The Smaller Lounges

Hi All,

A new member to this board. Have flown Virgin in the past a few times on holiday and always enjoyed the experience, but for work (I work a bit in Tokyo) we were always flown business class by JAL. (Great service, uncomfortable seats). The company have now changed to Virgin and did my first UC flight to Tokyo in April - fantastic!

Anyway, as I was sat in the small but lovely Virgin Lounge at Narita airport it occurred to me that the staff there must have the shortest working day ever, with only one flight a day. The lounge opens two hours before the flight departs, so they're probably at work two hours before that and then clean up time after the lounge is empty - so maybe a four to five hour shift a day? Do you think they then go and work somewhere else in the airport? Am going back to Tokyo again in three weeks, so may ask...

Let us know the reply. VS lounges are usually open from when check in opens, and in many places that means 4 hrs prior to a flight. VS also has contracts with other airlines for their premium passengers to use the lounges, so while you may have seen none, it's likely the lounge is open for longer than you've witnessed.

Let us know the reply. VS lounges are usually open from when check in opens, and in many places that means 4 hrs prior to a flight. VS also has contracts with other airlines for their premium passengers to use the lounges, so while you may have seen none, it's likely the lounge is open for longer than you've witnessed.

Good thought. I'm pretty sure that the check in only opened two hours before as my car had got me there quicker than expected (for once there was little traffic on the way to Narita) and I had to wait to check in.

The lounge is very clearly 'branded' as a VS lounge so I'd be surprised if it was used by another airline, but you never know!

When JAL went to the wall (completely fine and operations unaffected as government backing it 100%) we had loads of our corporates move to VS (and less so BA for people who wanted to keep going with OW even though FC may well have done some status matching).
They can't believe the difference and the companies are using it as an excuse to work on the day you arrive because you can actually sleep on the flat beds rather than sliding down the JL lie-flats.

I think the lounge staff will be dedicated VS staff but I don't know what they do afterwards, I assume that they might go to the office to deal with admin things like UM requests or anything like that but I do like your question! I reckon they will work more like 6 hours, 3 hours with pax in there and a bit on either side.

Nice view from that lounge over the tarmac and I loved the service in there.

When JAL went to the wall (completely fine and operations unaffected as government backing it 100%) we had loads of our corporates move to VS (and less so BA for people who wanted to keep going with OW even though FC may well have done some status matching).
They can't believe the difference and the companies are using it as an excuse to work on the day you arrive because you can actually sleep on the flat beds rather than sliding down the JL lie-flats.

I think the lounge staff will be dedicated VS staff but I don't know what they do afterwards, I assume that they might go to the office to deal with admin things like UM requests or anything like that but I do like your question! I reckon they will work more like 6 hours, 3 hours with pax in there and a bit on either side.

Nice view from that lounge over the tarmac and I loved the service in there.

Interesting that more went to VS rather than BA. I was given the choice and what with the better VS service and the BA strike issue, it was a no brainer.

The service is great in that lounge, but I think that is more to do with the much better service industry in Japan as whole. As I mentioned earlier the service on JAL was always great - very refined and dignified, but as you mention - those sliding seats - terrible!

Good thought. I'm pretty sure that the check in only opened two hours before as my car had got me there quicker than expected (for once there was little traffic on the way to Narita) and I had to wait to check in.

The lounge is very clearly 'branded' as a VS lounge so I'd be surprised if it was used by another airline, but you never know!

I do happen to know . I can't be certain about Tokyo however, but if you're at Heathrow in the morning you'll see people on Saudi flights, if you're at JFK TAM flights, at Washington South African flights, etc.

As to times, again I haven't been to Tokyo on VS so do not know, but at Washington and at New York and in leased lounges like the JAL one in Chicago, check in opens 4 hrs before the flight and so do the lounges. At Washington yesterday our flight was delayed three hours, so the lounge was used for 7 in total prior to the flight.

I am trying to remember as I have done this route a couple of times, once was with CH access so I went early but ended up standing at the tensabarrier watching the staff arrive!
It is either 2 or 3 hours but I can't check with someone at the moment.

Everything is so efficient over there they just can't understand why all the visitors get there so early. This does cause problems at LHR though as some of the pax don't know just how efficient BAA are and arrive an hour and half before the flight on a Bank Holiday weekend.

The IAD clubhouse remains open after the VS flight has left - when I was there in May, a pax was refused entry because 'it wasn't the right time for his airline to use the lounge. They could only use it after the VS pax had left'. Although I don't know whether this was the lounge hostess being grumpy or not...

Usually VS opens its lounges to other airlines, provided they are happy to pay. At SFO, it was Aer Lingus while they were flying DUB-SFO. VS passengers are usually allowed in any time on the day of flight, while other airlines contract to use the lounge within certain times, and their passengers might be refused access outside of those times. In some cases, like with the JAL lounge at ORD, when another airline uses your lounge you do a swap of branding materials (they'd always add some VS stuff at ORD) - other times it stays as is, and VS certainly never bothered to refit its clubhouse in green at SFO ...

With the other flight, the SF CH would have been open 8 hours at least - with a four and a bit hours opening staff will be there close to seven hours anyway, they usually arrive around 10:30 and stock, get the kitchen going etc etc for opening time around 12/12:30.