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Virgin America

About Virgin America

Virgin America is headquartered in Burlingame, close to San Francisco, and operates out of two main hubs in California, with one at San Francisco International Airport and the other at Los Angeles International Airport. The airline has also chosen to focus on the city of Dallas in Texas. Although the airline operates under the Virgin brand created and made famous by Sir Richard Branson, the British businessman is only a minority shareholder in it. Since its 2007 founding, the company's fleet has grown to more than 60 aircraft.

The airline offers low-cost United States domestic flights to more than 20 destinations and international flights to destinations in Mexico. Its Mexican destinations are Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and San Jose del Cabo. Some of its top U.S. routes are the Virgin America flights to Fort Lauderdale, Boston and New York City. It also has codeshare agreements with Virgin Australia, China Southern Airlines, Singapore Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Emirates.

Online check-in

There are three options for Virgin America check-in. The first and probably most popular is completing Virgin America check-in online using a ticket number or booking code. This option is available between 24 hours and 1 hour before a flight and allows passengers to print their own boarding card. The second check-in method is at the self-service kiosks provided at airports. To use these, passengers can either swipe the credit card they booked with or enter their booking confirmation number to print their boarding card. The third option is to check in at one of the airline's check-in counters. Here, passengers can check in by showing their ID.

Hand luggage allowance

Virgin America's baggage regulations allow each passenger to bring 1 bag and 1 personal item on board the plane. Hand luggage bags cannot be larger than a combined length, width and height of 127 cm and must weigh less than 14 kg. Hand luggage that cannot fit beneath an airplane seat or in the overhead bins will not be accepted as hand luggage. Personal items should be smaller and include items such as tote bags, handbags, umbrellas or briefcases. Some larger items, such as poster tubes, skateboards or hatboxes, can be carried as a passenger's personal item but may have to be checked into the aircraft's hold.

Checked baggage allowance

Virgin America's baggage allowance varies depending on a passenger's ticket type. Those with the most basic ticket type will not have any checked luggage included with their booking. Those who purchased a fully refundable ticket or a Main Cabin Select ticket may check in 1 item weighing up to 22 kg. First class passengers can check in t2wo items, each weighing up to 22 kg. Infants can check in 1 stroller or car seat. Sporting equipment is not included in the allowance of any ticket type and must be paid for separately. Excess luggage fees will apply to any items that weigh more than 22 kg or are larger than 158 cm when length, width and height are added together. The airline will not carry any items with combined dimensions of more than 203 cm or weighing over 45 kg.