Gatwick Lounge

Never having been to the clubhouse at Gatwick before, what sort of food/ drinks are available? Are they free of charge?

[Decker]

This thread has some useful info on this. Bottom line is best lounge food in the world pretty much and all free, including full bar and then some.

[buns]

Ports

To add to what Decker has already said, the LGW Clubhouse has a great atmosphere and I have always found the staff there go out of thier way to make you feel welcome.

You will have a great experience - and will want to go back again and again[8D]

Buns

I was just in the Lounge yesterday morning and have nothing but praise for it! The staff was extremely attentive and always made sure you had everything that you needed. I tried out the Virgin Touch Salon and advise you to try to pre-book you a treatment to have while you wait for the flight.

You can pre book at LGW only

by email - [email protected]

or phone - 01293 444 342

Heathrow doesn't take appointments .

Hi

I remember reading somewhere (scoured the sight so much that I can't remember exactly where!) that often on the LGW - MCO route PE is extended to rows 11 and 12 downstairs. My questions are:

1) Having pre-booked seats upstairs, would this stop us being re-allocated if the opportunity was there?

2) Do we enquire at check-in about teh availability of the seats or is it something that happens automatically?

3) If it's offered, should we take it?

This will be our first time travelling PE and we'd like to make the most of the experience.

Thanks in advance for any help ... and great site too!

Cheers

Nick

Hey

Me again ... sorry, forgot to ask about the Lounge bit, which was the hwole reason for being in this section of the forum!

We've pre-booked tickets with VH for the Clubhouse, but the brochure says something about paying extra for beauty treatments. Any information on that one?

Thanks

Nick

[Nottingham Nick]

Nick

Clubhouse passes acquired through Virgin Holidays, seem to be a bit of a grey area with different people getting different answers when asking the various branches of Virgin about them.

It is quite a while since I was lucky enough to be in a Clubhouse, but then their proud boast was that 'money is no good in here, Sir' everything was comp.

Surely it can't be possible that a VH pass gets you into the clubhouse, but doesn't entitle you to use all of the facilities, surely? That would be a nightmare to enforce and would lead to all sorts of sticky situations.

Please let us know what happens, Nick.


Nick

Hi

I fly to St Lucia end of June from Gatwick, I had quite abit of trouble with Holiday booking (was given wrong costing to upgrade from economy to PE, so when I went to settle account 8 weeks before holiday, I discovered holiday was now £200 more than expected).

When i wrote to customer services informing them of this error, being a Frequent Virgin/Flyer etc they sent me 2 complimentary lounge access passes for the Gatwick clubhouse, i've not got the tickets yet, but on the change of booking itinery/invoice, it states that club house passes do not include treatments, I presume you need to show UC tickets for them?, it just says hand vouchers in at checkin to recieve Clubhouse passes, otherwise I have no idea how they would inforce this rule, I was just gonna play dumb on the day and see what happens

Hi

Thanks for that guys. I had the same thoughts as you, Nick; how could two different sets of rules apply to people in the same room without having to produce any form of ID? Then encrip offered a possible explanation; showing UC boarding cards. However, in all the Lounges I've been in I've never been asked for an ID once I've got past the front desk.

Like encrip, I think I'll play it dumb and sure thing Nick, I'll come back and let you know how I got on.

Just one small extra point. I was reading a report today from someone who has just returned from MCO and did as we're doing (PE with purchased Clubhouse passes)... he recommends it, but said it cost £25 per person. The VH brochure charges £30 per person. Any ideas?

Cheers for now.

Nick

Once when flying LGW-ANU there were lots of delayed passengers in the LGW Clubhouse who had been given access. On booking a treatment the receptionist did ask what class I was flying, preusmably to ensure treatments were only being given to UC/Gold passengers.

BC

When do you travel soldierguy?

I fly out from LGW 27/06/04 returning 11/07/04, so I'll post a message on what happens at the clubhouse lounge for PE pax + pass.

Thanks encrip

I fly 30 June and return 14 July ... so unless you post when you get there, before I leave, it'll have to be a case of where you've been, I follow!

In any event, I hope you have a great time and whatever arrangements you find in the Clubhouse, I'm sure it'll be worth it.

By the way, are you plannin in sitting upstairs in PE or trying for rows 11/12?

Ciao

Nick

I thought rows 11/12 in UC were only on the Heathrow to LA routes not the LGW departures?

I've pre-booked 'upstairs' seats in PE, and I do fancy trying up there, i'm checking in on Twilight check in day before when the desk opens at 3pm to get rid of baggage, so I might see if the row 11/12 UC seats are available for PE economy pax, whats the usual protocol for getting these seats?, just asking at checkin?, I will be checking in wearing 'presentable' clothes as i'll be having fingers crossed for an UC upgrade ;o)

Have a great trip yourself, and i'll see what I can post from the hotel in St Lucia (in between cocktails!!!)

ecnirp

On LGW departures, rows 11/12 are UC seats, but with PE service. If you're talking "protocol", start thinking op-upgrades, since getting these seats is probably more akin to one

When I checked in for my LGW>MCO flight in March, I found out I was in row 12 - a very pleasant (and welcome!) surprise [8D]

Cheers

Michael

Thats a nice surprise at checkin Mcuth!!!!

I've pre booked PE seats there and back so back of seats are next to emergency exits, so giving full recline without affecting PAX behind, would pre booking seats affect checkin staff giving an op upgrade to rows 11/12?

Are rows 11/12 at the back of UC with PE service that much better than upstairs on PE?, I like the idea of the privacy of upstairs you get from LGW ?

ecnirp

Oh yeah - I was booked in PE, arrived at check-in and made my usual request of an aisle emergency exit seat - check-in agent said "Well, you're being moved downstairs anyway - to row 12, which is UC with PE service - seat 12H" - lovely start to the day

I had a seat assignment upstairs, so I don't think that affects your chances

IMHO, as a 6ft 2" *cough* larger *cough* gentleman, the extra seat pitch & width in the Recaros (plus laptop power) was worth it, although I do love the upstairs PE cabin too

HTH

Cheers

Michael

First an apology to ecnrip ... for getting your name wrong ...[:I]... but many thanks for your continued dialogue.

Thanks too mcuth ... very useful. Just one other thing about rows 11/12 or exit/bulkhead seats and checking in ... any advice about how early you need to be there to secure a seat with leg room?

Thanks again for the inof guys ...

Nick

Nick

quote:Thanks too mcuth ... very useful. Just one other thing about rows 11/12 or exit/bulkhead seats and checking in ... any advice about how early you need to be there to secure a seat with leg room?

Here's the accurate bit - as early as possible Personally, I usually check in at least 4hrs before departure - never seemed to have much difficulty with getting an exit row

NB, if you're assigned 11/12, IIRC, they have something like 55" pitch

Cheers

Michael

Do virgin ever sell rows 11/12 as UC seats if UC is full, rather than PE?

seems a very good deal to get an UC seat at PE price, even if you do get PE service, at the end of the day, most people probably upgrade to UC for the extra room on the seat rather then UC service, then again, i've never flown UC, so maybe it is worth the extra just for the UC service??

quote:Originally posted by ecnirp
Do virgin ever sell rows 11/12 as UC seats if UC is full, rather than PE?

YES