Using Silver free entry without flying?
 

Hi,

Does anyone know if a VA silver can use one of their free entries but without actually flying VA on the day?

Thanks
FF

No you need a boarding pass for onward travel

Oh well, thanks David

On a related question...

Is it possible for me to use one of the Silver entries for an Air NZ flight? That is an Air NZ flight sold and operated by Air NZ.

The terms and conditions are very clear on what the pass covers you for, which is essentially when you are travelling on a VA domestic flight:

22.3 Complimentary Single Entry Lounge Pass

22.3.1 We may provide a Member with complimentary Virgin Australia Lounge entry from time to time (Complimentary Single Entry Lounge Pass).

22.3.2 Provision of Complimentary Single Entry Lounge Passes will be in Our sole discretion.

22.3.3 Complimentary Single Entry Lounge Passes issued will be loaded onto the Member’s Membership Card and will expire twelve months after the date of issue.

22.3.4 For access to a Virgin Australia Lounge, Members must present their Membership Card together with their Itinerary or boarding pass for their onward Virgin Australia Domestic flight on the day of travel.

22.3.5 Complimentary Single Entry Lounge Passes are non-transferable and must be used either:

(a) by the Member; or

(b) where the Member is otherwise entitled to access the Virgin Australia Lounge, by a guest accompanying the Member into the Virgin Australia Lounge.

22.3.6 Access to the Virgin Australia Lounge is only permitted on the day of travel on Virgin Australia and is at the discretion of the Virgin Australia Lounge staff and is subject to any capacity restraints that may be imposed.

I've used the VA domestic lounge at MEL after being dropped at airport 5 hours before VA codeshare international flight. I went in there with 2 of my friends and we sat in there for about an 90 minutes drinking some beers before we proceeded through immigration/customs where I left them at the bar whilst I proceeded to SQ lounge.

Is it possible to book a flexi ticket use the lounge and then cancel/refund the ticket?

Could be an option if you really don't want to fly...

You're still going to pay the credit card fee of $7.70 unless you originally pay some other way

VA Lounges are domestic aren't they?

The 2 free passes on Silver don't apply to any international ones I thought.

The lounge passes for Silver are only valid for domestic lounges.

Can you cancel a flexi ticket for refund even after you have checked in? Even so pretty sure this would just be refunded to travel bank anyway

I believe once checked in, any "flexibility" is lost.

You can cancel a flexi ticket after check-in. That isn't an issue, but you'll need to call to have it done. My only experience was still a few hours before the flight though, so I would check the rules carefully if you are going to cut it close.

It's true that VA only has domestic lounges but some, like MEL, are outside security and so you could use them on an international ticket in theory. And since Austrlaia doesn't require a boarding pass check to go through security I guess technically you could access a VA lounge anywhere if you were that inclined.

Surely the lounge is going to check that the passenger is flying whether or not they have checked in and have a boarding pass?

What? How would they 'check that the passenger is flying' besides a boarding pass?

You present your membership card at Reception. I do it all the time. You then toddle off to the service desk if you wish to change your flight (which I do all the time) and collect a boarding pass. The membership card will tell them if you have a flight that day and whether you've checked in for it. It's exactly the same with Qantas. You do realise your membership number (the one that's on your card) is tied to your reservation and they've got these new gizmos now called "computers" that can show them all this electronic data about the passenger without the need for bits of cardboard?

I usually just give them my boarding pass to scan, saves the hassle of getting card out as well.

Technically can use MEL domestic lounge if you have onward travel on VA ticket. The lounge angel was a little surprised and told me to go through immigration to the SQ lounge because "it's much nicer". When I told her we had hours to kill and could only guest +1 into SQ lounge she understood my dilemma. Mind you food was minimal as there was only 1 VA flight left for the day, was a stupid o clock flight to Darwin.

Either I've checked in on my phone (which is where my boarding pass is) or I've got my card. I never have a paper boarding pass unless I've changed my flight at the airport

how about a Gold member travelling on either Air NZ (queenstown) or Singapore (Syd)?

Gold members have access to NZ Lounge flying to NZ and the Silverkris lounge when flying SQ