Gold card - Flexibility on guests in Clubhouse?

Hi
My husband (gold card holder), me (silver card) and our 2 year old twins (no status yet!) are flying in VS economy LHR to Dubai in December. Do you think we'll all be allowed to use the club house at each end or will they stick to the one guest rule religiously and therefore increase the horrors of the journey that i'm already expecting or do you think they might be flexible in letting the twins and myself in!
Also, any advise on which seats to go for on board - we haven't travelled with the twins before so no clue what our best options will be (and to be honest haven't travelled in economy for quite a while so really dreading that combination!!) - it's an overnight flight on the way out and daytime on the return, and probably will be full as it's over Xmas. As the boys are over 2 we will have 4 seats.
Thanks

We did the DXB trip in May. I was travelling with Mrs S and our 12 year old daughter.

We had to pay £30 for my daughter to get into the CH.

Well worth it - even though we only got an hour in there due to the M25 being a car park on that day.

[HighFlyer]

Welcome to V-Flyer [y]

Gold card holders can usually purchase entrance to the Clubhouse for additional guests. Do ask at check-in, though I was under the impression that purchased access was only available for children aged 12 or over. That is certainly the case for Virgin Holidays customers. Hopefully one of our travelling parents can clarify?

There isnt a Clubhouse at DXB just a shared lounge with Gulf Air. You wouldnt be able to purchase access to a shared lounge, and its not that fantastic in all honesty so I dont think you are missing out on much.

Thanks,
Sarah

[Nottingham Nick]

Welcome to the site.

I don't know if VS will, in effect allow one Gold card holder to take three guests in. Especially, as HighFlyer says, they add revenue by selling entry to Golds for extra guests. The only saving graces are the ages of the second and third guests, and the fact that you have an evening flight, so the Clubhouse should be quieter. My experience some years ago with one extra child was a very polite 'Sorry!'!

There is no harm in asking, but I certainly wouldn't expect it.

With regards to which seats - have a look at the seat ratings pages.. I suppose a lot depends on whether you want to sit in a row of 4 or in two, twos. I think, apart from bulk heads, there isn't too much to choose between them.

Nick

Originally posted by cadogan1
Hi
My husband (gold card holder), me (silver card) and our 2 year old twins (no status yet!) are flying in VS economy LHR to Dubai in December. Do you think we'll all be allowed to use the club house at each end or will they stick to the one guest rule religiously and therefore increase the horrors of the journey that i'm already expecting or do you think they might be flexible in letting the twins and myself in!
Also, any advise on which seats to go for on board - we haven't travelled with the twins before so no clue what our best options will be (and to be honest haven't travelled in economy for quite a while so really dreading that combination!!) - it's an overnight flight on the way out and daytime on the return, and probably will be full as it's over Xmas. As the boys are over 2 we will have 4 seats.
Thanks

Hi,

To be honest we have struggled with this, my hubby is gold and i'm silver and on the one occassion we tried to get us all in the lounge at LGW it didn't work. We didn't expect it too but there was no harm in trying.

The best thing is to be prepared for anything, including delays.

Pack some sandwiches and snacks for at the airport and onboard incase not enough children's meals have been loaded.

Start buying bits of toys and books now and hide them away. As they are so young just bring out one new thing every hour or so to keep them occupied - more for the flight back this one as hopefully they will sleep on the night flight.

Probably all things you've thought off but we have found all the above have stood us in good stead for many years.

gosh very useful tips - thank you - I hadn't really thought ahead to keeping them occupied on the flight, but the one new toy per hour is a good one (the twins can be somewhat hyper at this point in their lives so will maybe up that to something new every 45 mins!) - do you find the meals served on board are enough for little ones, or should I pack extra - they eat everything so are unfussy but are very routine focused so not great at waiting when they think they are due a meal!
On seating - i assume we should aim for a bulkhead - is there anything I can do to increase our chances of getting one? My concern with the bulkhead is that the armrests don't come up i think - removing the option of lying the boys across the seats - is this correct? Have other posters found this a problem or does the extra legroom of the bulkhead negate any such disadvantage?
One final question - we could travel BA for this routing and their flight timings to be honest are a bit better - i had been favouring BA because of my husband's status and the hope that we would be able to use the lounge etc. Bearing in mind that access to the lounge is far from certain, would you stick with VS or would you switch to the better flight timings on BA although we have no status with them to speak of and therefore definitely no lounge access?

I may be spoiled as someone who travels UC alot however as a Gold Card holder I would have thought taking your twins in was perfectly ok. You are surely the guest the twins are not exactly two 18 year olds who are going to drink the club dry! The devil is in the small print but it seems very tight of Virgin not to repay your husbands loyalty by not letting your twins in. I would call to check and would be interested to know what they say.

