Space: The final frontier for Virgin's frequent fliers

0 Comments | USA TODAY, December, 2005 | by Jayne Clark; Jerry Shriver; Cathy Lynn Grossman

TRAVEL

This just in from Virgin Atlantic: Frequent fliers with mega miles (2 million to be exact) and a yen to blast off -- rather than merely take off -- can redeem miles for a suborbital jaunt on Virgin Galactic's White Knight spaceship, expected to debut commercially in late 2008 or 2009.

The trip is part of a three-day "experience," though the actual flight lasts just 2 1/2 hours and travels 70 to 100 miles up. By comparison, a frequent flier can get a 7,000-mile round-trip flight between New York and London for just 40,000 miles. But then, a trip into space carries the sort of cachet a coach seat to London will never have.

"The Galactic is the new Concorde, and the ultimate award for miles was always the Concorde," says air miles expert Randy Petersen....