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Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse London

While I’d flown Virgin Atlantic Upper Class before, I’d actually never flown it out of London, and hence, never visited their flagship Clubhouse at London, Heathrow. It’s open to all Upper Class passengers, and those with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold status ( plus a guest on a same flight ), and since we were both flying Upper Class to New York, there wouldn’t be any issues. I was VERY excited to settle down in some mod 60s luxury at the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse London – their flagship lounge.

We’d booked this flight with instant transfers from Chase and Amex for 47,500 points + $600+ in taxes and fees. Insanely hefty, but I wanted to make the transatlantic experience particularly memorable since, unbeknownst to my girlfriend, we’d be getting engaged in New York later that day 🙂

One thing about Virgin Atlantic that you can count on is feeling like you’ve arrived. Everything is cool. From the moment you arrive at the airport, the lounge experience, and even though the old Upper Class physical product is outdated, you still feel cutting edge in cabin. I was pumped to give this lounge experience a full work over.

Visit Details:

• When: April 2019
• Where: London, Heathrow Terminal 3
• Access: Upper Class and Gold members + 1 guest on same flight

Arrival and first impression

The entire experience is very cool. Segregated from the main Terminal 3 entrance you’ll find Virgin’s Upper Class check and wing. Once you’re all checked in, proceed to the elevators, through private security, and voila, the lounge awaits.

The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow feels like you’ve entered a movie set space ship from the 1960s that’d been fit with every modern luxury and amenity. Need a haircut? Done. Some baked goods. Got it. Super delicious cocktails. Rocks? Wanna sit down and enjoy a meal? Booth or table. Shoot some stick? Solids or stripes.

Should I keep going? They’ve thought of everything.

The Spa

After entering the lounge look to the far right. That’s where the spa is located. If you’re interested in a service, I’d highly suggest putting your name on a list as the wait could be considerable if you’re flying during peak hours which we were. They’ve got a whole litany of service items of which to choose, and of course the showers are complimentary.

Dining.

There are several ways to go about adding to your calorie count. First…there are some deli style stations.

But, really…when you’re luxuriating – don’t you want to sit, relax and order from a menu? To the far left you’ll find the restaurant which can hold A LOT of people, but since we were kind of in between meal times, we had our choice of seating.

You can find the entire menu selection online here, but I had an absolutely fantastic grilled salmon. Perfection. I also sipped some champers.

Activities

Virgin didn’t stop at just spa and dining, they wanted to up the ante and provide some more cool. First stop, let’s shoot some stick.

Feeling a bit claustrophobic in the massive Clubhouse Heathrow? Go outside. Peep a few planes, AV geek out.

Looking for some other ways to hang out and get comfy? Virgin has you covered with a wide variety of choices.

Perhaps you want to swing and talk

Or chill on a plush couch while your kids don’t play with all of those toys and pound their smart devices.

Perhaps being on the same level with everyone else is so blase – and you need to take a step down into that sunken banquet vibe.

Or you want to get your geometrically avant garde laptop wireless headphone vibe on. They know their customer base

And last but not least…maybe you just want to pretend you’re still in the 1960s and read some good ole black and white, there’s a forest in my hand, they buried the damn lead again, I can’t believe TWA dropped another %, get my broker on the phone, newspaper space.

Overall:

This is a lounge I could hang out in time and time again. In fact, I’m looking forward to trying out the NYC version soon and will report back! If you get the chance to fly Virgin out of London, I’d HIGHLY recommend budgeting some time to really soak up the experience. And read a newspaper – who knows how much longer they’ll be around. And for you millennials reading this – newspapers are those things laying on the table, to the right, in the last picture.