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Virgin Atlantic Temporarily Closes Some Clubhouses [3 in the U.S.]

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Daniel Ross
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If you have a Virgin Atlantic flight coming up soon, listen up.

4 of the U.K.-based carrier’s Clubhouse lounges will temporarily close at Boston, Johannesburg, San Francisco, and Washington-Dulles, as first noted by Head for Points.

Here’s what we know about the Virgin Clubhouses’ planned closures.

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Some Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses Closing Temporarily

Big changes are just around the corner for Virgin Atlantic when it joins the SkyTeam airline alliance on March 2, 2023.

Until recently, Virgin’s Clubhouses — outside its main lounge at London Heathrow (LHR) — have been run by third-party lounge operator Plaza Premium, which also owns its own group of lounges worldwide.

Given that most of Virgin’s flights from its’ U.S. airports depart in the late afternoon, Plaza Premium has been able to use that dead capacity to open the Clubhouses up all day for its own lounge members.

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse JFK Bar
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse JFK Bar. Image Credit. Greg Stone

However, when Virgin joins SkyTeam, elite members in the airline alliance will also gain access to the Virgin Clubhouses.

Hot Tip: Virgin Atlantic premium passengers or those flying with elite status get access to Virgin Clubhouses, as well as to partner lounges in airports where there isn’t a Clubhouse.

It turns out that Sodexo will be the new operator of several Virgin’s non-U.K. lounges. Sodexo, which doesn’t run any of its own lounges at the moment, will likely make changes in its newly acquired lounges — hence the reason for their temporary closures.

The Clubhouses affected are Boston (BOS), Johannesburg (JNB), San Francisco (SFO), and Washington D.C. (IAD). However, Virgin Clubhouses at London-Heathrow (LHR) and New York (JFK) will stay open.

The table below details the closure periods of these affected lounges, as well as the alternatives passengers will have access to during that time:

SCROLL FOR MORE

Lounge

Closure

Alternative Lounges

Boston (BOS)

March 1 through TBD

Delta Sky Club Express

Johannesburg (JNB)

March 1 through March 13, 2023

SLOW Lounge

San Francisco (SFO)

March 1 through March 25, 2023

China Airlines Lounge

Washington, D.C. (IAD)

March 1 through March 3, 2023

Turkish Airlines Lounge

Final Thoughts

It appears that the ownership of several Virgin Clubhouses will change hands from Plaza Premium to Sodexo. Therefore, 4 of its Clubhouses — including 3 in the U.S. — will close for a short period of time starting March 1, 2023.

How different they’ll be when they reopen remains to be seen, but we’ll keep you updated as soon as we know more information!

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About Daniel Ross

Daniel has loved aviation and travel his entire life. He earned a Master of Science in Air Transport Management and has written about travel and aviation in publications like Simple Flying, The Points Guy, and more.

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