Sir Richard Branson is no stranger to the travel industry—the Virgin titan has helped bring glamor and service back to the airline space and has launched a brand of hip hotels. Now, another Virgin brand is enabling travelers to step out into the world: Virgin Mobile.
On Wednesday, June 21st, Virgin Mobile announced its Inner Circle Plan. The basics: It will be an iPhone-only service. When you buy your iPhone from Virgin or Apple, the next 12 months of unlimited data service will only cost $1 if you sign up before July 31st. If you sign up after that, you’ll get the next six months for $1. When your 12 or six months are up, the plan will be $50 per month.
What really caught our attention? When you join Virgin Mobile’s Inner Circle Plan, you get some really cool travel perks. For example, when you purchase a round-trip ticket to the U.K. on Virgin Atlantic, you get a companion ticket for only the price of fees and taxes. Inner Circle members can also score up to 20 percent off of Virgin America flights and a third night free at a Virgin Hotel.
In an interview, Branson expressed that this plan will help people travel better and more frequently. “Most people have to buy a mobile phone every year or every other year. The great thing about this is that they can get a ticket to London and back, or they can get discounts on Virgin America flights. That should enable people to fly more.” He also hinted that Inner Circle members would also get some perks related to Virgin’s yet-to-be launched cruise product. “Virgin Voyages is going to be the funnest, funkiest cruise company in the world,” he assured us.
While we had his ear, we asked Sir Richard: What would he like to see changed in the travel space? “I would love to see planes flying on clean energy, and I would love to see planes flying a lot quicker,” he said. “Both those things we’re working on.”
Looks like his disrupting days aren’t quite over yet.
