Originally Posted by
imnotalawyer
Just to draw a bigger spotlight to it, the restricted hours at the JFK Lounge only make it available between 5AM and 8AM, which is certainly
pretty restrictive. Still, I tend to take early flights and its nicer to have options (Centurion, Delta, Virgin) at JFK.
Edit: OP's article doesn't talk about guest access but the
Guest Policy on Virgin's page suggests that you can bring in a guest provided that they are also simultaneously entering the lounge with you and flying out of T4 on an international flight operated by Virgin/Delta/Air France/KLM on that day. However, Virgin's page has not been updated to reflect the fact that the Amex Platinum grants access as of yet.
Late September at IAD for 2 days in a row (cancelled flight) our group of 6 was able to enter virgin lounge with just 2 cards so I think it may be 2 guests per cardholder. Similar experience to others, the lounge was very empty with a really nice waiter and food/drink selection. First day only reason I found out about it was they had a big sign by the door stating Platinum cardholder access, which we circled back to after being denied entry to the PP Turkish lounge just a few gates down where the rest of our party was. We all migrated down to Virgin which was very quiet and great table service, and did the same pre-flight the next day (both days we were flying out of separate terminal FWIW).
Our group enjoyed multiple rounds of drinks (guinness, heineken, red wine, champagne) and some tasty food (grilled chicken sandwich + fries, butternut squash soup, ice cream brownie sundae, cookies, chips, cheeses) which can all be ordered to table via QR code or a circulating waiter. Might be the best option for Plat out of IAD