“As a new airline, Virgin America is reinventing the typical domestic air travel experience with award-winning service and brand new, beautifully designed planes equipped with the latest technology and entertainment. With power outlets at every Virgin America seat, Gogo(R) has now turned our planes into WiFi hotspots and home offices in the air,” said Porter Gale, Vice President of Marketing for Virgin America.

Virgin America in-flight teammate Mandalay Roberts chats with Oprah Winfrey on this Thursday’s episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, entitled “Where the Skype Are You?” via video chat from the First Class cabin of Virgin America Flight VX780 en route from Seattle to Los Angeles. Oprah Winfrey also surprised and met some of the 120 guests on board the regularly scheduled commercial flight and hosted the first ever Skype-enabled in-flight wine tasting, where Virgin America guests swirled, sniffed and sipped right along with her from the skies.

Although Virgin America does not typically allow Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) products like Skype video call in-flight due to concerns about maintaining a quiet, restful cabin environment, guests can currently use Gogo(R) to Skype via the instant message feature, in addition to e-mailing, tweeting, updating their Facebook pages and any of the myriad other ways the web is keeping people connected. The early roll out of the Gogo(R) service across the airline’s network makes Virgin America the first and only airline to offer consumers in-flight WiFi on every flight - regardless of route, aircraft type, or flight time.

The service is available for $12.95 for daytime flights of over three hours, $9.95 for daytime flights of less than three hours, $5.95 on red-eye flights and $7.95 for handheld devices. In November 2008, Virgin America launched Gogo(R) In-flight Internet on its first flight with a first ever “air-to-ground” video stream to YouTube Live - YouTube’s first official real-world user event. In February 2009, the airline became the first to host a live national television broadcast via WiFi stream while in-flight over the coast of Massachusetts with CBS News’ THE EARLY SHOW. This spring, Virgin America also became the first and only carrier to show guests which flights were WiFi enabled at the time of booking, as the airline continued to roll out its service fleetwide.

Virgin America flies to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego, Boston and Orange County.

NOTE: Virgin America is a U.S. controlled and operated airline and an entirely separate company from Virgin Atlantic. Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is a minority share investor in Virgin America.

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American is in the process of reconfiguring 18 of its 124 Boeing 757s for use on international routes, and Thursday’s JFK-to-Brussels flight is the first to make an international journey with the new configuration. Featuring new seats, new cabin interiors and updated inflight entertainment systems, the reconfiguration - slated for completion by the end of this year - will offer customers a comfortable international travel experience.

“American Airlines fleet of Boeing 757 international aircraft will be well-suited to serve select international routes following the refurbishment initiative,” said Lauri Curtis, American’s Vice President - Onboard Service.

The 757 Business Class cabin, with a 2-2 seating configuration, features 16 next-generation, angled lie-flat seats with drop-down armrests; the ability to slide forward interlocking tray tables that create one of the largest workspaces in the industry; on-demand audio/video in-seat entertainment systems providing 28 movies, more than 33 hours of television programming, 16 audio channels, 50 audio CDs, 15 interactive games; and new lavatories.

The Economy Class cabin, with 166 seats in a 3-3 configuration, will receive new seats, new lavatories, new LCD monitors that replace CRT monitors, and digital media file servers that will provide better inflight video and audio entertainment quality.

The 757 international fleet will serve select trans-Atlantic and Latin American routes. Routes are subject to change, but may include New York to Barcelona, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Brussels; Boston to Paris Charles de Gaulle; and Miami to Salvador, Brazil, to Recife, Brazil.

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Your best opportunity to save money on your vacation is before your even leave home.

Travel off-peak

So you think New Zealand shines only as a summer destination? Travel before the masses in September/October or wait until after they depart and consider traveling outside of peak travel times (Jan/Feb). You’ll soon discover that the other seasons offer equally compelling reasons to visit:

Spring (Sep-Nov) in New Zealand offers warming temperatures and lengthening days, and hosts great festivals including the Spring Festival (Sep-Nov), the World of Wearable Arts Awards Show in Wellington, and the Ellerslie Flower Show (Auckland).

Autumn (Mar-May) showcases alluring golds and warm reds splashing the landscape. From the sub-tropical north to the expansive south, it’s time to enjoy orchard fruits, see vineyards being harvested, or to explore the outdoors.

In winter (Jun-Aug), New Zealand goes into overdrive rather than hibernation. Crisp blue skies, steaming geothermal pools and a vibrant après-ski atmosphere bring the country alive. June is also the month to welcome in the Maori New Year, with cultural celebrations throughout the country.

Be Flexible

Most travellers start in the north at Auckland (all international flights arrive into Auckland from North America) and travel south. This means there are great deals to be enjoyed by picking up a car or motorhome and travelling in the reverse direction. Since New Zealand is such a small country, connect to a domestic flight to New Zealand’s South Island and work your way back north.  The added advantage is that you are often travelling against the traffic, rather than with it!

Auckland skyline

Stay a little longer

The main cost of a vacation is often the airfare, so the additional cost to stay another week or so will give you a more leisurely trip. There are also significant reductions on cars and motorhomes for rentals over 14 days. Extending your stay by several days can often dramatically reduce your cost per day.

Book Early

Often there are early booking savings. The other advantage of booking well in advance is to ensure that you are not disappointed and don’t miss out on specific accommodations or regions that you wish to visit. When accommodation and vehicles become tight on availability, you’ll soon discover the price increases unless you’ve secured your reservation in advance.

Prepay where possible

If you want to avoid extra charges while on vacation, consider a package that includes meals, activities, tips, and transportation. A motorcoach tour includes your accommodation, transfers, touring and meals, and often the touring is flexible and allows you to customize your tour by choosing from a variety of activities that suit your interests. By paying for as much as possible in advance, you don’t need to worry about charging money to your credit card, and only need to worry about incidentals, souvenirs and snacks! The other advantage of prepaying for an all-inclusive trip is that you take advantage of locking in a set exchange rate on your trip; and you’re not held hostage by the fluctuating exchange rates.