Ambiance of the LHR Clubhouse is very different after recent refurbishment.

 

Oh no. What happened? Clubhouse is one of the very few reasons I dont mind to pay the LHR extortion taxes if I opt to fly out of LHR.

The SkyTeam's lounge at T3? is very nice, especially the upper level where it seems not known to many probably because the elevator to go up is outside. Inside there is only stairs. People with luggage probably would not be bothered to go up. It has same offerings as downstairs but much much quieter.

 

There isn't a ST lounge at T3, it's T4. Delta GM's have access to the no1 lounge. Diamonds and Business class customers have access to the Virgin Clubhouse (both the departure and arrival lounges) and not sure if Platinums have access to the clubhouse or if it is limited to the No1 Lounge.

I used both the Clubhouse at Departure and the arrivals lounge upon landing just a few weeks ago (did a long July 4 weekend there) and both lounges were great. Especially the clubhouse for departure.

I decided to sleep through the breakfast service in flight and no issues getting a shower room immediately at the arrivals lounge and decent breakfast menu.

Departure the lounge was great. No issues at all finding a seat and a really good selection on the menu (everything was comped) and table service and the service was great. I thought the big chair swings they had were pretty cool in the first room as well. They also had a "deli" area with lighter food. I didn't have any alcohol since it was morning but looked like a great selection of beverages at the bar.

 

My PP that I have throughy my CSR expires on 11/2017. I haven't seen this yet but does having CSR give you the benefit of annual PP memberships or is it a one year only thing?

 

Sorry for the failing memory on the SkyTeam lounge at LHR.

But why mia said the Clubhouse has a different feel after the refurbishment?

I dont particularly like the Virgin's seat (much prefer the reversed version though arguably it was Virgin to introduce the concept to have the slander arrangement versus the traditional rows. I feel the NZ version is more comfortable than VS version, which also looked worn on the MIA-LHR route.
But their Clubhouse is in their own league.

The Clubhouse and the TK's lounge at IST are the rare bleed of "fun" lounges among all airlines lounges. We really like them.

 

Brief explanation here, beginning post 618:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...l#post28392613

 

It was not an introductory benefit so it should be renewed as long as Chase offer it and your CSR card is valid.

 

Oh crap. I hate that when a lounge looks more like a restaurant than a lounge with areas for different purposes including some quiet and relaxed areas.

This is unfortunate due to the influx of DL passengers.

It takes away one of the justifications to pay the high LHR departure extortion fees on the long haul.

Need to study VS route map on flights from LHR to Europe and see if I can piece an itinerary next time that avoids KLM/AF as well as AZ so to stay at T3 for the connection.

 

Doesn't KLM and Airfrance still use T4 at LHR? I thought that is why they still had the Skyteam lounge at T4.

I thought the Virgin Clubhouse was very nice when I was there July 3. I really didn't notice restaurant feel at all unless you consider the area up front to a restaurant vibe with the really long wide bar type table which I really liked because I was able to spread myself out to get some work done. The upstairs looked like it was pretty quiet.

I'll take the clubhouse over the Skyteam lounge at T4 any day and that was the biggest advantage to Delta moving the DTW flights from T4 to T3 for me. I preferred the T3 Delta arrivals lounge though over the Virgin arrivals lounge when landing at T3 when I would fly in from JFK. No wait at all to use the upperdeck security entrance (I hate having to use the nudoscope though over the magnometer but since no one in line not a big deal). The Clubhouse has pretty tight entrance requirements where the T4 sky team lounge allows all sky priority passengers access as well as guest and they allow priority pass (and I believe some other type of high credit card) swipes where the Clubhouse is limited to J class passengers and higher tier passengers and I don't think Diamonds are allowed to guest anyone in at the Clubhouse. I also like that they make flight announcements at the Clubhouse (although I wish they would make the announcements when flights are ready for boarding like they do at the Skyclubs instead of final boarding)

Downfall to this though is as someone who flies out of DTW several times a month late afternoons/early evenings it means Virgin customers have access to the DTW skyclubs during peak hours.

 

Your PP card expires on 11/2017, not your PP membership. They'll send you a new card. Your PP membership expires when you cancel your CSR.

 

With the removal of the escape lounge at MSP for PP members, we now get a $15 credit at the PGA lounge at MSP that can be used for food and beverages or towards the golfing experience. I'd rather have that than the Escape lounge access

 

I get denied more often than not trying to use PP, usually due to lounge overcrowding. Yes, I'm one of the CSR people, although PP was not a motivation when I applied for the CSR. And that's a good thing, because being denied four times out of five makes it a pretty worthless benefit.

I realize lounge capacity is limited, and I do believe PP may have been a victim of Chase's success with the CSR, but as it stands right now, the PP program is a bit of an embarrassment.

 

Umm, yes. Chase is not the only bank heavily promoting its premium cards and many of the others include PP benefits. Plus AS lounge usage expanded dramatically in certain locations when VX was absorbed (IMO VX has a clientele that is more likely to use lounges than even AS customers). As for the Escape Lounge, it appears that Amex signed an exclusive deal with Escape that freezes out Priority Pass - that has nothing to do with Chase.

I think the burden of proof should be on the person advocating the theory, i.e. prove God exists rather than prove he doesn't

I've had the same guest benefits with other Chase products, so I don't think that's a big factor. As for the cramped lounges, AS SEA-TAC was packed well before Chase - again I think due to the influx of VX passengers and due to PP pre-existing commitments. Maybe there was a time when AS wasn't full and happy to take money from PP, but obviously that is not the case anymore. AS schedule has also ramped up over the years...

It's easy to blame the new customers, but the fact is that PP's presence in the USA has been declining for years, as UA/CO and others began to bail out after consolidation filled their lounges. So it makes sense that AS would follow that pattern. While I am disappointed about Escape, there is not much we can do if Amex decides to pay a premium for exclusivity.

Maybe for customers who fly within the USA, but it's a different story internationally. I've never been turned away (which unfortunately is not the case at *A lounges). PP is a huge plus overseas and particularly in third world hellholes

 

I've been to the PP lounges in Dallas, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Chengdu, and Seoul and Seoul and have never been denied access. Of course the lounges are disappointing when compared to the airlines lounge and the one at DFW was very small.

 

The denials are based on capacity control. None of the lounges you visited have had the problem of capacity even the one in DFW.

There is a dedicated thread in the AS forum on how the AS lounges in the whole system have denied PP access to now a formal policy of only admitting the card holder, WHEN the capacity allowed.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...b-c-space.html