Virgin America's Google Offer Caps a Very Digital 2011

Virgin America, which may have tested more emerging digital channels this year than any other airline, is at it again today. Via six-month-old Google Offers, the relatively upscale brand is offering $50 vouchers that let the the buyer to pick up 50 percent off roundtrip flights from San Francisco or Los Angeles to four destinations: Dallas, Seattle, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.

Two-hundred-and-fifty vouchers have been made available for each market, as Google geo-targeted its email send by city this morning. By early afternoon, the allotments for Seattle and Washington D.C. were sold out. The development echoed the airline’s Chicago-only Groupon effort in June that quickly sold out.

The San Francisco-based airline has also trialed initiatives with Loopt, Facebook Places, Foursquare, Twitter, and Gilt Groupe during 2011.

A Virgin America spokesperson suggested to ClickZ News that the brand would stay extremely focused on digital marketing in 2012.

“We continue to see real promise in these channels…Our flyers live online and these types of offers generate trial,” the rep said via email. “We’ve found that once travelers try us, they usually stay with us, and [the channels] fit with our revenue model (to drive last minute or targeted bookings in key markets). We’ve seen a lot of interest and great results when the campaigns are targeted.”