Following on the heels of the Virgin Atlantic Bio-Fuel flight, Richard Branson’s airline has taken another step towards becoming greener:

“Virgin Atlantic Airways will start using General Motors Corp zero-emission fuel cell cars as limousines for VIP passengers in the United States…” (from abcNews.com)

Richard Branson is at it again, expanding his Virgin empire.

This time, he’s going after the $30-billion market for booking private air travel, with Virgin Charter, a new online service that you can bid on.

Speed and simplicity, is key…and maybe, just maybe it’ll put this kind of luxury travel within reach of more of us. Keep reading!

Virgin America (VX) is set to take off for Seattle. Service begins on January 31, and VX is offering deals as low $77+ each way from San Francisco.

Since its maiden voyage in 2007, Virgin America hasn’t shied away from taking on more established carriers, and their new service to Seattle will put them squarely on Alaska Air’s turf. Alaska Air isn’t taking things lying down, though. As the Cranky Flier reports:

“Alaska has effectively decided to turn their Seattle - California services into a shuttle-style operation with flights either on the hour or half hour starting April 27. From Seattle to LAX, southbound flights will depart 15 times daily on the hour (up from 12 daily) while northbound flights will depart on the half hour.”

It will be interesting to see if Virgin America’s promise of better service, more amenities, and that smooth mood lighting can win travelers away from Alaska Air.

Virgin America has just announced a 4-day airfare sale that features airfares as low as $118+ each way for coast-to-coast flights, and airfares for as low as $44+ each way for travel out West. Visit our Travel Deals page for more details.

Virgin America is offering 2-tickets for the price of one. Yep, you heard right, but get going–you MUST make your purchase by December 7^th. Click here for more details.

Or check it out on our Deals blog, and see other great bargains as well. But in the meantime–get going!

Virgin America announced a holiday airfare sale that offers great deals for travel through March 12. The sale only lasts until Friday, though, so you have to act fast. Check out our deals page to learn more (and look here for more info about the dozens of new daily flights Virgin America is adding– a big win for consumers!)

It is time for Fred Reid to move on from Virgin America. The rules laid out by the DOT ensuring that Virgin America was truly an American company set a time-line for Reid (who has strong ties to foreign investors) to give up his post as Chief Executive. Replacing Reid is long-time American Airlines executive, C. David Cush.

Get all the details and listen to an interview with Cush by visiting Standard Upright Position.

Over in our CEO’s blog, Rick takes a look at what he is calling,the “Virgin America Effect”.

The effect? Well, Virgin America is a key new player in keeping prices for consumers down, and that’s a big deal in this day of intense competition and merger mania talk.

And as Rick points out, Competition = Cheaper Prices. Take a look at this story; we think you’ll be very interested in some of Rick’s unusual insights.

With talks of the major legacy airlines spinning off their frequent flier programs and many getting more disappointed with these loyalty programs, it looks as the out-of-the-box Branson marketing machine is breaking new ground by offering their frequent fliers (they only started flying recently) — not just accrued points or segments – but discounts off yet to be purchased tickets.

Not quite like Southwest’s Ding! which is more of a deal notification tool for anyone — this appears to be Virgin America working on the loyalty of their “best customers” — we’ll keep you updated on how this pans out…

Billionaire Brit Richard Branson IS “Virgin,” one of the most recognized brands in the world.

Today, Virgin is an empire, with over 200-businesses ranging from airlines to music, from credit cards to soda, from cell phones to space travel, and so much more.

And Branson’s put his own unconventional and stylish stamp on each and every company, whether it’s the sexy advertising (go to the Virgin Atlantic website, and get a “Hello Gorgeous!” greeting) or the “mood lighting” in the cabins of his Virgin America jets.

Some have gone so far as to call the British businessman the WORLD’S entrepreneur. So who IS this man?

The anticipation over Virgin Americas next city with new air service is finally over — San Diego it is! Californians with a strong presence from both Southwest and now Virgin America are going to benefit from outstanding pricing for the next several months, both within the state and to destinations on the east coast, New York and Washington DC.

The folks over at Jaunted have some great inside scoop as well and we should see the “Virgin America Effect” to more cities soon. More details in our slightly irreverent “Standard Upright Position” blog.

