I constantly fly back and forth from my place in San Francisco to my folks’ place in Los Angeles. I’ve flown the majority of airlines that have this route and I can confidently say that I have found the ideal one. No more time-consuming price comparing online, pushy flight attendants, or uncomfortable seating—I’m going straight to Virgin America.com. Here’s my own story to explain why.

My boyfriend and I had booked our first flight with Virgin America a few days before Christmas and of course, we overslept and missed the flight. I mean we over slept and missed the flight … just before Christmas! I nearly had a panic attack. I can’t stand being late, plus I had my irritating boyfriend, Mr. Calm, telling me over and over to relax as I was shoving him out the door.

After a cab, a Muni and a Bart, we finally made it to San Francisco International Airport. We rushed over to the VA counter to check-in; I could already hear it, “I’m sorry Miss, it’s the holidays and we are completely booked. Sorry!” I was prepared to beg, plead, cry if I had to, to get another flight. I nudge my boyfriend to initiate the conversation; you see he has a cute British accent I knew the young girl at the check-in counter would love. I handed her our IDs while my boyfriend rambled on apologetically, when suddenly, in a mocking manner, she blurted, “Oh bugger! You’ve missed you’re bloody flight.” My boyfriend and I both exchanged looks of surprise as she giggled at herself and began typing at about a thousand words per minute to sort out another flight for us. Forty bucks later (which seemed reasonable since we literally got on the next plane to LAX), she handed us two new tickets, pointed us in the right direction, and off we went. What a relief!

I started to calm down after all the rushing around and prepared myself for flight mode—loud noise, pushy flight attendants, and no decent magazines to help the time pass. But au contraire. First off, boarding a VA plane was like entering a posh lounge in San Francisco; sleek interior design, color-changing mood lights on the ceiling and walls, with a bit of funky house music playing in the background. Are we cool enough to be on this flight I joked. The flight attendants were friendly, not rushing anyone, just allowing people to board at their own pace.