Bargain hunters on board with Virgin America

It's a request that makes many residents recoil: can you give me a ride to LAX?  Just the thought of having to fight traffic on the 405 and then maneuvering around crazed taxis and baggage-toting, jet-lagged tourists leaves one scrambling to come up with excuses. Well, think faster.   The arrival and expansion of Virgin America at Los Angeles International Airport has triggered a fare war that will be hard to pass up for bargain hunters.

Some travelers out of LAX are paying about half of what they used to on routes where Virgin America has started flying, reports Peter Pae. This April, for example, Virgin America will start service to Seattle with fares as low as $77 one way.

Of course, it remains to be seen how long  Richard Branson's Virgin America can afford to keep offering fares so low despite record oil and fuel prices. And, of course, many of those cheap fares apply to only a limited number of seats. Yet, travelers are happy for any reprieve in escalating fares.

"It's been awesome," said Brandon Brown, a San Francisco State University student whose family lives in Westchester and was flying down from San Francisco on a Virgin America flight. "Sometimes it's now cheaper for me to fly than drive."

What's also cheap is the FlyAway bus service to LAX ($4 from downtown L.A.). It saves travelers money and will save their friends and families from a drive to the airport.

-- Jesus Sanchez

Photo: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Plainsman]

Fares are low but so is service. Flights can be and are delayed hours, the on-board entertainment system is a beta test and the company's web site is a fifty-fifty chance of a complete transaction. Like a restaurant in shakedown mode, the fares on Virgin America are appropriately low, not a bargain.

[jon sikorski]

I have to disagree totally with the Plainsman on his assesment of Virgin America - I have flown them 3 times so far and each flight has been exceptional in the level of service - the crew and the overall experiance- Not sure what flights you have taken but on JFK-SFO I have had 0 issues all 3 times nor have friends who have flown them - the entertainment system is not "beta" and works so not sure what your comments are based on

Fly them again I think you will be pleasently surprised and compared to all other carriers there is no comparison

[Gabriel D.]

I also disagree with Plainsman. I have flown several round trips to Seattle and I have to say that the experience was wonderful. Excellent service onboard, very clean airplane and the entertainment system rocks. With so many TV stations, games and even seat-to-seat chatting you don't even realize when time flies and you have arrived at your destination.
The difference between Virgin America and the old dinosaurs (AA, United) it's the same like the difference between my latest coolest iPod and my grandma's phonograph...
Great job, Virgin!