That wiley British billionaire Branson has done it again! His new Virgin America is set to begin flying between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and San Francisco and New York starting August 8. More cities are expected to be announced soon. Meanwhile, tickets are on sale now (well, if you can get through to www.virginamerica.com; traffic to the site must be CRAZY, cuz it’s been difficult getting on and once there, it’s real sloooow).

Tickets for the LAX - SFO run start at $88 round trip, or $298 for First Class. SF to NY tickets start at $278 round trip (or $778 for First Class). Jet Blue, for one, is already lowering its prices…watch for others to follow.

But meeting the price is one thing; can other airlines match the amenities and customer service Richard Branson’s Virgin America can? According to the website, Virgin America’s planes will offer:

• Cabin “mood lighting” (what the…??)
• 110V power plugs at every seat (no more dead laptop batteries!)
• On-screen menus, so you can order “freshly prepared food” whenever you want it
• An entertainment system called Red that offers more than 25-pay per view feature films on demand

It should also be noted that Virgin America is a cashlessairline; everything is done with a credit card (or as Virgin cheerily puts it, just swipe and go!).

ON THE RADIO!

I spoke about Virgin Americas debut on CBS Marketwatch with host John Wordock today; you can go directly to the Marketwatch Audio Player page, to hear the interview.