Make sure you book the meet and greet service at DXB as they will pick you up and whisk you through the airport. I have two young boys and have spent a lot of time to and from DXB so pm me if you want any tips.

[HighFlyer]

Originally posted by milan marcus
I may be spoiled as someone who travels UC alot however as a Gold Card holder I would have thought taking your twins in was perfectly ok. You are surely the guest the twins are not exactly two 18 year olds who are going to drink the club dry! The devil is in the small print but it seems very tight of Virgin not to repay your husbands loyalty by not letting your twins in. I would call to check and would be interested to know what they say.

The flip side is that the OP technically wants to take three additional guests in when the rules say only one is allowed, two of whom are very young children and what they may not consume in food and drink there are of course many difficulties in keeping young children entertained (and quiet) in a small area.

This isnt an anti-child statement, and not aimed at Cadogan, just trying to put things into perspective. I faced a similiar situation travelling with my parents and young sister, Richard and I were both FC Au so could take a guest each. We were hoping my sister would be ushered in as well, and she was, although I was perfectly willing to pay for her or one of my parents in order for us all to enjoy the lounge as i know that technically we could only guest two people in. I do wonder if they would have done the same if my sister was a crying baby as opposed to a grown up looking six year old.

Its a difficult situation. When we are the FC Au card holder and want to take two guests into the lounge we hope that the staff will be kind to us, though when we travel alone and cannot find a seat in the lounge because it is busy, or cannot work in peace and quiet because of the noise from other familes then the selfish gene kicks in and we wish they'd tighen up on capacity.

As i mentioned in my previous post, FC Au members can usually (space permitting) purchase Clubhouse access for guests on their flight at check-in, so I'd strongly recommend going down this legit avenue first as opposed to trying your luck on the day with the staff. It then doesnt put the Clubhouse staff in a difficult situation and doesnt allow fellow passengers to question your right to be there.

Thanks,
Sarah

Why was the baby crying?

Seems a tad harsh although I suppose as you say those with kids will fall one side and those without on another.


My point is that I fly with Virgin because I like the way they do things and as a parent I hope that they recognise that the rules should be bent for two year old twins. It's what makes the world a nice place if you know what I mean....

On the other hand it's good advice to prepay which maybe cadogan1 did not know she could do, hopefully they won't charge her!

[Nottingham Nick]

We don't want to turn this into yet another child debate, but the question of VS bending the rules to the advantage of a Gold card holder is an interesting one.

How far should this be done, if at all?

I can think of lots of possible perks that could be introduced for golds in order to keep their loyalty, without having to bend rules. I fully accept that two young twins are not going to drink the champagne dry, but where do you draw the line?

Nick

I just think two year old twins are not guests but your kids and you don't have an option other than to bring them with you into the clubhouse. I would suggest that children under 16 are permitted with gold card holders and after that they are old enough to be on their own. Don't forget gold card holders with children often spend long times away from their family and it seems only fair that they can bring their children with them when they are flying on holidays.

I certainly have no problem with paying to let them in - if this is an option I will certainly go that route as it's worth £60 to have somewhere where we can all relax and eat etc pre-flight. I totally understand the differing views here - I would have been on the opposing side pre-having my own children (oh how my heart sank on several occassions to see young children in seats near me in UC!!)and now i sincerely hope I am a considerate parent that does everything i can to ensure my two aren't effecting those around them negatively.
Anyway - those of you who have experienced the fun and games of long-haul flights with toddlers, what do you think - BA with more favourable flight times and no ff status (we do have priority passes so will be able to use one of their lounges) or VS with some hope of getting into the lounge at LHR (sounds like the Gulf Air option at DBX isn't worth bothering with so it only really applies on the outbound)and I guess the gold status possibly helping us secure better seats or something....what would you do as I need to make a decision? We've always been hugely loyal to VS but this time i think i need to prioritise the least stressful journey as otherwise we'll never take another flight beyond Europe with the boys!!!
Thanks

I think maybe the first thing to do is phone Virgin and just clarify the paid guest situation, if you can pay to take the twins in then great, but VH set an age limit of 12 or over for paid guests, it might be worth checking if age limit applies to a Au card holder wanting to take kiddos in.

Once you have either the yes you can pay to take the kids in or no you cant, it should in theory make your descision of who to fly with a little easier?

If it was me I would do this - Given the all clear to pay for the kids to go into the clubhouse I would go with the Virgin flight.

If told NO they need to be over twelve then I would take the BA flight simply because the times are more convinient.

