V-Flyer

Hi

V room at Gatwick closes 6/2/16 until 30/11/16 no update on clubhouse yet

Wow, nearly 10 months of closure?

Yes it's on there Facebook page and on Google

There will be no BA lounge in the North terminal either between middle of Jan and November .

BA will be using the #1 lounge

BA will be taking up the space (plus more) that the v room currently uses as part of the terminal swap


CH remains as is and unlikely to be affected until the terminal room

Having just booked UC to Cancun in November, our first flights for a couple of years due to family health issues preventing us going too far away, I will be heartbroken if the Clubhouse isn't open. Is there any definitive news about this?

The Clubhouse stays open throughout, it's BA who lose their lounge while the new VS one is being built.

Great news; thank you.

Vegascrazy wrote:The Clubhouse stays open throughout, it's BA who lose their lounge while the new VS one is being built.

Thanks for the news

buns

buns wrote:

Vegascrazy wrote:The Clubhouse stays open throughout, it's BA who lose their lounge while the new VS one is being built.

Thanks for the news

buns

Great news for us v-flyers, but I can well imagine that BA must be spitting feathers at this (or getting a good reduction in fees from LGW by means of compensation).

BA's LGW operation is bigger than Virgin's. The BA Club & First passengers at LGW are going to get a seriously reduced lounge offering for most of the year. OK, I know things like champagne is not on tap in a BA lounge like it is in the Clubhouse (you have to specifically ask for it) but even so. I am sure the catering offer in the No1 lounge will not match the Terraces / First lounge either.

We've just booked Orlando again for next November from MAN, so it's the Escape Lounge for us. But as per my recent TR from the December trip to Orlando, the Escape Lounge has upped it's game & when you get onboard the plane, no-one is going to starve in Upper Class.

Dont feel too sorry for the BA flyers. The No1 lounge is a marked upgrade on the rank BA lounge at Gatwick.

There is no hot food there and only curly sandwiches at lunch etc. It always seems rammed with self important shouters on their phones.

The no1 has hot food, cinema room, spa. And its bigger.

The suits at Gatwick made the correct decision to shut the BA lounge there! I'm sure the new lounge will be much better. It cant be worse after all. lol

The no1 has hot food, cinema room, spa.

The spa and showers in No1 Gatwick North have been removed to make way for extra seating.

And its bigger.

It is bigger but it generates customers of its own and, at times, has turned Priority Pass holders away due to capacity issues. Now it has to handle BA's passengers as well as those it sells to direct.

I'm flying Club Europe out Gatwick on Fri so it will be interesting to see just quite how smoothly the change has bedded in.

poggsuk wrote:Dont feel too sorry for the BA flyers. The No1 lounge is a marked upgrade on the rank BA lounge at Gatwick.

There is no hot food there and only curly sandwiches at lunch etc. It always seems rammed with self important shouters on their phones.

The no1 has hot food, cinema room, spa. And its bigger.

And yet the BA forum over on Flyertalk has an 8 page (and growing) thread of whinging about No.1's "inferior" food (Fish finger sandwiches! Beans on toast!) and - horror of horrors - the lack of free champagne.

Highly recommended if you fancy a good laugh.

Incidentally it appears building work has already started on the new BA lounge complex in the South Terminal with Frankie & Benny's now closed.

horror of horrors - the lack of free champagne

I'm one of those moaning about that and I don't think it's something that we should point fingers and laugh at. If you advertise champagne as part of your lounge experience when you sell the ticket then, at a later date, remove it without offering a replacement or compensation then that's misleading the customer.

Look at the moaning when VS swapped the champagne to Meon Hill on the 787 and that was well advertised in advance. Now imagine if they removed fizz from the Clubhouse entirely. There would be plenty of complaints here too.

There would. But people would get over it. As will BA's poor, hard done by passengers at LGW. It's only temporary. They'll cope.

And hopefully they'll like the brand new lounge in the South Terminal which can only be an improvement on what went before. Though they're bound to find something to whinge about.

gumshoe wrote:There would. But people would get over it. As will BA's poor, hard done by passengers at LGW. It's only temporary. They'll cope.

And hopefully they'll like the brand new lounge in the South Terminal which can only be an improvement on what went before. Though they're bound to find something to whinge about.

