Virgin America Adds Los Cabos, Cancun

Contributing Editor Carl Unger believes that every trip is worth taking. He loves an extended trip to Europe as much as he enjoys exploring the towns and landscape near home. Basically, you'll find him wherever there is good food, fresh air, and plenty of stories to bring home.

Carl has been writing for SmarterTravel since 2005. His travel writing has also appeared on USA Today and the About.com Boston travel guide.

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Virgin America announced today that it will launch service to Los Cabos and Cancun this winter. The airline will fly to both destinations from San Francisco, and serve Cancun from Los Angeles.

The launch schedule is as follows:

San Francisco-Los Cabos: December 16
Los Angeles-Cancun: January 19
San Francisco-Cancun: January 20

Introductory sale fares start at $129. Today only, Virgin customers can get two-for-one fares when they check in using Loopt Star at SFO, LAX or select mobile taco shops in San Francisco and L.A. Proceeds from taco sales support the City of San Francisco’s Animal Care and Control Chihuahua rescue efforts. Somehow, that seems like the sort of deal only Virgin America would think of, and I’m not suggesting that’s a bad thing. Details are in the press release.

Adding Los Cabos and Cancun is sort of puzzling. On one hand, it makes perfect sense, especially now that Mexicana is no longer operating. But Virgin’s decision to add these destinations preceded Mexicana’s demise by at least several months, so the collapse of Mexico’s largest carrier probably played only a minor role in the move. Either way, these are two popular vacation spots.

But Virgin’s route map is rapidly filling up with popular vacation spots, at the apparent expense (for now) of reliable business traveler routes. With the exception of Dallas and Toronto, Virgin is mainly adding leisure destinations (Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, and now Los Cabos and Cancun), with few connections to the East Coast. So, is Virgin’s plan to become a West Coast-centric vacation airline? Or is it simply a matter of time before it adds destinations like Chicago and expands service from the East?

Readers, what do you think about Virgin’s newest destinations? Where do you think it should fly next?

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