Virgin America: A new airline with a great product and a few bugs

— -- If you plan to fly Virgin America read this first.

It's not often I get to fly a new airline – and not just a new airline for me but one that is new to the world. My first trip on Virgin America was an unforgettable combination of disappointment and delight.

With a new airline, there are so many unknowns that business travelers are usually well-versed in: upgrade policies, purchase restrictions, baggage rules, aircraft layout, even the locations of the airport ticket counters. As I learned from this experience, when flying a new airline it pays to check the fine print before you go.

When an airline sells tickets for $39, travelers may tend to lower their expectations. But Virgin America shuns the discount label and touts its high-tech amenities and a unique, premium flying experience. With the hype about mood lighting in the cabin, thousands of musical selections in flight, electrical, USB, and Ethernet hookups at every seat, chat rooms in the sky, and a cashless system for ordering meals and drinks from your seatback video screen with the swipe of a card, my own expectations were already considerably higher than the average domestic airline.

Due to U.S. government regulations the parent Virgin company is only a minority investor in Virgin America. But Virgin Atlantic is known for in-flight massages, limousine ground transfers, and outlandish airport lounges with golf driving ranges and skiing machines. And with chief executive Richard Branson appearing prominently in the product launch the last thing I expected on Virgin America was a slew of surcharges padding the cost of my ultra-cheap ticket.

My $39 one way ticket soon became $64.40 with taxes and fees and an "upgrade" to the exit row. A pre-departure itinerary change added another $40 (although the airline never issued an updated receipt). Checking a second bag added another $10 surcharge, bringing the total cost of my one way flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles $110.40.

Virgin America ticket counters look like a five star hotel concierge desk, with a vase of fresh red roses on each desk and sleek new flat screen monitors for both self service and agent assisted check-in. But while paying the $10 surcharge for my extra bag I was informed that the agent could not print a receipt for my bag or my ticket because there are no printers at the ticket counters.