Virgin America celebrated its fifth anniversary on Wednesday and officially launched an upgraded frequent flier program .

I recently flew with Virgin America for the first time and was incredibly impressed with the service and operation. My experience lived up to what I'd expect from a Richard Branson-envisioned airline. The only thing ever holding me back from flying them more frequently has been my vested loyalty in other airlines' frequent flier programs. But that could change.

The new program adds elite tiers allowing frequent fliers to enjoy priority check-in, boarding, upgrades and other perks. I had the opportunity to speak with Phil Seward, Virgin America's director of loyalty, and found out a bit more about why they introduced the new benefits and what the future holds.

Virgin America received a lot of feedback from its passengers during the past five years, particularly those who fly with them frequently. One of the most requested improvements by Virgin's road warriors to its Elevate frequent flier program was the addition of elite tiers or some other type of recognition of loyalty.

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