virgin gold lounges in europe

[highroller19]

Hi everybody
I recently got velocity gold,
I will be traveling in Europe soon quite a bit. I was looking at the virgin website and they say there are "150 international lounge partners" however I can't really find a list of all the lounge partners anywhere? Where are all these lounges?

I see Alitalia for Europe listed but nothing else? There are some listed as delta partners on the delta website, do we have access to those as well?

 

[Stealthflyer]

You can find the list here: https://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/experience/at-the-airport/international-lounge-access/

Access depends on the airline you’re flying with. Usually with code shares you can only get into the lounge if the lounge is operated by that airline (with a few exceptions). For instance, if you’re flying SQ out of Heathrow, you can access the SQ lounge there. But if you’re flying out of Milan where SQ doesn’t have a lounge, then there’s no access (Kris status holders and J class have access to other star alliance lounges though). However, if you fly Alitalia out of Milan, you can access their lounge. You could always book strategically based on lounge access. It can be very tricky to navigate at times.

 

[highroller19]

Thanks for your reply. I had seen that list before which is why I was wondering if I was missing something since there don’t seem to be many for Europe.

So for instance Frankfort is a big European hub. If you fly there with Air France, would you be able to access the Air France lounges since they are a partner of Delta? Or no because it would have to be a Delta operated lounge and Air France is not a partner of Virgin?

 

[Stealthflyer]

Air France isn’t a partner of Virgin Australia so you won’t be able to access their lounge. Virgin negotiate directly with other airlines, so it’s not like one of the established alliances where access is granted to all alliance premium and status-holding customers. Under the Delta tab on that site I linked to above, it lists the conditions and locations of accessible lounge access when flying Delta.

Virgin’s main European partner seems to be Alitalia, so they might provide the most options. If you want Heathrow access, then book with SQ or Virgin Atlantic. If you want Paris access then book with Etihad. I can recommend the Heathrow SQ lounge. I was there only a few months ago and they made a terrific coughtail for me.

 

[Lord_Lenny]

Intra-European flights are a bit of a blackspot for VA. The only real partner is Alitalia as you've seen, but they only operate a few lounges (Rome, Milan, Venice, Catania) so you'll only get access to them if you're flying on Alitalia out of those airports.

For flying in and out of Europe if you want to be strategic then you can book your flights out of cities with the requisite lounges. As stated above, London has both a Singapore Airlines and an Etihad Lounge so you could fly either out of London and have lounge access, Paris only has an Etihad lounge so if you fly Singapore out of Paris you won't get access etc.

It's not amazing, but if you have some flexibility in where you fly out from then you can make it work

 

[jasecao]

Alitalia in Rome was fine when i used both the domestic and international side of things, but in Venice, it was a joke, the lady at the front counter said Virgin is not a partner and she had never heard of it, even after pointing out on the Alitalia website i had access.

I have accessed the Etihad Lounge earlier this year in London, very much like the House in Sydney, Also have done the revivals lounge on a Virgin Atlantic flight (WP only i think) that was pretty awesome, and a few weeks ago I did Singapore Airlines First Class at Heathrow.

You just have to work your flights around the system I guess to get full benefits however everyone's experience may differ

 

[Stealthflyer]

Does anyone know if VA status holders can get access to the Alitalia lounge in Milan when flying Etihad? On the Etihad website, it says Etihad status holders and premium guests use the Alitalia lounge when departing Milan. And on the Virgin website, it says that VA gold and platinum can access Etihad third party lounges when flying Etihad. So does that mean we can access the Alitalia lounge, or does ‘third party’ just mean places like The House?

 

[CPMaverick]

It's kind of already covered but VA don't have many partners intra Europe, really just Alitalia (AZ).

If you are flying Australia-Europe with a VA partner, coverage is decent. If flying VS, SQ, or EY, and they have a lounge, you'll get access.

Inside Europe, you won't have much luck unless flying AZ. VA is an Australian airline and elites must have a residence in Australia, so it kind of makes sense, they don't need to focus on intra-EU travelers.

FWIW, I also have DL status and so there are many DL partners intra-EU. Yet it always seems they are overpriced or poor routings compared to other options. So I don't think you are missing anything. Just book the cheapest direct flight (perhaps avoiding the ultra-LCC if possible, or at least keeping in mind their fees), and don't worry about status.

 

[dajop]

FWIW, I also have DL status and so there are many DL partners intra-EU. Yet it always seems they are overpriced or poor routings compared to other options. So I don't think you are missing anything. Just book the cheapest direct flight (perhaps avoiding the ultra-LCC if possible, or at least keeping in mind their fees), and don't worry about status.

Agree here totally, often the "full service" carriers are overpriced, and you have to worry just as much about their fees as you do the LCCs and ultra-LCCs. Important to know that hand luggage fares are exactly that, and having status doesn't afford you the privilegae to check a bag for free, like for example it does in the US. Also on the lowest fares, you may have to pay for seat selection whether you are on an LCC or a legacy carrier.

The only one I didn't perhaps like was Ryanair - they deliberately seat you separately if you don't pay for seat selection, and I really did not like Stansted airport (and the other thing, we used Priority Pass to access a lounge before the flight, and stayed as long as we could, flight was showing boarding, raced to gate to find the aircraft operating our flight was still 45 mins away from landing, that sort of cough ticks me off no end).

 

[Saab34]

I usually fly EZY around Europe not had any real issues to date, but keep an eye on the VS acquisition of Flybe which will no doubt mean improved coverage in the UK.

 

[Lord_Lenny]

Alitalia in Rome was fine when i used both the domestic and international side of things...

Good to know, I'll be there in 3 weeks

 

[Stealthflyer]

I considered using Alitalia for the Velocity benefits when I was in Europe last, but the price difference between them and the low cost carriers within the schengen area couldn’t be justified (on the routes I was flying anyway). My favourite so far has been Easy Jet because the base fare is cheap and they don’t have weight limits on your carry on - just size limits. It meant I could pack 15kg worth of exhibition catalogues in my carry on from Venice back to London!