Guesting into the clubhouse.

[Neil]

Re paying for access, we were recently told that you can only pay for access if you are flying in PE, and you can't buy access if you are in Y.

What I don't understand is why there isn't any transparency from VS about this.

All it would take is a simple "Clubhouse Access" webpage, explaining: who is eligible for access; who is able to bring in a guest (and how many); who can buy access (depending on how busy the CH is); how much it costs... etc.

I know VS IT is abysmal, but this isn't really an IT issue.

Basically if you're allowed in, you're always allowed a +1 as long as you're both on the same flight. And you're allowed in if you're in UC or Au.

They don't advertise pay-as-you-enter for PE as it's not an official benefit - it's strictly subject to availability and at the discretion of the Clubhouse staff on the day.

If it was advertised as an official benefit of PE they'd risk being inundated and having to turn away lots of disappointed people who thought they were guaranteed paid entry, leaving them with a bad experience of the airline.

Thanks, gumshoe. I understand about why advertising pay-as-you-enter might be problematic (although I think if it's explained clearly enough - just as DL do for their SkyClubs - I can't see it really causing too much trouble for anyone).

But I don't understand why this -

Basically if you're allowed in, you're always allowed a +1 as long as you're both on the same flight. And you're allowed in if you're in UC or Au.

- is not made clear explicitly and openly somewhere (or is it, and have I missed it?).

for AU, it's on the benefits page...

Exclusive invitation to Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses for you and 1 guest regardless of class of travel on the same Virgin Atlantic flight number.

for AU, it's on the benefits page...

Indeed, but that's only half of the policy (i.e. what gumshoe writes above): what about the information for non-AU UC pax, or DL J pax on VS codeshares? I'm guessing they make up most of the CH users, rather than Au.

It just seems strange that one of the official benefits of flying UC doesn't seem to be made publicly available to those pax.

Could be that it's not listed as a benefit so they can reduce demand. A bit like the £15 Starbucks credit BA give you of you depart T5C, its not stated anywhere, you don't even get a voucher.