I'm getting the distinct impression your not a fan of BA Gumshoe ?

Blacky1 wrote:

gumshoe wrote:There would. But people would get over it. As will BA's poor, hard done by passengers at LGW. It's only temporary. They'll cope.

And hopefully they'll like the brand new lounge in the South Terminal which can only be an improvement on what went before. Though they're bound to find something to whinge about.

I'm getting the distinct impression your not a fan of BA Gumshoe ?

Probably more of a reflection of the vibe over on Flyertalk

Indeed. I like to think we V-Flyers are a friendly, pretty down-to earth-bunch. Not so many Flyertalkers who really need a sense of perspective if they think the (temporary) withdrawal of free champagne and the unwelcome imposition of fish finger sandwiches is the end of the world as we know it.

As for BA itself - IMHO it's thoroughly mediocre compared to VS and the ME3 but I can see why it appeals to the "stiff upper lip" British business travellers it makes most of its money from so you can't knock it for knowing its market.

And seeing as it's only cost me £500 for a First return to JFK this summer using my Amex 241 voucher I can't complain too much!

Just a heads up as you may know Sodexo are contracted for the food and hospitality in both the Vroom and Gatwick Upper lounge.

I have found a bit of information from my colleagues who run this side f the business that the reason it is closing is that the kitchen in the lounge and v room are tiny and the refurbishment will also create a joint kitchen which should improve food quality and choice.

The closure order was made by Virgin and I will keep V Flyer informed if I get any more news

stuart_f wrote:

horror of horrors - the lack of free champagne

I'm one of those moaning about that and I don't think it's something that we should point fingers and laugh at. If you advertise champagne as part of your lounge experience when you sell the ticket then, at a later date, remove it without offering a replacement or compensation then that's misleading the customer.

Look at the moaning when VS swapped the champagne to Meon Hill on the 787 and that was well advertised in advance. Now imagine if they removed fizz from the Clubhouse entirely. There would be plenty of complaints here too.

Good point, well made

Just wondering, are VS still going to move to Gatwick North? what will they do then re. the v-room?

Looks like the terminal swap is now not happening until January 25th 2017.

VH website confirms that the Vroom will be shut between 6th February - 24th January.

-Steve

jfenney wrote:Just a heads up as you may know Sodexo are contracted for the food and hospitality in both the Vroom and Gatwick Upper lounge.

I have found a bit of information from my colleagues who run this side f the business that the reason it is closing is that the kitchen in the lounge and v room are tiny and the refurbishment will also create a joint kitchen which should improve food quality and choice.

The closure order was made by Virgin and I will keep V Flyer informed if I get any more news

Sodexo have been the death knell to every military mess It will be interesting to see what the quality, quantity and level of service will be once they take over.

jfenney wrote:Just a heads up as you may know Sodexo are contracted for the food and hospitality in both the Vroom and Gatwick Upper lounge.

I have found a bit of information from my colleagues who run this side f the business that the reason it is closing is that the kitchen in the lounge and v room are tiny and the refurbishment will also create a joint kitchen which should improve food quality and choice.

The closure order was made by Virgin and I will keep V Flyer informed if I get any more news

I thought the V-room had to close to allow some of the "rebuilding" to take place as part of the N/S moves? VH will never move back into that space.... I presume the the BA lounge has closed early to allow VS to build a new clubhouse and maybe a V-room in that space for when they do move over.

Let's face it, the VS lounge is miles better than the BA offering, so BA could move into the clubhouse and just slap a poster over the signs! But will it be big enough for the (potentially) larger number of BA exec club members flying out of LGW. I have never been in the BA lounge so I can't compare the relative sizes...

The new VS Clubhouse and V-Room at the North Terminal will be next to each other in the former BA lounges which closed last month, much to the consternation of the BA elites who now have to - shock horror - pay for champagne and - shudder - eat fish finger sandwiches with the riff raff in the hopelessly overcrowded No.1 Lounge.

When BA move to the South Terminal next January their lounge complex will be in the area that was until recently occupied by the V-Room, the No.1 Lounge and Frankie & Benny's, so a bigger space than they had.

No.1 moves shortly to (I think) the old Servisair lounge, again a much larger space. As for the current Clubhouse - I'm not sure what'll become of that come next January when VS vacate it.