No surprise here. However, for the first time a source close to Virgin Atlantic is confirming to Reuters that if Delta were to receive Singapore’s 49% stake in Virgin, a joint venture would indeed be formed on transatlantic flights. The source is also confirming that Richard Branson is not looking to give up his stake in the airline and instead hopes for a code-share arrangement similar to the IAG / American partnership, allowing the airlines to share costs and revenue while aligning schedules. No word on a SkyTeam membership, though Reuters has also received word that Air France-KLM are not involved in the discussions.

Looks like the ability to once again redeem SkyMiles for Virgin Atlantic flights circa 2002 may be returning soon…

Remember the days back in the early 2000′s when you were able to redeem SkyMiles for Virgin Atlantic flights?

The opportunity may some day return if today’s rumors of Virgin Atlantic joining SkyTeam are to be believed. Richard Branson, who has until now kept Virgin out of the alliance system (and called them anti-competitive), preferring code-sharing agreements with other airlines instead, had this to say this morning to Bloomberg Television in Mumbai:

Virgin Atlantic has always enjoyed its independence, but since pretty well every competitor that we have has an alliance I think we have finally decided that to survive we need to have an alliance.

Bloomberg’s article goes on to quote a London based Cantor Fitzgerald analyst:

“I’d say it would be 60-40 in favor of SkyTeam” as the potential Virgin Atlantic partner. The U.K. carrier’s routes to the Caribbean, U.S. and Asia may “tip them in favor of the SkyTeam alliance more than Star,” which already has a route network serving those markets.

Branson went on to say that an announcement would likely come within the next three months. In my humble opinion, though I would love to have another valuable redemption option for my SkyMiles, SkyTeam still seems far less likely than Star Alliance as Virgin has current partnerships with 9 Star Alliance members and is 49% owned by Singapore. Though as per the article, Star Alliance has not had any recent alliance talks with VS, which would seem strange if an announcement is expected in January.

Delta has made some positive improvements to their “best in class” program lately including the ability to search for Korean awards online and dropping fuel surcharges for award flights originating in Europe.  They also continue to have amazingly great business availability on Korean (on non-blackout dates), China Southern (which can be used to fly the A380 from LAX to Guangzhou, connecting to SE Asia or Australia), and of course Virgin Australia (easy to get at least 2 seats most of the year).   Adding Virgin Atlantic would be a huge enhancement and would certainly increase the value of my SkyMiles. Even if Delta’s own awards continued to be priced at insane levels, I’d still be pretty psyched with low level business redemptions on Virgin Australia, Virgin Atlantic, China Southern, and Korean. Of course, other SkyTeam alliance members would have the same award possibilities as well.  Here’s hoping…

While on a “web browsing break” at work, I was presented with the Earn 1000 Airline Miles advertisement below (scary how well the marketers know me, must be time to clear my cookies).

I clicked on over and saw that they are offering the following – After your first ride you’ll earn 1000 points/miles. It’s that easy. Then each ride after that will earn you 1 point/mile for every $1 spent (points/miles awarded on the base fare). Offer expires 8/31/12. Within two weeks of completing your GroundLink ride you’ll receive an email from Points.com with a claim code. Click through and choose the loyalty program for which you’d like to deposit your points/miles.  Participants include Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, American Airlines AAdvantage, Best Buy Reward Zone, Frontier EarlyReturns, HawaiianMiles, Icelandair Saga Club, LifeMiles, Priority Club Rewards,US Airways Dividend Miles, and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

According to their website, GroundLink services every US city and 110 countries. In order to take advantage of the offer you need to either enter promo code EARN when booking on their website or mention it to the phone agent when calling in.

This offer is much more generous on the initial ride but not as generous as Carmel’s current offer on future rides when earning with American, Delta, or JetBlue:

Earn 200 bonus miles each trip and 5 (Delta) or 6 (American & JetBlue) miles per $1 spent (outside NYC)
Earn 100 bonus miles each trip and 5 (Delta) or 6 (American & JetBlue) per $1 spent in NYC
Carmel also partners with Alaska, El Al,  United, and US Airways, though those offers aren’t nearly as generous.

Carmel services all US cities and also allows for worldwide reservations.

So for my next trip, I decided to compare pricing between GroundLink and Carmel to see if I could earn the 1,000 miles and essentially still pay standard rates:

NYC – LGA (Full Size Sedan, tolls and tip not included)
$33 – Carmel
$38 – GroundLink
$20 – $30 (from my apartment) – Regular Taxi

NYC – JFK (Full Size Sedan, tolls and tip not included)
$48 – Carmel
$49 – GroundLink
$45  – Regular Taxi

NYC – EWR (Full Size Sedan, tolls and tip not included)
$47 – Carmel
$49 – GroundLink
$45-$55 (from my apartment)- Regular Taxi

*Carmel currently has $3 coupon on their website, so another $3 can be deducted from the prices above*

Not bad, for my next trip to JFK, GroundLink will earn me 1000 miles and I’ll only be paying a few dollars more than a regular taxi or Carmel, definitely worth it.  After the original trip though, it most likely makes sense to stick to Carmel which will earn me 6 AAdvantage miles per $1 spent instead of $1 and 100 bonus miles.

Virgin Atlantic has joined Emirates in enabling passengers to make in-flight mobile calls using their own personal devices. The service kicked off in test mode yesterday on Virgin’s new A330 planes flying from New York JFK to London Heathrow. By year-end the service will be rolled out to about 20 planes and about 10 routes in total, including the 747s which are currently being refurbished. The service allows passengers to make calls, send/receive text messages, and use data services.  The network displays as a roaming GPRS network on passenger’s phones and they are billed at international roaming rates (determined individually be each carrier).  The network is available in all classes and works via land to plane satellite.  The service is not available during take-off, landing, or within 250 miles of US airspace. Luckily, current technology and bandwidth will only allow for up to ten passengers to make calls at any given time. Lufthansa and Qatar dropped in-flight cell phone calls a few years ago after passengers began complaining that is was interrupting their sleep and work productivity. Qantas tested a similar system few years back and ended up declining a full roll-out.  However, Virgin’s press releases states that the service will be extremely helpful to passengers as “many people will have experienced that moment when you’re about to take off on a 10-hour flight and you need to send an important message to the office, or even reminding a family member to feed the cat.”  I’m hoping that the international roaming costs will deter most passengers from using the service.  I know when I board a plane, I’m looking to relax and disconnect, watch some movies, and hopefully get a little bit of sleep. The idea of my seatmate chatting away across the Atlantic is a very scary thought!

What do you think?  Take the poll below…

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Forget about lie flat seats and personal in-flight entertainment, why not a nice cold drink with a Richard Branson ice cube?  According to Virgin’s website, Richard Branson ice cubes will be gracing the drinks of passengers seated in Upper Class beginning later this month.  They’ll be provided to promote the new in-flight Upper Class bar, touted as the longest on any aircraft.

According to the article,

“Virgin Atlantic is giving Upper Class passengers the chance to cool their in-flight drinks with bespoke Richard Branson ice cubes. The new ice innovation means all passengers will be able to enjoy some chill out time with Mr Branson at the new bar – the longest of any airliner. The ice cubes have been created using the exact measurements of Sir Richard’s head and feature an impressive level of detail. The mould for the ice cubes took a team of four skilled designers a painstaking six weeks to create using detailed photographic techniques and laser scanning technology to create the perfect likeness of Sir Richard.”