They’re not only the best long-haul airline flying. They’re also really unfathomably cool and they have great customer service. As evidence, I submit the fact that even though my “gold” frequent flyer status had expired because I haven’t flown enough segments this year, they re-upped it anyway after I wrote them a very nice letter. Wow! But the real differentiator is Virgin’s new upper class seat, which just runs circles around anyone else’s business class. And Virgin’s “Upper Class” is business class — they don’t have a “first class” — which is another benefit because when you fly Upper Class on Virgin, you are top dog. When you fly business class on some other airlines, there is a whole group of people on the airplane that is more elite than you are, and that’s no good. This seat, though, is like a mini cabin — it’s a completely personal space. The design is great — everything is highly usable and comfortable — as are the materials and build construction. I’ve been flying Virgin since 1997 — when they were the first airline to include seat-back video screens, even in Economy — and they consistently manage to raise the bar each year, throughout the airplane. Another recent innovation is a video-on-demand service (again, available in every class) that’s invaluable when you’re traveling with a toddler.