Good luck!

p.s - If you speak to Virgin about the kids entrance to the lounge will you post back and let us know what the outcome is?

edited to say I totally forgot about miles and tier point and if that is important to you? If earning miles is a big priority then I would probably go with the miles earning flight regardless of anything else [:)]

We went to New York in December with some friends and their children. As we are both Gold Card we got on friend in on each card and I think it was £35.00 for each child. On the face of it we had a sharp intake of breath, but it was worth it as in effect we got two free. On the way back at JFK they let our two Godchildren in for free; so all in all not bad.

When I took the family to LAX last year, my wife was my guest, our 18month old got in free, and my boys were buy 1 entry get 1 entry free.
So in effect I only paid 30 pounds for them to get in.

They enjoyed it, behaved themselves and I would ask again. However, if they say no, then I respect that decision.

Mark

On both occasions we have travelled as a family of 4 on VS to MCO we have been granted access at no charge. It is not expected and genuinely appreciated.

Many individual Au holders travel frequently and are able to constantly make use of the one guest. As a family we travel far less frequently and it is nice to be able to gain access when we do. I still believe that the best option would be a limited number of guest vouchers for Au holders that are tied to a single member. Members would then be able to use them all in one go (if you travel infrequently in a group) or one at a time. Obviously it would still be dependant on capacity.

FM

Originally posted by FamilyMan
On both occasions we have travelled as a family of 4 on VS to MCO we have been granted access at no charge. It is not expected and genuinely appreciated.

FM

IMHO, I was under the impression that the LGW CH were more flexible than LHR CH.

[HighFlyer]

Originally posted by FamilyMan
I still believe that the best option would be a limited number of guest vouchers for Au holders that are tied to a single member. Members would then be able to use them all in one go (if you travel infrequently in a group) or one at a time. Obviously it would still be dependant on capacity.

I would also be in favour of this. It seems like the perfect solution to reward the frequent flyer but also allow them to share their benefits in the way that suits the individual. [y]

Thanks,
Sarah

This is a very interesting topic.

The issue of children in Business Class lounges and flights is something that's been endlessly debated. But Virgin have been very careful to avoid the term 'business' and their UC product is only partially geared towards business travellers. And while it's true that infants won't drink the bar dry, I could easily visualise that some FF pax may be miffed at having their sanctuary invaded by non-paying guests from economy!

From what I've read here and on other blogs, I'd definitely recommend calling in advance. That said though, it seems that Virgin have a discretionary approach to rule bending - I guess it depends on the time of your flight and the expected uptake of the lounge.

Otherwise, Chez Gerard isn't a bad suggestionÉ just stay away from Wetherspoons...

As I understand it, FC Gold members can pay for extra guests to accompany them. Up to age 12, it's GBP30, over that it's 60. Anything over and above that, or at airports outside London, is at discretion of lounge staff. Expect nothing and you might, as I have been on occasion, pleasantly surprised.

Chris

The rules on not being allow to take in your kids really stink.

Given how many flights I do on my own each year and barely use most of the facilities the once a year I travel with my family seems like the perfect time to use them and we have to pay!

There is little or on flexibility with the current Virgin but the old Virgin used to be flexible.

[HighFlyer]

Originally posted by manymiles
The rules on not being allow to take in your kids really stink.

This is a difficult topic, and one that usually sees some heated debate. I do feel for the frequent traveller who on their once or twice a year vacation cannot use their frequent flyer perks for their leisure travels.

The flipside is that frequent flyer programs do just that - reward the frequent flyer, the person sitting in the airline seat. Why should that persons family now be entitled to benefits? What about those frequent flyers who do not have children? And what if those perks have been earned through travelling for your employer, is there an automatic right for your family to be able to use them? There has to be a line drawn somewhere (what do you do if you have several children?) Lots of questions with different answers and emotions for all.

I think the one answer to this that would keep everyone happy would be the introduction of a couple of clubhouse passes as a FC Au member benefit on renewal. These can be used for members friends, children, spouses or whoever they wish, subject to capacity. I think that seems very fair.

And not forgetting that FC Au members can buy entry to the Clubhoue for additional guests (space permitting). This is a huge benefit for Au members in addition to the free guest they can already take in.

Thanks,
Sarah

[Decker]

To be more accurate manymiles 'you think that...'

It really depends if you have children yourself or enjoy the company of other's children. This particular subject always polarises V-Flyers. Much like 'recline or not recline' on FT.

[Decker]

14 seconds and 10 times the eloquence. [:p]

Originally posted by HighFlyer
I think the one answer to this that would keep everyone happy would be the introduction of a couple of clubhouse passes as a FC Au member benefit on renewal. These can be used for members friends, children, spouses or whoever they wish, subject to capacity. I think that seems very fair.

Perfect solution - would address manymiles' complaint.