Travel hack: 30 days' access to Virgin Australia lounges for $90
By John Walton, June 19 2012
Here's a handy travel hack for the infrequent Virgin Australia passenger who still wants lounge access: enjoy 30 days' access to all Virgin Australia lounges for just $90.
Sign up for a temporary pass from Virgin Australia's partner Delta and you can have a pre-flight pitstop at Virgin's stylish new lounges in Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Mackay, and the existing lounges in Sydney, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide.
How it works
Delta offers access to its Sky Club lounges through a series of membership plans, among which is a $90 'temporary membership card' offering 30 days of lounge access.
This grants access "to all Delta lounges, Virgin Australia Lounges and Alaska Board Rooms, as well as select Air France and KLM lounges".
We ran this past Virgin Australia to double check, and a spokesperson confirmed that "anybody presenting a Delta Sky Club 30 day membership card will be allowed entry at Virgin Australia lounges for the period of that card's validity."
That makes it a top option if you're not flying in Virgin Australia business class, and don't fly enough to merit Gold or Platinum status with Virgin's Velocity frequent flyer scheme -- or if your Qantas status match from last year is about to expire and you haven't racked up the status credits for renewal.
(You might also know someone who's just starting to travel on business who could benefit from lounge access, so let them know about the deal and explain what they get.)
That $90 is less than double the price of the old single-entry lounge passes, which were cut earlier this year -- and you get a full 30 days' worth of entry instead of being restricted to a single visit.
For longer periods, the Delta program is roughly comparable with Virgin Australia's own lounge program.
Thanks to regular AusBT contributor Chris Neugebauer for the tip. If you've spotted something interesting or useful that's relevant to your fellow business travellers, shoot us an email or give us a shout on Twitter: we're @AusBT!
Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.
Virgin Blue - Velocity Rewards
12 May 2011
Total posts 31
John, i'd be surprised if Any Time Access was granted under this scheme. Virgin does not give ATA to it's own lounge members - only Gold and Platinum velocity members. You may find that arrivals access is allowed but that would be entirely at their discretion.
If it did grant ATA access it could be a very cheap way of getting free booze and food 90 days without having to set foot on a plane!
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2561
Hi 777... our understanding is that Delta card-holders can enter the lounge after their flight (upon showing a boarding pass) as well as pre-flight, but they won't enjoy 'anytime access' per se (ie using the lounge as one's office / cafe / bar, no boarding pass required)... inaccurate use of 'anytime access' in this article on my behalf, now fixed!
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2561
Hey 777, just an update - Virgin has gotten back to us and say their lounge team qualifies that Delta card-holders "must be departing on a same day DJ or VA flight, so unfortunately they couldn’t use them post-flight" - ie, no lounge access after arriving.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
03 Jul 2011
Total posts 187
The VA website states "Velocity Platinum and Gold members receive complimentary entry into owned and operated Delta Sky Club lounges, around the world on day of travel", but the Delta website states "Virgin Australia Club members traveling on a flight operated by Delta or Virgin Australia Airlines"
So as a VA Club member how would I prove my membership, as its not shown on my Silver FF card at all? No wonder we get confused at airports :-)
19 Jun 2012
Total posts 30
What about this from the Delta FAQ:
30-Day members will not receive permanent membership cards. Temporary membership cards can be obtained in-Club and printed if purchased online. The temporary membership card printout will not grant access to partner lounges, only to Delta Sky Club locations. Partner lounges require actual temporary membership cards, which may be obtained from any Delta Sky Club location.
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2561
V1213: that's why we double-checked this with Virgin Australia, as indicated in the article, and they confirmed that "anybody presenting a Delta Sky Club 30 day membership card will be allowed entry at Virgin Australia lounges for the period of that card's validity."
QF
19 Jun 2012
Total posts 17
It also says
"The 30-day membership grants access to all Delta lounges, Virgin Australia Lounges and Alaska Board Rooms, as well as select Air France and KLM lounges with the use of the temporary membership card"
So should be OK.
QF
19 Jun 2012
Total posts 17
Do you know what their policy on guests is for people using the Delta card? ideally I'd like to pay $90 and get 30 days access for me, the missus and the kids!
Qantas
19 Jun 2012
Total posts 1
Hi Ollie, I was wondering similar...whether the $90 would be for me and my hubby or $90 each. I searched Delta Airlines (as we are using Virgin and Delta) and for me it is good news - for $90 you get yourself and 2 guests. Depending on how many extra kids, they may accomodate???
I was going to add a link, but as it is disable above, I will assume it isn't allowed.
03 Jan 2011
Total posts 665
Hi Denise -- you can add a link. Just highlight the word you want to turn into a link and the link button changes from being "greyed out".
04 Nov 2010
Total posts 670
Very clever uncovering this. I'm Platinum, got a status match from Qantas and have since moved all my domestic flights to Qantas so I've earned enough to keep my Velocity status, so don't need this trick myself but will pass it on to a colleague who needs something like this. Only last week she was asking about paying to get into the Virgin lounge. I wish they had kept one-off access, but this is ever better value!
10 Apr 2012
Total posts 59
What a Joke.I am only a base silver with Virgin Australia and don't even get access to Lounges at any price.Flying NZ soon and was hoping to get into the lounge at ADL before the flight to Auckland.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
23 May 2012
Total posts 268
Hi guys, it says in little writing that these passes won't have access to Virgin Australia lounges from August 31. Is that Aug 31 2012 or 2013?
14 Oct 2012
Total posts 1
Is there confirmation that this access arrangement still works?
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