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[EWR] Denied entry to VS Clubhouse in Newark while on VS flight

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  • [EWR] Denied entry to VS Clubhouse in Newark while on VS flight

    Hi everyone,
    being too lazy to write into VS to demand why I was denied entry to CH at EWR last year I thought i'd ask here if i was in the wrong. I have never had trouble gaining access to a VS clubhouse in an economy flight on Virgin using my PPS Solitaire card until this recent experience last year. I was flying from EWR-LHR on Virgin economy and then onwards to SIN on SQ in C not that the second leg matters. I was reluctantly checked in at the UC counter by a staff member who said next time I should use the Y checkin and then proceeded to rip my Upper Class tags off my bag that the LHR staff had very kindly tagged. I'm pretty sure priority checkin and baggage is a solitaire benefit on Virgin according to our membership guide but this checkin agent thought differently and told me that no i dont have any benefits other than being able to credit my miles to SQ. I usually dont mind waiting for my bags but I was on the VS morning flight that reaches heathrow around 8:25pm and I had to recheck my bags for the LHR-SIN flight at 10:05pm so the connection was somewhat tight.

    I then proceeded to go to the Clubhouse lounge in what i think was concourse C. The station manager who I talked to was quite polite but very insistent that I did not have any CH access. When insisting that I had gained clubhouse access while flying Y in HKG, NRT, LHR, and even JFK she said that LHR was just an outlier in the system because maybe they had a large lounge but that she has not been informed that any SQ frequent fliers were able to access CH and said that JFK probably should not have granted me access!!!!! on a previous trip!!!! She said that she remember before 2005 they had some agreement with SQ but that this has long been rescinded!!!! She nonetheless gave me her business card if i wanted to write in to virgin for a reply and encouraged me to join VS's flying club which would grant me access, which i thought was handled well. I therefore retreated in defeat to the McDonalds Newark airport for breakfast which i must say makes a really bad coffee IMHO and charged $3 for a packet for a very unfresh fruit salad. Access to CH would definitely be appreciated in an airport like EWR which is quite dour.

    Have any SQTalkers run into similar problems with EWR CH? Can EWR CH be accessed when flying SQ 21 nonstop to SIN as CH can be accessed flying SQ?
    Thanks just wanted to clarify whether EWR lounge might be specifically prohibited to SQ staff as this is a problem that happens more with airlines like UA than VS.

  • #2
    I could be wrong but I don't think it's a QPP or TPP benefit to have access to the VS CH (nor any other benefits such as UC check-in and security) when flying on VS in Y. If I'm correct, the times you were let in before appear to be out of goodwill on VS's part.

    Edit: IIRC, it IS an official benfit to be allowed access to the VS CH at LHR when flying VS in Y if holding BD *G (but not AFAIK UC check-in and security).

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    • #3
      Originally posted by jhm View Post
      I could be wrong but I don't think it's a QPP or TPP benefit to have access to the VS CH (nor any other benefits such as UC check-in and security) when flying on VS in Y. If I'm correct, the times you were let in before appear to be out of goodwill on VS's part.

      Edit: IIRC, it IS an official benfit to be allowed access to the VS CH at LHR when flying VS in Y if holding BD *G (but not AFAIK UC check-in and security).
      All SQ *G had been entitled to priority (UC) checkin, baggage handling and lounge access with VS when flying VS Y. Unless there has been a very recent change, I think the staff were just untrained.

      SQflyer, I'd write to VS to clarify.
      ‘Lean into the sharp points’

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      • #4
        Originally posted by jjpb3 View Post
        All SQ *G had been entitled to priority (UC) checkin, baggage handling and lounge access with VS when flying VS Y. Unless there has been a very recent change, I think the staff were just untrained.
        Ooops, my mistake!

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        • #5
          I thought CH access was only for specific stations where there is no space constraint, not including EWR. See here

          ...although I think priority baggage and check-in should have been honoured, and worth complaining about

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          • #6
            Originally posted by kt74 View Post
            I thought CH access was only for specific stations where there is no space constraint, not including EWR. See here

            ...although I think priority baggage and check-in should have been honoured, and worth complaining about
            They didn't have that lounge access restriction two or three years ago when I wrote to VS to ask; thanks for the update.
            ‘Lean into the sharp points’

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            • #7
              oooh i could've sworn that the list of lounges available to SQ PPS solitaire was longer and pretty sure that a year ago included the JFK lounge and possible JNB as well....but since the website doesn't specifically mention EWR you must be right.

              Thanks guys

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