Will Virgin Galactic give Space Miles?

Virgin Galactic is soon to start Commercial space flights. The Virgin group already has multiple airlines it owns and operates, including:

• Virgin Atlantic
• Virgin Blue
• Virgin America
• V Australia

Each has it’s own mileage program, but Sir Branson has given indications that he wants these airlines of his to get together and from an alternate alliance, with mileage earning and redemption across all Virgin airlines and possibly other partners. It only seems natural that they would add Virgin Galactic to the mix, but I am probably indulging in some wishful thinking.

Oh, the miles:

For one, the miles we all talking here may or may not be ridiculous. According to my sources, (ok, my sources are other bloggers, who get their info from other bloggers…) the proposed flight plan for Virgin galactic’s space flight is a planned to be just a short trip to the ‘edge’ of space. The line the demarcates the atmosphere from outer space is commonly accepted to be at an altitude of 100 km or just 62 miles above sea level. By those measures, the miles one would earn for a $200,000 space flight ticket would be a whopping 124 miles! With a ‘cost of service‘ bonus, we are talking a whopping 372 miles (at a 3x bonus). We have to insist for a 500 mile minimum credit!

On the other hand, when they finally are able to offer a space trip that makes an orbit of the earth, we are talking a minimum of 26,000 miles. Now we are talking. Silver in one orbit, Gold in two!

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