Branson may have the executives at the major legacy airlines asking there college age children if they are “hip” enough to run the airline of the future.

Never one to shy away from a glitzy stunt Virgin America is throwing what it calls a “Victoria’s Secret Supermodel PJ Party” on their Nov. 28^th flight from JFK to LAX.

What’s next a “Grey’s Anatomy” on board operation — I know what you are thinking — the cast from “Lost” — nah!! (already done on Monday Night Football).

Las Vegas, Branson, the Virgin Brand — the news of new service to Las Vegas can only be covered appropriately by our sister blog over at “StandardUprightPostion.com“…

Flights 90% full this summer and worse over the upcoming holidays — should give every air traveler pause when purchasing a connecting flight.

Our CEO pulled together what he likes to call “Geek Data” to show which cities to avoid or use during the Holiday rush this year.

I turns out Virgin America makes the West Coast a much safer place to travel from or via. The premise is more seats flown = more options when things go south in air traffic control — take a look at your favorite airline you might be surprised.

While Virgin America hasn’t quite crossed that wonderful barrier of $99 each way that Southwest Airlines so effectively promotes. I can guarantee the folks that travel between Los Angeles and Washington D.C. don’t often lay their eyes on this price point — until now.

Checkout the latest airfare “skirmish” and take advantage if you can — with Virgin America pushing the envelope, I hope prices stay this low for a while …

There he goes again (our CEO), posting more “Geek Data” on which planes clog our skies.

Boeing tends to dominate the U.S. domestic skies, but Virgin America selected the Airbus narrow body jet as its plane of choice for its new hub and service from San Francisco, with those oh so comfy new seats and amenities. The number of seats Virgin flies is noted at the bottom of the post — I hope we see a lot more seats in the air in the coming years as more competition = cheaper airline tickets.

Lower Cost Airlines are supposed to expand — it is their strategy — much to the chagrin of Wall Street who has never been overly happy with Southwest Airlines expansion plans (although they have agreed to slow down growth a bit).

The legacy airlines have been slicing capacity and handing it over to the lower cost airlines in small but noticeable chunks. Take a quick look inside the numbers and the next time you are trying to negotiate the arm rest with your seat mate on a full flight, you’ll see why this is occurring.

It looks like in the next few years instead of fighting over elbow room physically with your seat mate, you can virtually arm wrestle them for that prized 2 1/2 inch wide metal divider using the the games in your seat back.

Text messaging to to seat 24B, ordering your lunch with a swipe of the credit card and now - going all in with seat back poker … I wonder if Doyle Brunson can toss in a few 10-2 (ten deuces).

jetBlue started the trend while Song and Ted failed dismally to recreate the vibe — hopefully Virgin America with it’s spanking new planes and pop culture style will keep this trend alive.

With Virgin America’s opening of a new trans-continental route between Los Angeles and Washington D.C., we can look for even cheaper introductory prices and the other competing airlines to protect their market share (especially the non-stops) like a lioness with her cubs.

All good news for California air travelers who have recently been getting super airline ticket prices coast-to-coast.

Of Course the ever present Sir Richard showed up for the festivities with some pithy quotes — we should all hope he shows up for many more first route launches in the coming years — that is if you like cheap airline tickets …

I really wanted to do a review of the “Virgin America Experience” (mood lighting, gadgets, food, …), but alas I was out voted and our editor caught both a coach and a first class flight.

Her review will both amuse and surprise you (she evidently kept humming a Madonna tune).

Our CEO sounds off with some predictions and frequently asked questions about the newly launched Virgin America. There is never a dull moment when it comes to the Virgin Empire and this saga is only on the first few pages.

Check out the predictions and see if you agree and let’s hold his feet to the fire in a year to see how well he did…

Finally Sir Richard is going to get his U.S domestic airline (well at least less than 50% of his airline) off the ground (at least it looks that way right now) even with those pesky legacy airlines derailing him for over a year.

Tickets are on sale, mood lighting is being installed, massaging chairs are sliding into their final first class cabin locations and the Virgin Brand Spin Machine is in full gear — let the hoopla begin — and the glitches