Virgin America introduces two elite tiers to their Elevate program

I'm no expert, but having priority for the cheap buy-ups to First may be useful for the trans-cons.

I think you hit the nail on the head. This is a big improvement for the low-status guy currently flying UA, AS or WN. Probably not anything to jump for the AA Exp's or 1k's since the route map is so limited. If you're an MVP or UA Premier that never gets upgraded however its worth considering.

While you're right that main select won't have empties anymore you're also getting the chance to fly in F for only $39 o/w (current M-S to F u/g charge) and its a fantastic product for a 500-600 miles flight.

For those that can hit the 25k in cc spend and take say 5-8 west coast roundtrips/yr that = $1000+ spend with the new VX plan they'll earn status get free bags, free food, free drinks where as with UA/AS those 500-600 mile o/w's would earn zilch for status.

Even better, $1000 in annual airline spend on VX(assuming you could do $2k/mo cc spend) spread over 3 years would earn

$25k x 3yr CC = 75k VX Points
+9.25pt/$ x $3000 =~30k VX Points

105,000 gets you 2 J SFO-LHR on VS if you can cough up the $1200 ea in YQ. An interesting value prop for the guy that needs to fly up and down the West coast every other month.

You didn't mention the best gimmick of all: Earn the most points during the first year of the program, and get a free ride on Virgin Galactic!!! 🙂 (Currently priced at $200K, I believe)

They are going after the studio contracts on the La-JFK runs

@ Michael -- You're saying they're going after studio contracts by creating a loyalty program? Not sure I follow.

There is actually quite a big class of business flyers who fly a few times a year but spend more than $4K domestic. But I'm quite happy buying more expensive fares on United and playing the upgrade game, I'm not spending out of my own pocket on upgrades.