
Headed west out over open water on one of Virgin’s new ETOPS rated A320s (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Last week I jumped on a Virgin America flight to the islands- my first since the carrier launched nonstops from San Francisco to Honolulu and Maui late last year. It has since announced that it will add nonstops from LAX to Hawaii later this year.
Virgin’s entry into the Hawaii market has helped spur a fare war, with flights frequently falling into the low $300’s round trip from the west coast- quite a good bargain! The California-to-Hawaii market is packed with nonstops from nearly every other US carrier, including Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian and United.

“Flights with Benefits” is the racy name for one of Virgin America’s new A320 ETOPS jets (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
To be able to offer these flights, Virgin needed a new plane, an ETOPS-rated Airbus A320 (pictured above) that is equipped to fly long distances over water. So that’s the first thing I noticed when I boarded– that “new plane smell” as well as a shimmering new surfaces lit with purple hues from its mod mood lighting.
This A320 also has the newer, higher-definition version of the RED seatback entertainment system– which includes a much more robust, interactive inflight mapping program that kept me occupied for hours. (I am usually much more entertained by the inflight map than inflight movies!)

Inflight internet & live TV not yet operable on Hawaii flights (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Despite the fab new seatback system, I was disappointed to learn that the plane’s satellite-based connectivity system is not working yet, which means no inflight internet or live TV for the 5+ hour flight. Flight attendants rolled their eyes when I asked about this…saying that it’s a very common complaint from Virgin America regulars who love their inflight wi-fi. Regrettably they said that they don’t expect it to be operable until “later this year.” A Virgin spokesperson responded, “Not quite yet” when I asked when the service would be working.
Despite connectivity issues, the RED system does not disappoint– even without a connection, there’s a full roster of very good, current movies and TV shows to watch, some great indie and international choices, and that wonderful inflight mapping feature.

While this picture-of-a-picture is grainy, in real life seat back map images are sharp & interactive (Chris McGinnis)
Another downside on these 5+ hour nonstops is crowding at the back of the plane when lines for for the two lavatories form. On my flight, there was a nearly constant queue back there, especially 2-3 hours in. That’s uncomfortable for passengers seated the last 3-4 rows as well as flight attendants who told me that due to a new configuration of the galley area, they are unable to sit down for rest breaks. Luckily on this flight I upgraded to Main Cabin Select, and was seated in row 10 over the wing (exit row).
See Seatguru’s seatmap of Virgin’s newest A320

Main cabin on a new Virgin America A320 seats 138 (Chris McGinnis)
Overall, the flight was very nice and a standout when compared to other carriers– much like nearly all my Virgin America experiences. But to be honest, I was hoping for a bit more fun and celebration about the fact that we were flying to Hawaii. A lei, a flower or slice of pineapple in a cocktail, an aloha shirt or maybe a little ukele music over the PA system would have been a nice addition. All I saw that celebrated this a flight to paradise was a can of POG (Passion, Orange, Guava) juice available on the seatback food & drink ordering system. Nonetheless, the flight was pleasant and on-time.
Take a spin through my trip in the slides below:

At 6:45 am, PreCheck at SFO’s Terminal 2 was a breeze (Chris McGinnis)

Gorgeous sunrise lights up our new A320 and SFO control tower for a 7:30 am departure (Chris McGinnis)

This is what a brand new Virgin America A320 looks like: black leather & mood lights. Wow (Chris McGinnis)

Plenty of knee room on exit row 10 Main Cabin Select (Chris McGinnis)

Seatback mapping system provides trip stats. Note that image is much clearer that what shows in this photo (Chris McGinnis)

Note the clear HD image, and the POG reminder that this flight is paradise-bound! (Chris McGinnis)

My go-to meal on Virgin America, the Protein Plate & Honest T Green Tea, did not disappoint (Chris McGinnis)

My seatmate ordered the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And a POG (Chris McGinnis)

I love the healthy food options on Virgin- this is one of three pages of choices- order from the screen & flight attendant delivers (Chris McGinnis)

One of two shiny new lavs at the back of this A320 (Chris McGinnis)

Flying over gorgeous Oahu on approach to HNL (Chris McGinnis)

Had some fun scrambling around Kauai! Then headed back (Chris McGinnis)

I love Honolulu’s open air corridors. Such a nice welcome to paradise 🙂 (Chris McGinnis)

Spectacular view of Honolulu at take off for SFO. Note the sparkles in the paint on the engine! (Chris McGinnis)

Final look at Waikiki and Diamond Head on our way back to SFO. Aloha! (Chris McGinnis)
What’s your favorite way to get to Hawaii? Been lately? Please leave your comments below.
–Chris McGinnis
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