Anthony Bourdain may fly Continental, but Kim Cattrall doesn't mess with American carriers, a tipster tells us. The "Sex and the City" star was spotted in Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class lounge on the way to New York after enjoying Nelson Mandela's birthday party in London.
Says a passenger:
She looked gorgeous--even in the black Virgin sleep suit. Sorry I don't have any pix.
Funny: We never thought of Samantha as the classy one.
One of our good tipsters spotted Jaunted fave and soon to be star of the live-action "Prince of Persia" adaptation Jake Gyllenhaal on a flight from LAX to Heathrow this weekend. Our spy could have patted the "Jarhead" and "Brokeback Mountain" actor on the head, but refrained:
He kept a hoodie up the whole flight. It appeared to be hiding long hair for the Princely role. He also desperately needed to buy and use a touché éclat from duty free.
Then again, maybe he's just flying to get closer to the space travel! Hopefully when he earns a seat on Virgin Galactic, he'll take his trusty backpack with him (shown here in a 2007 photo, and also by his side this weekend).
Before our recent Superfly flight, we had the opportunity to spend some time in the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at SFO. We were greeted by a woman who looked like a missing character from an "Austin Powers" movie. She was older, just a hair over five feet tall with big red hair, even bigger glasses and a vague English accent. She said things like "Welcome love, great to have you here!" Good start...
Well, all our speculation came to naught: Don't look for massage chairs or hotel tie-ins on a Virgin Atlantic flight any time soon. But buying expensive hotel rooms and massages is one way to rack up miles on the new Virgin Atlantic AmEx, which also offers a 10 percent discount on Premium Economy fares through the rest of the year.
We don't really care too much for secrets, so we wish Virgin Atlantic would just man up and tell us what's happening already!
We want to know what the heck is up with this cryptic letter sent to loyalty program members means:
Hello Gorgeous!
Have we got something for you, Juliana! It's brand new. It's coming soon. And it's extraordinarily unordinary.
What is IT, you ask?
Well, actually we can't say. But we did want you, our trusted Flying Club member, to know that it's coming and that it's a great new way to enjoy even more of everything you love Virgin Atlantic Airways for.
What more can we say? Not much really. But we do hope that when it's here you'll feel it and love the way it makes you feel!
Is it in-air WiFi? Is it vibrating massage chairs? The last line includes "feel" twice, so is it something tangible--like in-air spa treatments?
We're beginning to think we may never fly on one of Boeing's new Dreamliners. The company announced this morning that it's yet again pushing back the debut of its fancy, fuel-efficient 787s, saying it'll get them off the ground by the end of 2008. That means the first commercial flights won't happen until well into 2009.
The news is sad for plane geeks like us, but it could be worse. Some airlines, like Australia's Jetstar, have tied their expansion plans to the 787. No new planes means no new routes--and no new cash rolling in.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are also among the carriers affected. No doubt all three airlines are hoping this is the last of the game-killing delays.
Virgin Atlantic has some spring deals on their Premium Economy class from a bunch of American cities to London.
For instance: Los Angeles to London is $464 one-way from Apr 24-May 25. Over the summer (until Sept. 3), the price jumps to $634 one-way. From Newark, the deal is much cheaper at $314 one-way from April 24-May 25. ($464 one-way over the summer.)
Wanna fly green? Fly on coconut oil. That sounds pretty environmentally friendly, which is no doubt the impression Richard Branson was hoping to give us with the weekend's biofuel test flight on a passenger-free Virgin Atlantic flight from London to Amsterdam.
The maiden voyage using a mix of coconut oil, babassu oil and normal, nasty kerosene was a success, especially as plenty of press reports failed to mention the kerosene. Some, however, reminded us that the plant matter made up just 20% of the fuel in just one of the four engines. Doesn't sound like a lot.
But Branson is already talking about research to use other fuels, including one made from algae. What we can't understand is why he isn't researching an even more environmentally friendly (and convenient) method of getting around, like, say, teleporting.
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by pbb
