Review: Virgin Australia Lounge Perth Airport (PER)

"Typically when you think of airport lounges, you imagine business travelers in formal clothes, well-off retired people, and maybe millennials with credit cards offering lounge access."

Dude, what? I think you need to cut out the "maybe" from that sentence and add in the all points-geeks as well.

Chill Karen

We use the lounge before a late afternoon flight. We need to check out of accommodation late morning. So it is a ok lunch with decent wine and coffee. We are hearty eaters and drinkers. That consumption would cost about $100 in a city restaurant. So it represents good value. There's a train service to the airport. It is cheap. If you want to try your luck, Virgin has a bid for upgrade system. We've been successful with $150 or so bids. Otherwise, business class airfares ( and economy) go up the closer you are to your departure date.

The Virgin and Qantas lounge in Perth can be packed and I mean packed. They fly out the Miners to the many mines in WA and all in their fashionable fluorescent outfits n safety boots. Most have Emerald Status to boot.

I'm pretty sure that if you flash your non-Australian AmEx Platinum or Centurion card they'll let you into the lounge (whether or not it's a published benefit). Also the vast majority of lounge guests are there because they are Velocity Gold or Platinum. Velocity status is VERY easy to earn, given Virgin's "Family Pooling" policy which allows you to put family members' Status Credits towards your own qualification.

Fokkers cool? Like on Agean or Aer Lingus where, in the first row, supposedly premium, there's a solid wall? Because luggage is loaded between the cockpit and the interior? Interesting maybe, poorly designed for sure, but cool?

Thanks for the review. The lounge seems like a pretty standard Virgin Australia lounge. Although, I’ve not seen the the no self-serve alcohol thing elsewhere.

It’s worth noting that Virgin and Qantas only have alcohol in the lounges after midday.

The lounge chairs in virgin’s lounges - the circular lounge ones - are one of the ugliest designed chairs out there. They seem to pay attention to design otherwise, but the chairs are hideous and date everything.

Perth resident here (and frequent VA lounge user).

Yes, our economy is based around mining, and most mines are up in remote areas in the North of Western Australia (typically about 2 hours flight from Perth). This means our lounges are full of people in hi-viz heading out to work in the mines on a fly-in fly-out basis. Since these guys fly every week to get to work, they all qualify for status and lounge access.

From the pictures, it doesn't even look that busy. If you thought that crowd was different, you should try the Qantas Club on the day when it's shift-change at Cloudbreak iron ore mine. Wall-to-wall hi-viz jackets.

Also, if you travel on a Sunday morning, you've probably got at least a 50% chance of sharing the lounge with a professional sports team heading back to the Eastern States.

Ben, you have answered your own question regarding no self-serve of alcoholic drinks! Also, I supect it is a hangover (no pun intended) from Covid days, which VA finds convenient to keep in place.

“ Western Australia’s economy is largely about natural resources, and Virgin Australia has all kinds of flights that are popular with workers going to mines and other places with natural resources. So a lot of the guests in the lounge were wearing safety vests, which you otherwise don’t often see in airport lounges.”

Logical assumption, but, in fact, pretty much everyone in Western Australia wears high visibility vests 24/7.

One other comment on this statement: "I imagine the most common entry method is using an Amex Platinum"

I don't think this would be accurate in Australia. There are a couple of key differences here:

1) The Amex Platinum here costs A$1,450, so is a pretty high-end niche card. It's actually far more expensive than just buying a Lounge membership direct from Virgin.

2) Unlike US airlines, you can get lounge access through status - VA Gold or Platinum. That would be how most of the users get access (the guys in hi-viz fly every week to get to their workplace, so get status pretty easily)

3) You didn't mention it in the article, but Virgin Australia, while not an alliance member, also have reciprocal lounge access arrangements with several other airlines - Singapore, Air Canada, Qatar, Virgin Atlantic and a few others.

The booze thing has its basis in responsible service of alcohol regulations. In practice, I've seen SYD and BNE do self serve when it's sufficiently busy. But being Perth, the mining crowd may be a contributing factor. There's a reason they call it the Qantas Pub on the other side.

Agree. I work in big 4 services/consulting and the number of people I know in my professional and personal circles that have the Amex Platinum Charge card is zero.

However, many many people - especially in Perth due to the resources sector have status. This is commonly how I'd expect most people would have lounge access.

Amex has a new card above centurion. But extremely secret. And it blows black card out water. Only about 2500 accounts I’m told. I only keep my platinum bc if issues since 99.9 percent lounge or hotel people know it. But card is spectacular. And if you call Amex they will deny it is there. Purely invitation only.

Don’t know it*

On the contrary, he should perhaps replace 'maybe' with 'probably not' as there are very few credit cards in Australia that offer anything more than two single visit lounge passes a year. General lounge access from a credit card is not much of a thing here. As others have noted airline status is most likely the way most people here have access.

The mines are dry so last chance FIFO staff have for a drink is the lounge. The same across the runway at QF lounge.

Good review - I haven't been to this lounge in ages as I am mostly a Qantas flyer and the good thing about Qantas is they have the Qantas Club (gold FF and OW sapphire and QF club members) and then the Business lounge (for business passengers and QF platinum and OW emerald). The business lounge is very good while the Qantas club leaves a bit to be desired.

To put it into context I think this lounge is somewhere between the two QF lounges.

@Ben “ Also, a lot of these people were downing alcoholic drinks as if it was water. I guess I can’t blame them — I’m guessing many were away from home for a long assignment, and are ready to let loose a bit.”

Nope, that’s just Australia mate!

Australians are serious about their coffee, and their booze. That's why you see a barista/proper coffee machine in most major lounges (and free-flowing beer!)

You can tell from the photos there are a lot of FIFO workers. Normal for flights to/from Perth.

Incorrect. Only some WA mines are 100% dry.
Majority of WA sites include a wetmess.

Restrictions differ site to site + BHP/RIO/etc (eg. Max of 4 low strength beers/day to only access wetmess when changing days to nights/etc).

I work within supply industry for these mines.

I can still remember a certain WA mine site ... they accidently ordered 10+ ctns of 700ml 37% bourbon from ALM ... instead of 10+ ctns mid strength premix bourbon cans.

And the headaches/emails it caused when order got to site.