MEATSPACE
Complimentary champagne is fine, but Virgin Atlantic's recent $59 million cabin makeover gives transatlantic travelers top-notch treatment in a class by itself. With a nod to airline travel's more glamorous past, Virgin's revamped upper class (aka first class, in the provinces) cabins have been swathed in red leather, for a decidedly bagnio feel. The bar, with stools for seven, sports lounge-style overhead lights that are adjusted in flight from bright to moody.
You'll find plenty of gewgaws on your tray table - propeller-shaped swizzle sticks, weeble-wobble salt and pepper shakers - but you don't have to remain in an upright, locked position: Each seat reclines into a 6' 8" single bed (doubles may come later). First, sit for a free manicure or massage in the in-flight beauty center, then put on a Virgin sleepsuit and snooze away the hours from JFK to Heathrow. Or plug a laptop into the seat's power outlet and run your presentation for your row-mate all night.
Virgin Atlantic Airways: (800) 862-8621,www.fly.virgin.com. Round-trip transatlantic airfare starts at $5,851.
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