Can Google and and its hometown airline, Virgin America, get even cozier?
The two California companies, which have cooperated on promotions in the past, just revealed a few more.
Among them, Google, Virgin America and The Wonderfactory are jointly developing a Google Chrome app, Virgin America Traveler, which will be available in July in the Chrome Web Store.
The free Virgin America Traveler browser-based app will include a packing list and localized content feeds and recommendations from UrbanDaddy.
"Google came to us with the idea of developing a travel-themed app for their Chrome Web Store," says Jill Fletcher, a Virgin America spokeswoman. "They introduced us to The Wonderfactory, a digital agency in New York, and together we brainstormed the idea of a packing list app to both help prepare travelers and inspire the users' next trip."
The app will be offered exclusively in the Chrome Web Store and the airline has "no plans for releasing the app in the Android Market," Fletcher says.
The Virgin America Traveler app will also have a social media element, of course. The user selects trip themes and the app generates a packing list and photo collage board, which travelers can share on a public gallery or with friends in social networks, Fletcher says.
Also regarding Google and Chrome promotions, starting this week Virgin America customers will find Chrome Zone lounges at their airport gates when flying from San Francisco Airport's Terminal 2 to Boston Logan Airport, Chicago O'Hare Airport or Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.
And, of course, they can pay to use a Chromebook, which is geared for Web browsing and is said to boot up in 8-10 seconds, on their Wi-Fi-enabled flights. Gogo Inflight Internet service for Chromebook users on these flights will be free, the airline says.
These Virgin-America-Google promotions make sense from a branding perspective, matching the dominant search engine with the teched-up young airline.
The two companies have done these cross-promotions before. For example, during the past two Christmas holiday seasons in the U.S., Google has offered free-Wi-Fi on Virgin America flights.
And, Virgin America made a big deal in the fall of 2010 of its agreement to switch from Microsoft Outlook to Google Apps for email.
