Twittering with Richard Branson 35,000 feet up during Virgin America flight

I won’t lie. It was exciting. I got to pop Richard Branson’s in-flight Twitter cherry. Virgin America has had GoGo in-flight Wi-Fi for a few months now, starting with its Boston-to-West Coast flights, but it will extend the service fleet-wide by June. This morning I got to Twitter with Richard as he flew from LAX to SFO to kick off the airline’s Orange County destination. Virgin America will be have daily nonstop flights between San Francisco (SFO) and John Wayne International Airport (SNA) starting today.

Here is the twittologue between @virginamerica and @latimestravel from this morning.

Note: There was definitely some delay, but it was impossible to pinpoint why. I was on the ground using Twitter; he was 35,000 feet up and using Tweet Deck. I found that using Twitter search was the fastest way to find his @replies (we were using hashtag #vx2oc), but that meant we always had to remember the hashtag, which we did most of the time.

Still, we both had fun, and I’ll be seeing him later today at the SNA launch event this afternoon.

Here’s the “Twittologue” in full from this morning:

@latimestravel Everyone ready for the twittologue with @richardbranson. He’s on board, I’m setting up - just a few more min. Follow @virginamerica #vx2oc

@virginamerica We are getting ready to kick things in-flight with Richard and @latimestravel. Tune in at 8:20 and ride the social media wave #vx2oc!!!

@latimestravel @virginamerica Good morning Richard! Jen here….what seat are you in?

@virginamerica @LATimestravel 3d — how are you doing? #vx2oc

@virginamerica are you alive down there?! #vx2oc

@latimestravel @virginamerica Great thanks! Anyone else in first class? And more importantly - is this the first time you’ve tweeted from the sky? #vx2oc

@virginamerica yes - its my virgin experience! Nicole Kidman and Pam Anderson in First Class - so what on earth am i doing twittering?! #vx2oc

@latimestravel @virginamerica yep, I’m alive. I guess we’re feeling a little delay. How many thousand feet up are you? #vx2oc

@virginamerica we’ll ask tactfully. won’t i do?! #vx2oc

@latimestravel @virginamerica Pam Anderson and Nicole Kidman? Take a pic!

@latimestravel @virginamerica Our fans were excited about the VX Wi-Fi expansion…but now I think we lost them with the thought of those hotties #vx2oc

@latimestravel @virginamerica So, give us the good news Richard. Fleetwide Wi-Fi on Virgin America by when? #vx2oc

@virginamerica within 4 weeks every Virgin America plane will be fully WiFi enabled–the onyl airline in America who can claim that. Sorry about the shameless plug. #vx2oc

@latimestravel @virginamerica - As an aside for our tech friends - Twitter search is keeping up the fastest with our chat. Sorry Tweetie. http://is.gd/vnrZ

@virginamerica to the person who said virgin flights are the bomb: big xoxo #vx2oc

@latimestravel  @virginamerica Already on your descent? Better tell us about this SNA launch and how you’ll beat the competition. #vx2oc

@virginamerica we’re launching with 5 flights a day @ 49$ one way - with wifi on every plane, touchscreen entertainment and the biggest smiles of any crew in the skies. work?

@latimestravel  @virginamerica I’m hoping for some kind of “switch” campaign like the Apple vs. PC commercials. What do you think - with @jetblue? #vx2oc

@virginamerica i love the idea! we’ll get a beauty contest going. I’ll step aside for my son or daughter on that one though! #vx2oc

@latimestravel  @virginamerica I bet some cute stewardess is asking you to fasten your seatbelt…we’ll have to continue this at SNA this afternoon #vx2oc

@virginamerica im asking her to fasten it for me…see you @SNA. i heard you volunteered for a spray tan at the arrival event. #vx2oc

@virginamerica over and out — nice to chat with you Jen. Love Richard. #vx2oc

@latimestravel @virginamerica time for one more Richard? Will you have enough Elevate miles to qualify for Race for Space? How many do you have now? #vx2oc

@virginamerica I have about 9000 now — so am almost there. Sadly though, the CEO has disqualified me. put in a good word for me with him, will you? #vx2oc

@latimestravel  ok folks, over for now. But did you see that last msg?He said “Love Richard” Oooh. I’ll have to get a spray tan for the bragging rights#vx2oc

— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger

Photo credit: Virgin America

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 11:21 am by Jen Leo and is filed under Airline travel, Celebrity, News, Tips & Advice, Travel Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.