After our lovely visit to Newark’s Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in February, I was totally excited to visit Virgin’s Clubhouse at the Johannesburg, South Africa International Airport. In fact, it was the only thing getting me through the depression of going home, LOL.
Happy in Cape Town, South Africa the day before departure.
ENTRANCE TO THE VIRGIN ATLANTIC CLUBHOUSE.
Despite a number of lounge options in Johannesburg’s international terminal between Priority Pass and our American Express Plaitnum card, we heard that the Virgin Clubhouse was the nicest and went promptly there (after a little shopping in the Out of Africa shop!). The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse is located on the second floor of the international terminal, just a bit further down from the aforementioned Out of Africa store. We took the elevator up. Checkin was quick and consisted of presenting an American Express Platinum card and boarding passes. I particularly loved the flower wall at the entrance.
Entrance to the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, Johannesburg from inside the club.
On our departure from Amman, Jordan, Dan and I had two airport lounge options though our Priority Pass: Royal Jordanian’s Crown Lounge or the unaffiliated Petra Lounge. After googling some other reviews, we started with the Crown Lounge and it was so nice that we never left to check out the Petra Lounge! The Crown Lounge was quite luxurious – definitely an upgrade from many Priority Pass lounges!
Dan signed up for the United Airlines credit card last year to qualify for bonus points and free checked bags, and one of the perks associated with the United Airlines credit card are two United Club lounge passes for one time use give out each year. Since we love a good (or really even mediocre) airport lounge, we were pretty excited to try the United Club lounges! We also usually fly out of Newark, and Newark is home to three United Clubs! Well, not so fast. As it turns out, United is revamping all of its airport lounges and the main United lounge at Newark in Terminal C is closed for renovations and is currently not open to day passes until later in 2018…
With the holiday travel upon us, here is my review of Wingtips Lounge in Terminal 4 of New York’s JFK Airport. I have visited twice, once at breakfast and once at lunch, and will likely return.
Wingtips is a private airport lounge located plane-side, just past security, on the second level of JFK’s Terminal 4. Several foreign airports use Wingtips as their lounge and priority pass members receive complimentary entrance. NOTE – if the lounge is too crowded, priority pass members’ access is cut off. Individuals not part of priority lass can buy a one-day membership for $50 USD.
In follow-up to my last post, I decided to review one of my favorite airport lounges – the American Express Centurion Lounge in Ezezia International Airport in Buenos Aires!
Favorite part: unlimited Chandon.
I visited this lounge in December during a layover in Ezezia Airport. The lounge is located on the second level in Terminal C. There are no big signs or flashy entrances, so you will have to look for it.
Once we checked in (need your card, ID and boarding pass), the lounge opens up into a very modern living room! There are plenty of seats, outlets, great wifi, international papers, TVs, etc. in the main room. In addition, there are some small areas separated from the rest of the room – see below. Good for groups.
Complimentary, self-serve food was set up buffet style in the main sitting room. There was no hot food when I was there, but there was a good selection of cold options, from small sandwichs, breads, meats, cheese, fruit, yogurt, cereal, jams, jellies, wraps, Havanna cookies (which are so expensive in Argentina; these are not wrapped so you cannot take them with you), etc. While I found the food to be more breakfast-snacky than dinner, our flight left pretty late so we may have missed a more substantial dinner spread. Plus, the sandwiches were delicious! I could have easily made a complete meal of the offerings, and everything was regularly replenished. Here’s the food:
In terms of drink, all types of beverages were also complimentary and self-serve in the buffet area. Our favorite was the endless Chandon! Yum!! Aside from Chandon, various types of liquors, beer and red and wine Argentinian wines were available. We tried the Argentinian red wine and it was delightful. In addition to alcohol, a variety of name brand sodas – including the at-the-time-not-in-the-US Coke Light – were available, as well as bottled water, all sorts of juices, mixers and two expresso machines! Again, everything was complimentary and you can take as much as you want (Note – the alcohol and coffee are not in to-go bottles)! Dan and I really loaded up on bottled water, soda and snacks for the flight; however, US travelers beware, while the Argentinian airport security is rather non-existent, US flights almost always make fliers go through a second round of security at the gate, where the 3-1-1 rule applies and no bottled water is allowed, even if its from the airport! Also show up a little early for this task…
In other categories, the lounge has nice, large, clean private bathrooms with private sinks . This makes for a great place to change clothing, etc. before a long flight. Note – there are no showers in this lounge.
Finally, the Lounge had a pretty big child play area separate from the rest of the lounge with tons of toys, etc. This seemed like a great place to keep children occupied – plus it kept them out of the lounge!
Overall, one of my favorite lounge experiences! Definitely worth a visit if you are in Ezezia International!
Access to The Centurion Lounge is complimentary for global Platinum Card and Centurion Members. All other Card Members with a valid American Express Credit or Charge Card can purchase a day pass for $50 per day (includes children under 18).
Once you’re in, everything in the Lounge is complimentary.
Note – While part of the American Express Centurion Group, apparently the international locations are run separately from the U.S. lounges. As such, depending where you are, you may not get the same accommodation you are used to in the U.S. lounges.
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