A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a management change happening for Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses outside of the UK. These have historically been some of the best business class lounges out there. There’s now an interesting update, which has some practical implications.
Continue reading: Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses Now Managed By Plaza Premium
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Plaza premium lounges suck because of Priority Pass / volume.
May not be so bad without PP.
Play your part to society.
Why don't you stop using PP lounges forever, so others can have some extra space to enjoy them.
I don't necessarily think that this is indicative of downgrades to the passenger experience. VS can presumably save some money by handing over management to a company that already have lots of lounges and take advantage of efficiencies of their staff and management network rather than having to have their own staff just for a few locations. Honestly, I'm surprised with they bother with lounges in the US at all since New York and Boston are both Delta Hubs with nice SkyClubs and San Francisco and Washington both have Air-France/KLM lounges
I picked a random date.
Cost is $68.58 on the Plaza Premium website for 3 hour maximum visit
I assume you've never been inside a Virgin Atlantic clubhouse before and assumes lounges are similar.
Your last sentence is like comparing Alaska Airlines First Class with Emirates First Class.
My personal favorite is still the clubhouse at London Heathrow. Outside of the UK, the clubhouse experience is rather underwhelming.
LAX is at the bottom of the line up.
I think this will be a downgrade in quality. Cathay replaced Plaza Premium when customers complained about quality.
Hopefully Virgin Atlantic monitor lounge utilisation as a result of these changes. People ultimately do pay money to fly a specific airlines like Virgin Atlantic for the inflight and pre-flight experience. If business class and high status passengers get a mediocre / poor pre-flight experience, they may shift business elsewhere. Frankly I was unimpressed with the IAD lounge about 1.5 years ago. It was a poor setup a d cramped compared to other int'l carrier lounges at IAD. Not sure if it was managed by Virgin Atlantic then or outsourced.