Status match: Virgin Australia lounge access via BA Executive Club

Members of British Airways’ Executive Club program can match their status across to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, which in turn gives lounge access and other elite perks when flying with Virgin Australia.

The deal is available to Executive Club Gold and Silver cardholders flying on Virgin Atlantic's Little Red domestic airline from London Heathrow to Edinburgh, Manchester or Aberdeen.

And that's the only way to score this gratis status. Forget about firing off an email or filling in an online form: you'll have to show your BA Gold or Silver card to the Little Red cabin crew during your flight and then ask for a status match form.

Here’s what you can enjoy as a Flying Club Gold or Silver member:

Flying Club Gold

Executive Club Gold members are matched across to Flying Club Gold, which opens the door to Virgin Atlantic’s Clubhouses – including in London and New York – but also to Virgin Australia’s domestic lounges.

Those are found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, Perth, Cairns and Mackay, and as long as you’re flying with Virgin Australia, you’ll be able to wander in with a guest in tow.

To sweeten the deal, Gold also sees you enjoying priority check-in, boarding and baggage handling with both Virgin Australia and Virgin Atlantic, and you’ll also pocket 10,000 Flying Club miles when the match goes through.

Flying Club Silver

Predictably, Silver with Executive Club lands Flying Club Silver status. While that doesn’t provide lounge access with Virgin Australia, you’ll still get international priority check-in and an increased baggage allowance on VA flights.

Also, when flying with Virgin Atlantic out of London Heathrow Terminal 3, London Gatwick (North & South Terminals) and Birmingham International, the No.1 Traveller lounges are yours to enjoy – which isn’t a bad perk for a Silver-level flyer.

Newly-minted Silver members also grab 5,000 Flying Club miles as a welcome gift.

The fine print

The status match offer is open to both new and existing members of Flying Club, so if you haven’t already signed up, you can easily join on board when asking to status match.

Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club office confirmed to Australian Business Traveller that it’ll take roughly four to six weeks for your new Silver or Gold card to arrive by mail, with the status valid for 13 months from the time the match was requested.

Even though Bronze-level members of Executive Club enjoy Oneworld Ruby status (the same as Qantas Silver), these flyers aren’t eligible for a match as Virgin Atlantic has no membership tier between Silver and the base Red level.

Virgin Atlantic staff also advised that this was an ongoing offer, but is only available on the airline’s Little Red domestic flights within the U.K. – not on Virgin Atlantic’s international flights such as to Hong Kong and New York.

Australian Business Traveller has previously detailed how to earn British Airways Executive Club Gold status (equivalent to Qantas Platinum) when flying with Qantas, British Airways and other Oneworld member airlines, which comes with alliance-wide privileges including access to Qantas’ First Class lounges.

British Airways’ program also gives travellers a shot at lifetime elite status, so if you’ve already started your journey towards a lifetime of luxury, don’t forget to bring your Executive Club card along for the ride on your next Virgin Atlantic Little Red flight.

Read more: How to get Qantas Lifetime Platinum

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Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.