Virgin Charter and GetThere team up to offer private jets to business travel programs

Virgin Charter ( www.virgincharter.com), a full service online booking tool that makes it easier than ever to charter flights on private jets, and GetThere, the world’s leading online business travel procurement solution, announced an agreement today making Virgin Charter the first private aviation solution available to corporations using GetThere.

GetThere, which facilitates more than 10 million travel bookings annually by corporations and government agencies, will provide access to Virgin Charter’s online solution to users looking to find and book charter air travel. With airlines cutting capacity amid high load factors, executives that need to access specific markets and maximize productivity increasingly require more options to visit clients and prospects. By accessing the Virgin Charter Marketplace through GetThere, corporations can quickly receive multiple quotes for charter trips from hundreds of high-quality operators all over the U.S. competing to earn their business.

Virgin Charter selects only operators that represent the highest standards in safety, all of which are audited by independent, internationally recognized third parties. Virgin Charter, in conjunction with JD Power and Associates, created the industry’s first Quality Rating Program that provides agents with information about the quality of the operator so they can make more informed decisions together with their clients.

“Virgin Charter represents an attractive option for small groups and individual executives with programs that have the resource to include charter air in their travel programs,” said Chris Kroeger, general manager for GetThere. “Virgin Charter’s online shopping process also complements GetThere’s new Travel Arranger portal, presenting the administrators that book the lion’s share of executive travel with a similar process to review photos of jets and compare pricing options.”

“GetThere and Virgin Charter share a commitment to travel professionals and business travelers, and we understand their very unique needs,” said Scott Duffy, founder and CEO, Virgin Charter. “As the largest online business travel solution, GetThere’s partner agencies and corporate customers can benefit from our complete online solution and 24/7 client support to make it easier than ever for their users to find and book charter flights, as well as manage all of the details of their booking from end-to-end.”

About Virgin Charter

Virgin Charter ( www.virgincharter.com) is the leading online marketplace and booking tool for charter air travel. Virgin Charter makes it easier than ever to find and book charter flights on private aircraft from high-quality, safety-rated operators around the country. Free to join, Virgin Charter’s technology solution allows clients to submit a trip request online, receive real-time pricing, compare offers from top private jet charter operators, select the best offer and buy it online. Virgin Charter worked with JD Power and Associates to create the industry’s first Quality Rating Program. The company is privately held and headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif.

About GetThere

GetThere is the world’s leading global online business travel procurement solution, surpassing $9 billion in bookings in 2007. GetThere’s proven technology and unparalleled global service infrastructure helps corporations collectively save millions in air and hotel costs. Through its unique relationship with Travelocity(R), GetThere provides a familiar online booking experience for travelers of more than 4,000 companies, including a majority of multi-national Fortune 200 firms that deploy online booking. GetThere works with all major global distribution systems (GDS). Companies using GetThere and the Sabre GDS together can optimize efficiency and cost savings across the entire travel procurement process. More information is available at http://www.getthere.com.