“Virgin America Announces Partnership With Morgans Hotel Group - PR Newswire (press release)” plus 1 more

Virgin America Announces Partnership With Morgans Hotel Group - PR Newswire (press release)

Posted: 16 Mar 2010 05:01 AM PDT

Award-Winning Airline Links Up with Boutique Hotel Brand to Bring Virgin America Frequent Flyers Even More Opportunities to Earn Rewards

SAN FRANCISCO, March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin America today announced a partnership with another inventive travel brand – Morgans Hotel Group. Starting today, Virgin America's 1.26 million Elevate Frequent Flyer program members can earn 1,000 points per stay at participating Morgans Hotel Group properties toward free* Virgin America flights. Morgans Hotel Group properties** include some of the most stylish hotels in the world, like the Morgans, Royalton and Hudson properties in New York, the Delano, Mondrian and Shore Club properties in South Beach, the Mondrian in Los Angeles, the Ames in Boston and the Clift in San Francisco.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090123/VIRGINAMERICALOGO)

"We're thrilled to partner with another travel company known for redefining its category," said Porter Gale, Vice President of Marketing at Virgin America. "The Virgin America experience is designed to be like no other, marrying stylish design and state-of-the-art technology, and now our flyers will be able to continue the experience from 35,000 feet through to their Morgans Hotel Group stay."

Over the last quarter of a century, Morgans Hotel Group has been credited as the originator and innovator of the world's trend-setting boutique hotel company, known for its modern design, unique ambience and energetic nightlife scene. Morgans Hotel Group was founded in 1984 with the opening of Morgans on Madison Avenue in New York City, and has grown to include some of the most stylish and renowned boutique hotels in the world.

Launched in August 2007, Virgin America offers low fares, award-winning guest service and tech-savvy amenities that appeal to today's business and leisure travelers alike. In just over two years flying, the airline has captured the "Best Domestic Airline" title in both Conde Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice Awards and Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards. The airline offers amenities like touch-screen entertainment, power outlets at every seat and fleetwide Gogo® In-flight Internet. Elevate is Virgin America's first-of-its-kind Frequent Flyer program, which offers guests the ability to redeem points for any unsold seat – on any Virgin America flight, at any time. Earlier this month, Virgin America rolled out changes to Elevate in order to give flyers more flexibility to earn and redeem points for travel on the award-winning airline. Elevate members are now able to retain their Elevate points indefinitely, as long as they either earn or redeem points at least once every 18 months. In addition, Elevate members can now earn even more points for free flights by shopping at the Red store, which features 150 popular brand retailers like Banana Republic, the Apple Online Store, BarnesandNoble.com, macys.com, Target.com and more.

"We couldn't be more pleased to partner with Virgin America," said Kim Walker, Senior Vice President and Creative Director at Morgans Hotel Group. "This next-generation airline is hip and irreverent and a perfect match for our brand of innovative boutique properties."

In addition to a Main Cabin that offers custom-designed leather seats with a deeper, more comfortable pitch, Virgin America's First Class cabin features international-grade amenities, including plush white leather seats with 55 inches of pitch and lumbar massagers. The carrier's premium cabin option, Main Cabin Select, offers 38-inches of seat pitch, complimentary food and cocktails, an all-access pass to the largest in-flight entertainment library in the domestic skies, dedicated overhead bin space, and priority check-in and boarding. Virgin America has flown more than 6.2 million guests since its inaugural flights in August 2007 and now counts 1.25 million Elevate loyalty program members. Virgin America flies to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego, Boston, Orange County and Fort Lauderdale.

* TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR EARNING POINTS AT MORGANS HOTEL GROUP

