- Introduction: Starluxing Through A Zombie Apocalypse
- Review: Delta Air Lines A320 First Class
- Review: The Club Boston Airport (Terminal E)
- Review: Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston Airport
- Review: Virgin Atlantic 787 Upper Class Business Class
- Review: Virgin Atlantic Arrivals Lounge London Heathrow
- Review: National Express From Heathrow To Gatwick
- Review: Yotel London Gatwick Airport
- Review: China Airlines A350 Business Class
- Review: Starlux Airlines Galactic Lounge Taipei Airport
- Review: Starlux Airlines A321neo Business Class
- Review: The Edison Hotel George Town Penang
- Review: Plaza Premium Lounge Penang Airport
- Review: Starlux Business Class
- Review: China Airlines Lounge Taipei Airport Terminal 1
- Review: Plaza Premium Lounge Taipei Airport
- Review: Philippine Airlines A321 Business Class
- AWFUL: Connecting In Manila On Philippine Airlines
- Review: PAGSS Lounge Manila Airport
- Review: Philippine Airlines A350 Business Class
I kicked off the international portion of my trip by flying Virgin Atlantic’s 787-9 Upper Class from Boston to London. Virgin Atlantic operates their own lounge in Boston, which I looked forward to visiting, since Clubhouses are among the best business class lounges out there, in my opinion.
In this post:
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston Location
Virgin Atlantic departs from Terminal E in Boston, which is used by many international airlines. After clearing security, turn left and walk in the direction of gates E10-12.
Boston Logan Terminal E
At the end of the hall turn left, and then on the left you’ll see the elevator to airline lounges, right across from gate E11.
Boston Logan Terminal E
The terminal is on the third floor, while the lounge is on the second floor, so you go down one level.
Boston Logan Terminal E airline lounges
As soon as you exit the elevator, the entrance to the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse is right there. This is just ahead of the entrance to The Club, which I reviewed in the last installment.
Boston Logan Terminal E airline lounge signage
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston exterior
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston Hours
The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse opens roughly 3.5 hours prior to Virgin Atlantic departures. Virgin Atlantic’s departure times vary by time of year, so there aren’t any exact, consistent hours.
Generally the airline operates two flights a day from Boston — there’s a daytime flight to London, and then a redeye.
In my case the lounge opened at 6PM, so that was just under four hours prior to my 9:50PM departure.
How To Access The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston
The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse is accessible by the following passengers:
- Passengers traveling in Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold members traveling on Virgin Atlantic
- Delta SkyMiles Diamond, Platinum, and Gold members traveling on Virgin Atlantic
In each case, those eligible for access can bring one additional guest into the lounge.
At some airports Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses are also open to Delta business class passengers traveling to London, though that agreement doesn’t extend to Boston, since the airlines operate out of different terminals.
The lounge isn’t used as a contract lounge for any other airlines, and unlike some other Clubhouses in the US, this one isn’t open to Priority Pass members over select hours of the day.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston Review
I’m a fan of Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses, and have reviewed the locations at London Heathrow and New York JFK. How does the Boston location compare, given that it’s a smaller station for the airline?
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Layout & Seating
The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston is small, but that’s also to be expected, given that the lounge is serving at most one flight at a time. Virgin Atlantic operates A330s and 787s to Boston, each of which has 31 Upper Class seats.
By the time you factor in elite members in economy and/or guests, odds are that there won’t generally be more than three dozen (or so) people using the lounge.
The major downside to the Clubhouse is that it has no natural light whatsoever. That’s just a reality of it being in the interior of the building one level below the concourse.
The lounge is broken up into two main areas — there’s the more traditional lounge area with seating for relaxing, and then further into the lounge is the dining area (though you can eat anywhere you’d like).
Inside the entrance was a small sitting area with maybe a dozen seats.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston seating
Past that was one of the two main parts of the lounge, which had a variety of seating options, from booths, to long padded benches, to somewhat stylish but uncomfortable “netted” seats.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston seating
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston seating
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston seating
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston seating
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston seating
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston seating
Deeper into the lounge was the dining area, featuring about half a dozen dining tables along a long bench, and then a communal table with nearly a dozen additional seats.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston dining area
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston dining area
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston dining area
Along one of the walls were some magazines and newspapers.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston magazines & newspapers
All around I thought the lounge was pretty stylish, comfortable, and well maintained.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Food & Drinks
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses do a great job with food & drinks, in my experience. Along one of the walls of the lounge was an area with a variety of drinks, ranging from wine to liquor to beer to soft drinks to juice to coconut water. There were also some pretzels, snack mix, and apples.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse drinks
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse drinks
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse liquor
There was also a coffee machine.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse coffee machine
While all of this was self serve, in reality the lounge has servers constantly roaming, and the intent is that they serve you. If you order a cocktail they’ll just walk up to the self serve area and prepare it for you.
