The new Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at LAX, which opened on March 28, 2025, is now accessible via Priority Pass – for an upcharge.
The lounge is located in the old Etihad space on level 6 of the Tom Bradley International Terminal, and is only 4,401 square feet. There’s no natural light or tarmac views, but they’ve designed it in signature Virgin style with striking lighting schemes.
The lounge elements include,
- The Ruby Room: a retro-style cinema lounge with wireless Bluetooth headsets.
- The Wing: work pods named after iconic recording studios.
- The Royal Box VIP space with mood lighting and off-menu perks like chocolate-covered strawberries.
- The Zen Den: a mindfulness and movement studio
There’s self-serve food and an a la carte menu and barista-made coffee. Restrooms offer showers.
The space is accessible to Virgin Atlantic Upper Class and Flying Club Gold passengers (+1 guest); Delta One passengers on international flights; SkyTeam Elite Plus traveling on Delta or Virgin Atlantic (+1 guest); and some partner elites (e.g., Air New Zealand Elite, Virgin Australia Platinum). SkyTeam Elite Plus status does not grant access unless flying on Delta or Virgin.
It’s also now available to customers with Priority Pass
- You swipe your card for entry and pay a $35 supplement per person.
- Available hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. – 11 p.m.
- Virgin has a 3:30 p.m., 8:05 p.m., and 10:50 p.m. flight. The hours restriction presumably protects Virgin’s passengers of the 8 p.m., a peak departure time from the terminal, from having the lounge overwhelmed.
- I wouldn’t be surprised to see the lounge considered full and denying Priority Pass admittance many days come 1 p.m. or thereabouts.
This is an interesting model. Priority Pass economics have them generating a certain amount of money per swipe in revenue from partners like Chase, American Express and Capital One, and passing on a little less than that to the lounge. That’s something like high-$20s and mid-$20s per swipe, with Priority Pass earning the margin on each use.
Here, Priority Pass can’t pay what the lounge would demand for entry. But they want to monetize the space throughout the day. So if the lounge requires $60 per person, some of that money is going to come from Priority Pass and some from the passenger.
On the one hand, the model is concerning – Priority Pass no longer covering the cost of lounge entry! On the other hand, it opens up more and nicer spaces. Too many eligible lounges are massively overcrowded and not very good. A co-pay will discourage some otherwise-eligible passengers from using the lounge, too.
And already The Club lounges – Priority Pass accessible, and owned by the same company – charges a fee for reservations which can be the difference between gaining access or not. So in that sense this doesn’t break new ground. Overall, I like it.
By
By
By
