Are Virgin PE customers allowed to use the onboard bar?

I am currently planning a trip to the US and looking at flying in PE with Virgin. Are PE passengers allowed to use the Upper Class bar? I am planning to sit on the upper desk for one leg of the journey if this makes any difference. For what it’s worth I have flown in UC before and there were definitely PE passengers using the bar as well, but this was quite some time ago and I would appreciate any up to date information.

Also, am I right I’m thinking I can’t pay to access the Clubhouse?

The short answer is no you cannot - the bar is for Upper Class passengers, that's one of the main perks of the cabin!
The only time you may be allowed is if you've been invited by crew, it's happened to me once but only as a Gold member in PE who struck up conversation with the FSM. Even then I didn't want to overstay my welcome and left after a couple of drinks.

As for the Clubhouse - the answer is a little more grey... if you are on a Virgin Holidays deal I believe you can purchase three hours of Clubhouse time as part of your package. Regular walk-ups may or may not be able to buy their way in. It really depends how busy there are, but I believe the going rate is £60, at LHR at least.

Just expanding on what Slimpy said..

• Clubhouse access can be purchased if you are flying Premium on a VS flight from T3.
• You can gain entry to the CH with your gold card if you are flying from T3 on another airline. (Unpublished benefit)
• You cannot purchase entry if you are flying Economy on VS. (I Verified this a few days ago with the CH hosts).

As Slimpy said, its in the £60 per head region.
The staff told me, they reserve the right to turn people away if it's too busy. So they won't see access in the mornings basically. But the late flights, such as HKG, DXB etc should be fine as it's much quieter in the evenings.

[*]You can gain entry to the CH with your gold card if you are flying from T3 on another airline. (Unpublished benefit)

Is this "official" or does it depend on the person on the desk? I never knew about this!

Is this "official" or does it depend on the person on the desk? I never knew about this!

I believe so. I’d heard other V-Flyers mention it openly and remembered to ask about it in the CH a few weeks ago. To double check, I asked again in the CH yesterday (a different lady was on the door) and the answer was the same.

Most of the door hosts at the CH are fairly experienced so I should imagine they are all on the same page with this.

If you are on a 787, PE has a wander wall. Which is a small social area, that no one seems to use.

Think its being introduced on some of the A330 too but dont quote me on that!

All the A330s have a wonder wall but it's more of a "wonder corner" then a full wall.

[mitchja]

VS crew on both the B789’s or the A330’s seem to make no mention what so ever about the Wander wall now for some reason? It seems you really do have to know it’s there

When I was flying in Premium last year, I made a quick trip to the Wander wall for some snacks and on my return, the lady sat next to next to me asked where I’d got them from. The pax sat behind me also shortly nipped for some snacks as well and that them seemed to set the ball rolling for others in Premium as well!!

Is it not published on the menus or something because I'm surprised they don't announce it as much, especially given that it takes up quite a bit of galley real estate.

VS crew on both the B789’s or the A330’s seem to make no mention what so ever about the Wander wall now for some reason? It seems you really do have to know it’s there

When I was flying in Premium last year, I made a quick trip to the Wander wall for some snacks and on my return, the lady sat next to next to me asked where I’d got them from. The pax sat behind me also shortly nipped for some snacks as well and that them seemed to set the ball rolling for others in Premium as well!!

There are some flights where they forget to bring out the snacks. Once, I had to ask before they were just brought out and left in a box on the counter. Or I get pointed to the UC bar. Maybe it's a bit of a bother because the A340s don't have a wander wall and they just take up valuable space since that's where UC and PE meal services are sorted.

Must depend on what crew you get, i once flew PE 747 upper deck and crew came through multiple times offering snacks from a bowl.

Is it not published on the menus or something because I'm surprised they don't announce it as much, especially given that it takes up quite a bit of galley real estate.

It is published on the PE menus yes.