It was my virgin flight on Virgin America -- traveling from San Diego to San Fran for MacWorld a couple weeks back. I'd heard great things about the airline and was not disappointed. What a great execution of exceptional customer experience!

First thing that struck me was the very different vibe I got as I stepped into the aircraft. The lighting was groovy reddish pink and there was some mellow cool (non-elevator) music playing softly in the background, making me feel relaxed and even a little excited, as if I was walking into a hip lounge.

The interior of the plane was posh. Leather seats, each of them outfitted with a personal video screen. And the casing for the seatbacks was made of heavyduty white plastic, kind of like a Stormtrooper helmet. Even the printed collateral (magazine, safety card) was just a cut above other airlines - printed on thick, irregular-sized paper, this made for a unique experience (why else would I even take the time to read the material in my seat back pocket??).

The free in-flight entertainment further enhanced my love affair with Virgin. Each video screen enabled either live or on-demand tv (and from premium channels like HBO too) as well as music and even music videos. From their selection of cool, relevant music performances, I caught up on my MTV award show watching which, by the way, gave me newfound respect for the trapeze-thrilling Pink and blood-stained Lady Gaga. Dude! Had I been on Southwest Air (another fab airline but NOT Virgin Air) I would've been picking through peanuts and staring at the 70s-inspired beigey back of the seat of the guy in front of me instead of being wow'ed.

Every last detail - from the flight safety video (see above) to the nice Method brand soap they had in the lavatory was designed to give off a certain vibe about the brand - and it works. Kudos to the Virgin America team for standing out and differentiating in an industry that typically sticks to the status quo. I just hope they open more routes in and out of SAN.