members can now also spend those miles across the three.

What this means is, basically, if you're a member of Virgin Australia's Velocity Rewards and you hop over to the US and end up taking a Virgin America flight or two, then you can both earn those miles into your Velocity account, and even go on to use them on Virgin Atlantic.

It's a frequent flyer program ménage à trois. Hot.

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XL Airways, Virgin Atlantic and REDjet Rule New Routes This Week

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· XL Airways:
If you’re dreaming of spring in Paris you might not need to wait that much longer, as there’s another option to get to France when traveling out of San Francisco International Airport. XL Airways is starting up nonstop flights between SFO and CDG twice per week beginning on May 26, and the new options should run throughout the summer all the way until September 8.

We’re not totally sure on the fares—it looks like it’s still too early to book flights—but we’d bet you’d save some spending cash when compared to the big boys like Air France. Airbus A330s will be doing their thing to get you and your buddies cross the United States and the Atlantic, and there will be two seating options—Galaxy Class and regular old Economy Class.

· Emirates:
It might be a little too late to still catch the cherry blossoms doing their thing, but Emirates is still moving full speed ahead with a brand new nonstop option between Washington, DC and Dubai. The new flights will operate to and from Washington-Dulles beginning on September 12, but unfortunately there aren’t any plans—yet—to utilize one of Emirates’ A380s.

That’s okay, as the Boeing 777-300ERs planned for this route is hardly shabby especially with eight private first class suites, 42 flat bed seats in business class, and 304 economy class seats In the back of the cabin. We’re thinking this new option is focused mostly on business and government travelers, but Emirates route network can probably get you to pretty much anywhere if you’re just looking for a nice vacation.

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Virgin America's Newest Routes Will Totally Help 'Keep Portland Weird'

Everything happens in threes, and Virgin America's latest route launches follow the pattern. This year so far it's been new flights to Palm Springs, Philadelphia (launching beginning of April) and now—the third "P"—Portland, Oregon.

Just announced today, Virgin America will begin hopping over to PDX from both SFO and LAX beginning June 5. LAX will get two daily nonstops, while SFO claims only one. Whatever—that's plenty to help "keep Portland weird." Rates start at $99 each way, inclusive of taxes and fees. LA and SF people mixing with Portlanders is usually pretty hilarious, and they're pretty much most of the guests at The Ace Hotel PDX, so Virgin's new flights will just help them make the trip to "where the young go to retire" even easier. But that's not all!

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One Tweet to Score 10% Off Virgin America Flights

Trust the fun new social media stuff to be released during the SXSW Interactive Festival these last few days. The one we're most immediately excited for can actually benefit people outside Austin, but ya gotta be an American Express card holder and a Twitter user.

Got an AMEX in your wallet and a Twitter handle? Okay, great. Read on:

Register your AMEX with the short online form here, get a confirmation email (see sample image below), then go about tweeting specific hashtags to score automatic AMEX statement credits based on your purchases at participating vendors...like Virgin America, the first travel brand to experiment with this technology.

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Chihuahuas on a Plane!

As much as we loathe the forced lovey-doveyness of Valentine's Day, we love doggies. We especially love doggies who get to hop cross-country flights in search of a new and loving home, as chihuahuas have been doing on Virgin America for a couple years now.

Today marked the fourth ever Operation Chihuahua in partnership with Animal Care & Control San Francisco. It's all a case of supply and demand...and having a little heart. Shelters on the west coast are overpopulated with the tiny dogs, but homes on the east coast can't get enough of them. Thus, every so often the airline flies a bunch of the pups from shelters in San Fran to loving arms in NYC. They even get to wear little red hoodies.

"Awww" over more pictures of them in flight here.

[Photo: Virgin America on Facebook]