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Mindblowing: There is a Krispy Kreme at London's Heathrow Airport

OMG. THERE IS A KRISPY KREME IN HEATHROW TERMINAL 3. Give us a second to catch our breath.

Okay. That's better.

To reiterate without the immediacy of caps lock, there is indeed an outlet at LHR T3 of that glazed confection heaven that is Krispy Kreme. Even better—it's before security, so if you're just heading to Heathrow to pick up or drop off someone, you can at least enjoy a kruller.

If you've missed it before and are kicking yourself now, it's okay; this Krispy Kreme can be easily missed if you're one of the travelers who zips from ticketing to security as fast as humanly possible, or skips ticketing completely with an e-boarding pass. Just know that it's in Virgin Atlantic territory, so BA flyers don't get to have any fun.

If you don't want to miss it in the future, the easiest way to explain its location is when you've just entered the building and are facing all the signs and security lanes, to head left to the furthest security checkpoint down there. The Krispy Kreme is right in front of it, and everybody knows security officers can't deny you taking a dozen glazed as a carry-on. They may count as items of cultural significance, but last we checked, there are no import limits on donuts.

[Photo: Jaunted]

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Virgin Atlantic Knows What's Good for Their Passengers: POPSICLES.

It's official; summer 2011 is the summer of sweets in the sky. First bmi is handing out free slices of cake onboard, and now Virgin Atlantic has introduced popsicles in economy!

The new desserts—Skinny Cow Skinny Dippers—are caramel ice cream pops dipped in chocolate, and they're totally complimentary to passengers flying Virgin from Manchester, London-Gatwick and London-Heathrow to the US, Caribbean and Tokyo-Narita. Even better still: each Skinny Dipper is only 65 calories (that's less than a tiny airline cup full of regular soda). They're new onboard from this month, and they should last through the end of the warm weather.

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In-Flight Movies Becoming Mix of Bad Porn and Tear-Filled Chick Flicks

It's hardly news that different airlines often have different ideas about the best way to do things. Hub-and-spoke vs. point-to-point. Legacy airlines vs. LCCs. Treating your customers well vs. whatever it is that Ryanair does. There's hardly an issue on which the airline industry has formed a consensus, let alone reached unanimity.

But you'd think that when it comes to in-flight movies, there'd at least be reasonable agreement about how to approach things (the upcoming and deeply ill-advised trend toward in-flight 3D movies being the possible exception). Get some DVDs, put them in the player, and hope that enough passengers get distracted for long enough that the flight becomes a little more bearable for everyone. But from borderline soft porn to warnings about sappy movies that might make grown men cry—we just don't know any more.

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How to Be a VIP for Free at the Telluride Film Fest: 'Like' Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic has managed to align itself with anything sleek, sexy, and, well, just plain awesome on the travel front, with this cool cache now extending to international cultural happenings. Film festivals—what with their covetable goodie bags, after parties, and celebrity pull—certainly fall into the "Ever-So-Hip" category, which is likely why VA has aligned itself with the forthcoming Telluride Film Festival, set to take place from September 2-5, 2011.

VA will serve as Telluride's partner airline, hosting a splashy tribute event during the festival run and a contest that gives film aficionados a shot at attending TFF come fall.

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Finding Mecca is Easy as Turning On a Virgin Atlantic TV

It's quite difficult to shock us these days, especially when it comes to new airplane amenities and features. But then when we recently hopped the pond on Virgin Atlantic and spent some sleepless hours really delving into their seatback in-flight entertainment, we discovered something of an Easter egg tucked away: an option that displays the direction of Mecca relevant to the plane's position.

On the early morning flights from New York to London, there will be a moment when practicing Muslims must complete salah, or the traditional prayers facing the Qibla. Prior to this comes a ritual ablution—we're guessing performed in the airplane's itty bitty restroom sinks—and then the praying may begin.

It's not an ideal way to practice your religion, but as we all know from air travel experience, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

[Photo: Jaunted]

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One Airplane Meal That Isn't Yucky: Virgin Atlantic's Full English

Whoa whoa whoa. We know, we know; it's totally weird for us to be liking an airline meal, let alone a breakfast airline meal. As much as we love to hate on things like the dreaded American Airlines croissant and these 15 disgusting meals, sometimes we can actually be taken by surprise when a flight attendant presents us with something edible and appealing.

On a flight shorter than others on which we've only gotten a greasy croissant, Virgin Atlantic shocked with a full English Breakfast. For the uninitiated, this means bacon, eggs, a grilled tomato, fried mushrooms, Wiltshire sausages, hash browns and a mug of tea. Typically baked beans are also added, but that must've only been for Virgin's Upper Class on this particular flight from New York-JFK to London-LHR.

As breakfast on overnight flights to Europe can be the most important meal of the trip (seeing as how you're not likely to sit and eat again for 6+ hours), we advise going for hearty.