The lounge’s dining is almost entirely a la carte. The dinner menu read as follows:
The drink list read as follows:
There’s a deli display counter at the far end of the lounge, which is where they prepare many of the dishes from. It’s refreshing to see an airline actually prepare dishes in front of guests, since I always wonder about the questionable techniques some lounges use for preparation.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse deli counter
I had a seat at one of the dining tables, and ordered a glass of sauvignon blanc and a sparkling water (I tried to order a dirty martini, but they didn’t have any olive juice, so that was my second choice).
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse drinks
I was quite hungry since I didn’t have breakfast, and the lunch on Delta wasn’t exactly great. To start I had a Greek salad, which was quite good. This wasn’t a pre-made salad, or anything, but rather I saw them prepare it at the counter with all the ingredients.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse dinner
For my main I ordered the Hawaiian tuna poke bowl, which was excellent.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse dinner
Lastly for dessert I had the apple crisp, which came with vanilla ice cream.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse dinner
Service throughout my time in the lounge was excellent, and servers constantly stopped by to see if anyone needed anything.
About an hour before boarding, a server passed through the lounge with a tray of freshly baked cookies. I sure as heck didn’t need that, but they smelled so good, and I had one. Yum.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse dinner
The lounge was quiet throughout my stay (Upper Class wasn’t even full on my flight), so I’d say there were at no point more than two dozen guests in the lounge.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Bathrooms
The only other thing to report about the lounge is the bathrooms. The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston doesn’t have showers or a spa, though it does have three individual bathrooms, which were large and well maintained.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse bathroom
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Boston Bottom Line
Virgin Atlantic does a fantastic job with their lounges, particular when you consider that Boston is a fairly small outstation for the airline. The lounge was plenty big for the number of flights they have, the decor was nice, the food was excellent, and the service was friendly.
Among business class lounges offered by European airlines, I don’t think it gets better than Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses.
If you’ve visited the Clubhouse Boston, what was your experience like?
Is the Virgin Atlantic Boston Lounge open? Was supposed to reopen in April 2022.
Yes. 6:00 pm daily.
Loved the clubhouse food and waiters but the check in lobby in the clubhouse was aweful. An older lady checked me in with an attitude and rushed me out 5 minutes before the boarding time with a plate of food in her hands. I would recommend trying the lounge out with a different check in clerk LOL.
Looks nice, and VS always does a stellar job...but I can’t sit in a room with no windows. I’ll pay whatever to sit at a concourse restaurant with some type of view.
Someone asked why is poke described as a hot dish, and I agree....huh?!
the 'uncomfortable chair' also known as a Bertoia Diamond chair goes for as much as $2300 at Design Within Reach.
This lounge has been great for a long time. It was very crowded in the past as it was used by Icelandair. Luckily FI use the BA lounge now.
So happy to see another good lounge in BOS! The menu looks amazing, and they have 5 different gin!?! As well as all of the mixers, cordials, and vermouth you could ask for? It’s like a dream come true! I wish I flew Virgin, but I tend to avoid them for lack of connections and their herringbone seats
Noooo where’s the virgin clubhouse burger gone, it’s a right of passage when passing through the clubhouses and will be missed and I bet some of the regulars will kick up as they did when VS removed it from the LHR clubhouse and it was quickly re-introduced.
Off the menu there's a chef there who makes fantastic cheeseburgers. I don't know his name. Young friendly dark-haired guy with a local accent.
You often say you like airlines which show some of their national character (I was thinking about that on a KLM flight a few days ago. Absolutely unmistakably Dutch, and all the better for it).
But I'm struggling to see anything British or English about this -- it's all modern international food, with not a single token national dish. The drinks on the wine list are all from countries other than the UK (there is...
You often say you like airlines which show some of their national character (I was thinking about that on a KLM flight a few days ago. Absolutely unmistakably Dutch, and all the better for it).
But I'm struggling to see anything British or English about this -- it's all modern international food, with not a single token national dish. The drinks on the wine list are all from countries other than the UK (there is almost certainly some Scotch (sic) and English Gin, though it wasn't named).
This is a manufactured, mid-Atlantic brand. It leaves me pretty cold. I think it is neatly summed-up by how you described the mesh chairs -- "somewhat stylish but uncomfortable".
I think the same about the planes, but I haven't tried their new J class. I'm keen to see what you think since I largely agree with something else you used to write a lot: "business class is all about the seat".
Self-serve champagne ... I'd be tempted to get there early, snag a bottle or three, and drink it for an hour or two before boarding since the flight from Boston is under 6 hours. I just want to sleep and the only way for me to sleep on a under 6 hour flight is to get drunk.
Have you been to the new British Airways Lounge at BOS Logan? Very cool lounge with direct boarding to the A380. You can sit at the bar until they call final boarding and its just 10 steps to the gate door. Definitely an upgrade from the old lounge that was down in the basement with the clubhouse.
Why is the poke bowl listed under "Cooked" in the menu?
Great looking beer selection!
Wow, my first reaction from those pics is that it looks like there is almost no place to plug in and charge?
I always wonder how you book these tickets. I think for most of us this is aspirational travel, so would be helpful to know the cost in points/dollars for various flights.