Well this is a strange but positive update. A couple of days ago I reported how most Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses would no longer allow access through Plaza Premium, as they were removed from Plaza Premium’s website. I’m now being told that’s not the case, and that these continue to be accessible. The website has been updated to reflect that.
The Virgin Atlantic & Plaza Premium partnership
In mid-2021, it was announced that most Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses in the United States would start to be managed by Plaza Premium. Presumably this decision was motivated by a couple of factors:
- It’s more efficient to have a company that specializes in lounges managing and staffing the lounge, rather than an airline trying to do it on its own
- Plaza Premium could help with better monetizing Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses, since there’s quite a bit of money to be made with lounges, especially in conjunction with premium credit cards
As part of this, we’ve seen all five Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses in the United States offer access to non-Virgin Atlantic passengers through Plaza Premium, including the ones in:
- Boston (BOS)
- New York (JFK)
- Newark (EWR)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- Washington (IAD)
For those not familiar, Plaza Premium has a partnership with American Express and Capital One, meaning that those with American Express Platinum Card® (review) and Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review) can access these lounges.
What’s interesting is that this access isn’t just offered at times when the lounges would otherwise be empty, but rather access is offered at the same time that Virgin Atlantic passengers have access, including during peak evening hours.
Plaza Premium not losing access to US Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses
A few days ago, Plaza Premium’s website was updated to reflect some changes to lounge access. Specifically, Plaza Premium’s website at the time suggested that:
- The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses in Boston (BOS) and New York (JFK) would no longer offer access to Plaza Premium guests effective immediately
- The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses in San Francisco (SFO) and Washington (IAD) would no longer offer access to Plaza Premium guests as of February 28, 2023
- The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in Newark (EWR) would continue to be part of the Plaza Premium network (not coincidentally, Virgin Atlantic doesn’t even fly to Newark anymore, so that Clubhouse is exclusively used as a contract lounge by other airlines)
Well, as it turns out, scratch all that. I’ve now received notice from from spokespeople for both Capital One and Plaza Premium Group, confirming that these lounges will continue to be accessible, and that nothing is changing. Sure enough, they’ve all been added back to the Plaza Premium Lounge page.
This is great news, because Plaza Premium’s network is otherwise quite limited in the united States, as the group only has two of its own lounges, in Dallas (DFW) and Orlando (MCO).
What exactly happened here? Well, I have no clue. Plaza Premium’s website was clearly updated to reflect changes to lounge access. Changes like this don’t just happen for no reason, so clearly someone did something to cause that to happen.
I’m curious what happened behind the scenes here. Did Plaza Premium decide to make this change and not discuss it with its partners, or what? Fortunately I’ve been assured nothing is changing, and that’s what matters most.
Bottom line
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses in the United States will continue to be available to those with Plaza Premium lounge access. That’s great news for those with the Amex Platinum and Capital One Venture X. I’m not sure what exactly happened in the background here, but I’d consider this to be a positive development regardless.
What do you make of this Virgin Atlantic and Plaza Premium update?
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