Last September, Virgin Atlantic announced it would officially join the SkyTeam alliance. At that time, it was said that Virgin would become a member in early 2023. Now there is a specific date: Membership will come into effect on March 2, 2023.
From that date, any frequent flyer status at Virgin Flying Club will become an Elite (Plus) status at SkyTeam. In return, all SkyTeam frequent flyers can visit Virgin Atlantic lounges. However, little will change for frequent flyers of Delta SkyMiles and Flying Blue, because there was already a close partnership between these airlines and programs.
It remains to be seen how quickly the airlines will catch up with the technical implementation. Because on March 2, it will certainly not yet be possible at every airline to enter a Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer number. The ITA Airways case shows all the problems that can arise.
Changes to Clubhouse Lounge Access
As part of SkyTeam regulations, every frequent flyer with Elite Plus status is granted access to SkyTeam airlines’ business lounges. So all SkyTeam frequent flyers can rejoice. Although Virgin Atlantic has a fairly small number of lounges (London, New York, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Boston, Johannesburg), they are among the best on the market.
Bad news, though, for all Amex Platinum credit card holders. Currently, (as part of Plaza Premium) these are granted access to all clubhouses except London. Changes to the access regulations have been making the rounds for the last few days, only to be denied again. But now it really seems to be the case that clubhouse access via Amex card is no longer possible. There was a corresponding field report yesterday in Flyertalk.
The following review provides insight into what frequent flyers can expect at Clubhouse JFK. The lounge in London is probably even better:
Source: The Points Guy
Cover Picture: © Virgin Atlantic