Originally Posted by
NYC Flyer
Amex entry at JFK is valid for 3 hours. In my experience, if you arrive more than 3 hours prior to your flight time, the staff will warn you that the pay-in fee (for another 3 hours) will apply if you do not check out with staff and depart within three hours of your arrival to the lounge. I don't know how carefully they track and enforce this procedure, but I sensed they did at least keep a list of the visitors that were potential "holdovers".
Originally Posted by
arandano
Thank you so much for replying! This is really helpful. I will try to visit the lounge in a few days and will report back with how it goes.
Negative DP for JFK from Friday, October 28. If you have an American Express Platinum card (or a Capital One Venture X card, for that matter), be prepared to be turned away from the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse JFK. In theory this lounge only admits AmEx Platinum cardholders 3 hours before your departing flight, but in practice they usually turn away AmEx members. I first arrived in the early afternoon, and I was told to return 3 hours before my flight (5 pm for an 8 pm departure). I asked if I could just stay for an hour now and check out with them (the lounge was empty), but they said no. I followed their instructions and returned 3 hours before my flight, but I was curtly turned away again because they were "not doing AmEx today" as they had customers from their own flights. What puzzles me is that they surely knew from the get-go that they wouldn't be able to accommodate me, and it would have been nice if they had just told me that upfront rather than telling me to come back later. Honestly Virgin has several (probably busy) flights out of JFK, so I would not bank on being to access this lounge at all as an AmEx member. This lounge should just be removed from the AmEx-eligible (and Capital One-eligible) Plaza Premium lounge list.