[Photo: Jaunted]

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In-Flight Cocktail of the Month: Virgin Atlantic's "'New' New York Sour"

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.

Last summer, we dubbed Virgin Atlantic's Virgin Redhead the In-Flight Cocktail of the Month for June 2010. This summer, it's about time to highlight another Virgin drink, especially since their airport lounges feature an impressive signature cocktail selection.

Therefore, for July 2011, we're in love with the "New" New York Sour, a traditional whiskey sour with a surprise: a float of claret. Served up at Virgin Atlantic clubhouses—we downed this one in the New York-JFK Airport lounge—and possibly on flights in Upper Class (ask nicely), the "New" New York Sour is served in a chilled glass with a nice foam. When ours arrived, both tables on either side of us asked after it and ended up ordering their own; it's a conversation-starter!

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From Axl Rose to Zulu Warrior: A Visual History of Sir Richard Branson in Wacky Costumes

Branson dressed as a boxer. He's quite the knockout (get it?).

After much scientific testing, complicated measuring and grueling research, we've come to the very important conclusion that it is impossible to think Virgin Group main man Sir Richard Branson is anything but extremely awesome. C'mon—the man kite-boards with naked models, says he wants to build a spaceship and then actually does it, saves the world daily with his many charities, and yet still has time to sit down with us for a quick chat.

We last caught up with Sir Richard onboard Virgin America's inaugural flight to Chicago-O'Hare. As for all other monumental occasions in his family of Virgin brands, Branson donned a fun costume and parades around for the cameras, bursting with vim and vigor. This got us thinking. What costume, after all these years of dressing wacky for promotional stunts, does Richard really wish he could wear? So we asked him.

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Virgin Atlantic, JetBlue and United Airlines Announce New Routes to Warm Destinations

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 Atlantic:
Unfortunately we’ll be waiting a little bit for this new route to take flight, but we’re still pretty excited that Virgin Atlantic is looking to head into Mexico. The new option will link London with Cancun, and this will be the airline’s 33rd destination around the globe. Things are scheduled to start up on June 12 of 2012, and the new flights will run just two times per week. They’ll be using Boeing 747s to get the job done on this new route, and they’re planning on splitting things into three different cabins—start saving up your pence for a chance to ride in one of the upper class suites.

· Southwest Airlines:
They’re busy gobbling up AirTran, but that doesn’t mean that Southwest Airlines doesn’t have a little time to add some new options to its route network. The free checked baggage airline just added three nonstop options into and out of Denver from Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, and Newark-Liberty. None of these cities are new to the Southwest family, but the ability to connect a little closer to the West Coast should improve the trip for those looking to make the journey across the country. After all, one connection is always way better than two.

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The One Boring Thing About Richard Branson

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of Virgin Atlantic flights to Miami, and to celebrate it, Virgin CEO Richard Branson will walk out along the wing of one of his planes and party it up. It's just a typical day for Branson, jetting around as he does to check on his multitude of Virgin brands and still somehow chipping in to lend a hand in the world.

So where does he get all the energy to do this? Well, it probably helps that Branson has the money and personal assistants needed to pull off a packed schedule without a hitch, but let's not forget good old coffee.

Recently when we had a chance to sit down with Branson, following the very first Virgin America flight to ORD, we noticed he was toting quite the sizeable Starbucks cup. So what does a billionaire jetsetter order?

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Read and Share Travel Tips and Tricks While Up in the Air on Virgin Atlantic

From new shoes to new paint jobs, Virgin Atlantic has had quite the push into 2011, and their latest in-flight distraction is just one more thing to add to the list.

Until long-haul in-flight becomes the must-have travel accessory, Virgin Atlantic has a temporary solution to help you get your social media fix while traveling here and there. The airline’s Travel Tip Catcher is just part of the larger vTravelled community, and they’re looking for passengers to share all their travel tips and tricks...while one the plane!

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Aussie Band 'Set Sail' Serenades a Virgin Atlantic Flight at 37,000 Feet

What would you do if a trio of musicians stood up and began serenading you while at 37,000 feet onboard a long-haul flight? Hopefully, you wouldn't club them and assume they're undercover hijackers throwing the flight crew off their scent; you'd clap right along, just as these Virgin Atlantic passengers did recently when the Australian band Set Sail covered the Jason Mraz song "I'm Yours."

The cute performance happened somewhere between Hong Kong and Sydney, as the band is setting out on a 48-country itinerary to give street shows throughout the rest of this year. This is only the second video of a slew they're planning, and Josiah Willows (one of the band members) explains, "flights aren't always bad food and uncomfortable seats!" Every week they'll release another video to YouTube—follow them here—mixing music and travel.

What's next? We're thinking violin on a Venetian traghetto would be cool, also perhaps a cappella in Agra or a little soft shoe while eating soft shell crab congee. Mmmm...soft shell crab congee.