Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses are among my favorite business class lounges in the world, and even on par with many of the better first class lounges out there.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse New York JFK
They’re actively fun places to hang out. As much as I love the Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt and Thai Airways First Class Lounge & Spa in Bangkok, I don’t actually get any marginal enjoyment out of staying there four hours rather than two hours, for example. That’s not true of Virgin Clubhouses. They’re actually fun to be in, between the music, food, spa, other random amenities, and the friendliness and good sense of humor of the employees.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse New York JFK
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse New York JFK
If flying Virgin Atlantic out of the US, I’d definitely make a point of flying out of one of their gateways with a Clubhouse, given that the ground experience is about half the fun of flying Virgin Atlantic. And obviously you don’t get that if using one of their partner lounges.
For a while, one of the reasons to avoid flying Virgin Atlantic out of LAX is that they don’t have their own Clubhouse there. Instead Virgin Atlantic uses shared lounges at LAX — the Air New Zealand Lounge and Virgin America Loft, depending on which flight you’re departing on.
While there’s not an exact timeline yet, it looks like this will soon change, as Virgin Atlantic is building a Clubhouse at LAX Airport.
Via Business Traveller:
And the carrier will also equip its entire fleet of aircraft with Wi-Fi connectivity over the next few years.
Craig Kreeger, Virgin Atlantic’s CEO, said that both developments will come as part of the £300 million the airline is investing in “customer experience”.
He told Business Traveller: “We’ve made the decision to put a Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in Los Angeles so that we can improve the ground proposition for our business class or Upper Class passengers in Los Angeles, a market that we think is important for us.”
More details, including when the Clubhouse will open, will be announced in due course, Kreeger said.
That’s very exciting news!
(Tip of the hat to Gary)
I'm not sure but VS lounge will probably renovate the Air NZ lounge in T2 given Air NZ is moving its operations to TBIT (plus Air NZ runs the star alliance lounge at TBIT.)
Now if they could only invest in their fleet out of LAX, the on board experience might rival it's heydays, not to mention it's competitors on that cash cow of a route - LAX-LHR - Whomp Whomp indeed when it comes to their tired planes out of LA!
"and even on par with many of the better first class lounges on there."
should be
"and even on par with many of the better first class lounges out there.", right?
@ John T -- Thanks!
There's actually a third lounge "option" at LAX--the abysmal Air France lounge in T2, where VS's flights depart. I would've gladly taken the NZ lounge or the VX loft over AF's sorry excuse for a lounge, but alas when I flew VS LAX-LHR (I forget the flight number, but it departed after 10pm) I was only given an invitation to the AF lounge. After getting the email from VS this morning about increased frequencies to...
There's actually a third lounge "option" at LAX--the abysmal Air France lounge in T2, where VS's flights depart. I would've gladly taken the NZ lounge or the VX loft over AF's sorry excuse for a lounge, but alas when I flew VS LAX-LHR (I forget the flight number, but it departed after 10pm) I was only given an invitation to the AF lounge. After getting the email from VS this morning about increased frequencies to the United States--including a third daily to LAX--I was wondering if they'd finally build a Clubhouse at LAX. The presence of a Clubhouse there makes VS that much more attractive to me, and makes the fuel surcharges when using their own miles (transferred from UR) much easier to swallow.
Interesting that they've had a lounge at IAD of all places, but haven't had one at LAX before. Then again, IAD doesn't have a reputation for great lounges, does it? The positive ones there are probably seen as good, not great.
@ wwk5d -- Probably largely a function of available space.
This is funny because it reminded me of a couple of months ago when Germany was in the World Cup final and you went to the Lufthansa lounge thinking it would be a fun hang out spot before your flight and it was overly subdued (the *whomp whomp* sound effect came to mind when I read your post).
I do like the Virgin brand...and I think you're starting to actually like it too (despite your...
This is funny because it reminded me of a couple of months ago when Germany was in the World Cup final and you went to the Lufthansa lounge thinking it would be a fun hang out spot before your flight and it was overly subdued (the *whomp whomp* sound effect came to mind when I read your post).
I do like the Virgin brand...and I think you're starting to actually like it too (despite your attempts to resist!). When are you flying Virgin Australia? I'm guessing V Australia flights out of LAX would use this clubhouse too?
@ Reine -- I believe Virgin Australia uses the Star Alliance Lounge nowadays, which is also quite nice.
Can Delta SkyClub Members use the lounge if they are not flying Virgin Atlantic?
@ Bob -- Nope, unfortunately not.
I would like to check out one of their lounges since you love them so much, but I just have no desire to ever fly Virgin Atlantic. On another note, I have a layover in JFK on my way to LHR in AA F class. Which lounge would you recommend? I understand I have a choice between the Adrmiral's Flagship lounge, British Air first class lounge, or Cathay lounge.
@ Luis -- If you want to access one without flying Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Suites passengers can use it at JFK, so that's a good option.
As an American first class passenger at JFK the best option is the American Flagship Lounge. The British Airways Lounge is in a different terminal.
I would rather see them move to TBIT. A new lounge would be nice, but it's still in crap T2. I understand they're in the process of updating everything, but that terminal is just the worst. If it was at the international terminal you would actually have food options and some degree of duty free if that's your thing. It usually comes in handy to pick up a last minute gift for clients, or to grab anything else you forgot.
this is a little OT, but when flying SQ F from JFK would you rather hang out at Virgin Clubhouse or The Wingtips Lounge? Or should I give myself enough time to do both? Thx.
@ Lantean -- Clubhouse all the way!