Upper class lounge Manchester vs Upper class lounge Heathrow

Booked UC again from Manchester to Orlando and I was wondering is there any difference in price if you book from Heathrow to Orlando? The Escape lounge at Manchester compared to the Upper class at Heathrow are worlds apart. As far as I can compare the journey from Manchester to Orlando is slightly more expensive than from Heathrow and less flying miles than from Heathrow. I'm puzzled, can anyone enlighten me please.

[buns]

Firstly, VS do not fly direct to Orlando from Heathrow but from Gatwick.

Any Clubhouse is going to be far superior to most of the Airport Lounges you find in the world - at the very least, Clubhouses have a full meal and bar service as opposed to most Airline lounges which are serve yourself affairs.

The Clubhouse only forms part of the UC experience and it has been a long held criticism on V Flyer that passengers from Manchester do not have anything comparable to a Clubhouse (nor indeed Drive Thru Check In) yet fares from Manchester are as much as from London.

As the old adage goes, "you pays your money and you take your choice" and you would have to factor in the cost of travelling down to Gatwick (which would include an overnight stay no doubt) before deciding to fly from Manchester or Gatwick

buns

The Clubhouse only forms part of the UC experience and it has been a long held criticism on V Flyer that passengers from Manchester do not have anything comparable to a Clubhouse (nor indeed Drive Thru Check In) yet fares from Manchester are as much as from London.

And presumably there are enough people willing to pay those fares even without the full CH experience.

VS would argue that flying UC simply entitles you to lounge access, not specifically a Clubhouse.

It's the same situation at the other end - the lounges they use at MCO, MIA and ATL aren't nearly as good as the Clubhouses at JFK, EWR or BOS, for example.

At MAN there just isn't room at T2 for a Clubhouse - and until recently there hasn't been the volume of flights or passengers to justify one. Arguably there now is - and T2 is due to be refurbished and extended so you never know, it may yet happen.

[mitchja]

Manchester does have a slightly higher UB charge (United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge - which is basically the airport service charge) on fares compared to Gatwick.

Manchester is £15.70 compared to Gatwick which is £12.72 per adult, other than that fares from MAN and LGW are identical. The UB charge is also the same regardless of the cabin you fly in.

(For info the UB charge for Heathrow is a staggering £41.65!!)

If you are seeing a big difference is fare price, it just means the lower fares have been sold already.

Until recently, the only all year flights from Manchester were to Orlando (has Barbados always been there? If so then that as well), so those 14 seats didn't really justify such an expense as a Clubhouse. Vegas was all year round for a bit, but went seasonal.

Now they've got an Atlanta, Barbados and Vegas (seasonal) as well, it might be on their list of things to do. Delta do a JFK from Manchester too, but don't know which Terminal...

[Neil]

Until recently, the only all year flights from Manchester were to Orlando (has Barbados always been there? If so then that as well), so those 14 seats didn't really justify such an expense as a Clubhouse. Vegas was all year round for a bit, but went seasonal.

Now they've got an Atlanta, Barbados and Vegas (seasonal) as well, it might be on their list of things to do. Delta do a JFK from Manchester too, but don't know which Terminal...

It's still a very small number of pax overall, and in the main they are all B&S routes, so the 'requirement' isn't really there for VS to spend a large amount of cash to build/run one. Also, T2 is very limited on lounge space, which doesn't help the likelihood.

Its a shame we just couldn't use the Vroom .. ive always found it nicer in there than the other lounges in Manchester

Lisa x

It's still a very small number of pax overall, and in the main they are all B&S routes, so the 'requirement' isn't really there for VS to spend a large amount of cash to build/run one. Also, T2 is very limited on lounge space, which doesn't help the likelihood.

I'd not count Atlanta or JFK as bucket and spade routes, and don't Boston and Washington maintain clubhouses with less passengers?

At Washington ClubHouse, they do allow other airlines such as Qatar Airways to use the CH. That may go some way to justify it.

At Washington ClubHouse, they do allow other airlines such as Qatar Airways to use the CH. That may go some way to justify it.

Does seem a bit weird, sharing with a oneworld airline, do they do that often with the Clubhouses?

Qatar uses the Escape lounge in Manchester, seems possible again...

Anyway, all just speculation on the matter...

Think its more down to ATL and JFK being Delta hubs with lots and lots of connections. I think it would be great to put a Clubhouse in MAN, if you add up all the cumulative UC seats flying out on a daily basis and the on/off seasonal routes there is reasonable ask for a clubhouse. Plus all the non London based AU card holders would be grateful if they were able to invest in a Clubhouse.

Think its more down to ATL and JFK being Delta hubs with lots and lots of connections. I think it would be great to put a Clubhouse in MAN, if you add up all the cumulative UC seats flying out on a daily basis and the on/off seasonal routes there is reasonable ask for a clubhouse. Plus all the non London based AU card holders would be grateful if they were able to invest in a Clubhouse.

and remember it could also be "subbed" out to other airlines - Jet Airways uses the EWR Clubhouse before the VS flight(s) start to depart.

David

I would think that a clubhouse budget was paid for by pax on all flights who pay for entry or get invited to use the service, it's part of the flight ticket, yes? If that's the case then passengers flying from Manchester are getting a poor deal, after all said the flight from Manchester costs the same as from Gatwick (and slightly more from Heathrow), so therefore there is a question concerning a price differentiation regarding the lack of UC clubroom at Manchester. i.e. you get far more bang for your bucks at LHR & GTW. Thank you all for your comments I would be interested to know how other people feel about this.

[Neil]

Ultimately it is what it is, we all know before booking there isn't a CH at MAN so it is our choice to fly from there or go from LGW/LHR instead and experience the CH. There really aren't many (any) alternatives from MAN that offer a similar CH experience, so while Virgin don't need to compete they clearly are deciding not to.

Yet they have got a V-Room at Manchester. Surely expanding the V-Room to share central facilities but having independent customer spaces would be the way to go? It's somewhat of a joke that UC pax are currently getting vouchers rather than access to the V-Room during the current Escape lounge closure at MAN. I know VS and VH are technically separate companies but come on guys, bang the heads together.

Until recently, the only all year flights from Manchester were to Orlando (has Barbados always been there? If so then that as well), so those 14 seats didn't really justify such an expense as a Clubhouse. Vegas was all year round for a bit, but went seasonal.

Now they've got an Atlanta, Barbados and Vegas (seasonal) as well, it might be on their list of things to do. Delta do a JFK from Manchester too, but don't know which Terminal...

Barbados has been running for about 10 years now. In the winter it's 2 flights per week and once a week in the summer. DL use the same terminal as VS which is T2.

I suppose the only way a Clubhouse can be justified is if access can be granted to other airlines like elsewhere. Cathay Pacific returned to MAN over a year ago using T2, Hainan are starting a Beijing route in June from T2 and Singapore Airlines also use T2.

If space is an issue, I expect nothing to be added until the major redevelopment project that's on the horizon is complete.

The V room at kid holiday time can be.... shall we say "boisterous" at times.