When Richard Branson whisked me off to Las Vegas

When the email landed in my inbox I thought it was a hoax.

It started: “We’d love it if you’d join our founder Sir Richard Branson and CEO, Shai Weiss, on a very special trip to Las Vegas to celebrate our new flights from Manchester.”

Too good to be true I thought, as I spammed the Virgin email away with those telling me I’d won £1,000 in Tesco vouchers.

But then I thought – what if? And that’s when I started imagining myself ticking Las Vegas off my bucket list and spending some time exploring the ‘Entertainment Capital of the World’.

I’d not been on a plane since before the pandemic and was long overdue a trip out of my comfort zone. After a few emails with Virgin Atlantic I realised that the invite was real, and I could confidently hand over my passport details. That’s when it hit me – I was going to Las Vegas with Richard Branson. Yikes!

Before I knew it, I was on the M6 heading to Manchester. It’s easy to find your way around Manchester Airport and I quickly went through check-in and security and enjoyed breakfast before queuing to get on the flight.