Capital One Retains Access To U.S. Virgin Lounges, Despite Management Turnover

by Gary Leff

The San Francisco Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse has closed for refurbishment. The Boston, Washington Dulles, and Johannesburg lounges close tomorrow.

Virgin Atlantic is dropping Plaza Premium Group as operator of its lounges outside of the U.K. in favor of Sodexo – a definite step down, based on the performance of each company in lounges elsewhere.

Closures are brief.

  • Washington Dulles: March 1 – 3. Virgin business class and Gold elite passengers will use the Turkish lounge.
  • San Francisco: March 1 – 13. Eligible customers use the China Airlines lounge.
  • Boston: March 1 – April 14. Eligible customers use the Delta Sky Club Express.
  • Johannesburg: March 1 – 13. Eligible customers use the SLOW lounge.

It would not surprise me to see some of these re-opening dates pushed back, but it seems any changes will be minimal, likely related to the airline joining SkyTeam rather than a true refresh. Meanwhile the New York JFK Clubhouse remains open.

Meanwhile Capital One re-confirms that their agreement for access to Virgin Atlantic lounges is separate from Plaza Premium Group. While Capital One has a Plaza Premium deal, eligible cardmembers weren’t relying on that for transitive access to Virgin lounges in the U.S. And that deal remains in place.

Occasionally we do see customers turned away due to capacity or because the ‘machine is down’ for verifying eligibility and charging back to the card issuer. Management doesn’t always favor these arrangements. But it has not ended.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Thanks for the info, Gary. Curious, what, if any, recourse is available in a situation where there is some new excuse for not being allowed access when you should have it? What keeps front desk personnel or a manager from just claiming to be at capacity?

  2. Is this in writing anywhere? CapitalOne’s website only lists Plaza Premium lounge access, and doesn’t specify separate access to the Clubhouse.

    In a similar vein, the official website for the Clubhouse lists neither the Amex Platinum nor the CapitalOne card as a current means of entry.

    If it’s not in writing anywhere, there’s no recourse if you”re denied entry.

  3. @ hotinx @jay There is absolutely no recourse if they deny you. They can deny you because they are in a bad mood and you’d have to just go find another lounge. Capital One can’t help… nobody can.

    I’m hoping that the management changeover means a new manager that hates lounge visitors less.

  4. When the VA IAD lounge reopens, will it still be accessible through Amex Plat? I liked it, and hope the new caterer will be as good. I never saw it crowded, unlike TK.

  5. Gary says: “Sodexo – a definite step down, based on the performance of each company in lounges elsewhere.”

    Really? Sodexo is great about working with the allocated budget and direction. Have you not visited AMEX Centurion lounges and Delta SkyClubs? Did you know that Cathay Pacific fired Plaza Premium and retained Sodexo to run their lounges?

    Perhaps you can share actual experiences used to make the step down comment?

  6. This is definitely not correct. Tried to access the lounge at SFO and they said they haven’t accepted the VX card for months as it was through Plaza Premium and that access has been discontinued. Lots of similar stories on Reddit.

Comments are closed.