This offer is valid for travel through December 31, 2010. To receive points, reservations must be made on a published rate through 800.606.6090 or via morganshotelgroup.com. Restrictions may apply. Bookings made by an agent or third-party, such as tour operators, or bookings made via a third-party channels, including but not limited to, expedia.com, hotwire.com, orbtiz.com, travelocity.com, and booking.com are not eligible for points. Group bookings, airline crew and/or contract rates, employee rates, complimentary rates, and friends and family rates are also not eligible for points. At check-in, request Elevate points and provide your Elevate account number. You may also earn points by calling 800.606.6090 and ask to add your Elevate number to your reservation. Points will be awarded within six to eight weeks following a completed (check in and check out) stay. For points to be awarded, the Elevate Member must have been a registered guest and the bill must be in his/her name. Elevate members may receive points for up to three rooms (member's room and two additional rooms) provided he/she was a registered guest, occupying at least one of the rooms and paying for all three. Points required to redeem an Elevate travel reward on Virgin America will be publicly available on a seat and flight-specific basis and are subject to change. Virgin America reward bookings are subject to a security fee of $2.50 per segment, payable by credit card or Virgin America credit file. The Passenger Facility Charge and Segment Fees are waived for reward bookings.

**Participating hotels are: Ames in Boston, Sanderson in London, St Martins Lane in London, Mondrian in Los Angeles, Morgans in New York City, Royalton in New York City, Hudson in New York City, Clift in San Francisco, Delano in South Beach, Mondrian in South Beach, Shore Club in South Beach.

EDITORS NOTE: Virgin America is a U.S.-controlled, owned and operated airline. It is an entirely separate company from Virgin Atlantic. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group is a minority share investor in Virgin America.

About Morgans Hotel Group : Morgans Hotel Group Co. (NASDAQ: MHGC) is widely credited as the creator of the first "boutique" hotel and a continuing leader of the hotel industry's boutique sector. Morgans Hotel Group operates and owns, or has an ownership interest in, Morgans, Royalton and Hudson in New York, Delano and Shore Club in South Beach, Mondrian in Los Angeles, Scottsdale and South Beach, Clift in San Francisco, Ames in Boston, and Sanderson and St Martins Lane in London. Morgans Hotel Group and an equity partner also own the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and related assets. Morgans Hotel Group also manages hotels in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico and Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Morgans Hotel Group has other property transactions in various stages of completion, including projects in SoHo, New York and Palm Springs, California. For more information please visit www.morganshotelgroup.com.

About Virgin America: Headquartered in California and launched in August 2007, Virgin America is one of the fastest growing start-up U.S. airlines of all time and currently employs over 1500 people. Virgin America offers guests attractive fares and a host of innovative features aimed at reinventing air travel. The airline's base of operations is San Francisco International Airport's modern International Terminal. The airline's new aircraft offer interactive in-flight entertainment systems and power outlets near every seat for electronic gear. Virgin America offers in-flight internet service on every flight and hosts the largest in-flight entertainment library in the U.S. skies via its touch-screen Red™ seatback system. The airline was named "Best Domestic Airline" in the Conde Nast Traveler 2008 and 2009 Readers' Choice Awards and in Travel + Leisure's 2008 and 2009 World's Best Awards. Elevate is Virgin America's first-of-its-kind loyalty program, which offers guests the ability to redeem points for any unsold seat – on any Virgin America flight, at any time. Elevate offers Web-based redemption with no black-out dates. For more please visit: www.virginamerica.com

SOURCE Virgin America

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Travel demand rising post recession: US Air CFO - Reuters

Posted: 23 Feb 2010 12:25 PM PST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - US Airways Group (LCC.N) sees strong gains in travel demand, but it may not return to pre-recession levels, the company's chief financial officer said on Tuesday.

Even if that demand stays relatively depressed, new capacity discipline and ancillary revenue will keep airlines on a sure footing, said Derek Kerr at the Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit in New York.

"I don't know if it will ever return to normal," Kerr said, referring to demand levels of 2007. "But we are seeing a significant increase in demand."

The airline industry was clobbered in 2009 by an economic downturn that eroded travel demand. Carriers lately are reporting a pickup in demand. This came on the heels of massive capacity cuts by major airlines.

Airlines are increasingly reliant on new revenue streams derived from fees for bag checks, meals and entertainment.

Kerr said US Airways expects to derive $500 million from ancillary revenue streams in 2010, compared with $400 million in 2009.

He also said that airlines are weeding out the lowest fares in their markets, but he was unsure if broad fare hikes would be implemented in 2010. Two attempted domestic fare hikes launched this year by several major carriers failed to stick because other airlines did not match them.

Shares of US Airways were near flat at $7 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Kyle Peterson, Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

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Travel and Leisure

Tuesday, March 16, 2010