I am flying Virgin America for the first time on a short visit to DC and thought it was generally pretty good. Here are a few of the more memorable features of the flight:

• Probably the most entertaining and funny safety video I have ever seen, featuring a man with a fish head, a matador, and a geeky-looking nun.

• Hip and casual crew. “Captain Chaz” made the pre-boarding announcement and invited us to see the cockpit of his cool new Airbus. The whole crew is “a team” (e.g. “inflight crew members, prepare for takeoff).

• Purple lighting reminiscent of a trendy lounge or nightclub. Trance techno music playing when you enter the cabin (and continually in the cabin).

• The inflight entertainment seems good, but I haven’t used it as I am working on my laptop using the nice 110VAC power in every seat.

A bonus is that some of the flights seem to be quite empty, probably because the airline is relatively new. On my flight to DC there were no more than 30 people and everyone had 3 rows to herself.

Yesterday I got a free flight to Sarajevo for the 13th World Congress of Comparative Education Societies. This is the 4th free ticket I have gotten in just over a year and a half using United’s “Mileage Plus” program, which prompted me to look at how much I am getting back for what I put in. Here is a brief summary of my free tickets:

So, basically I get 2.3 US cents for each frequent flyer mile…not bad I guess. This is in addition to free upgrades to slightly-less-cramped economy plus seating (woo hoo) and getting to board the plane first. Here’s a couple of observations that might help others with frequent flyer programs:

1. All programs are not equal: United’s has been pretty good to me, I’ve heard good things about some others in the star alliance (Singapore, BMI, Thai, Air New Zealand, etc.). My experience with British Airways has been much worse.

2. The route makes a huge difference. I have had good luck on international routes…actually United’s miles work best when they are redeemed on other star alliance airlines. My international flights were with Singapore and Lufthansa. The value per mile for domestic routes was not that great.

3. Make it a habit…I charge everything to my United credit card and pay it back before any interest accrues. This has added up to at least one free ticket over time.

This is supposed to be a blog about my thoughts and experiences with (a) my personal goals and (b) international development. However, to start off on a lighthearted note I will begin with a story about my new 2006 Lotus Elise.

Ok, so it is not really my Lotus Elise…actually I rented it for 72 hours because (a) Thrifty lost all records of my previous reservation and (b) due the the “College World Series” there were only 2 available rental cars available at Omaha airport on Sunday at 11:30 pm. The other was a twelve seater passenger van, since the price was the same I made the obvious choice.

Driving a British sports car around Lincoln, Nebraska is an interesting experience: it is somewhat incongruous in a land of where Dodge pickups and large tractors ply the road. Definitely gets a lot of attention although I worry about what an accident with an F150 would look like.

Anyway, the day after tomorrow it is going back and I will once again drive a CNG Ford Contour. Fun while it lasted though.  Unfortunately, I didn’t bring a camera…so my experience will have to live on in my co-workers’ jealous rants.