Newbie question re international lounge access when flying partner airlines

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tasmarshall

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Jun 27, 2011
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Hi all, I'm a relative newbie to the world of VA's international partner lounges as I'm on my first international trip since qualifying as VA Gold. In a couple of days I'm flying Etihad in Y out of Tokyo Narita (on an EY flight number).

My question is whether generally when flying partner airlines like Etihad I need to get some kind of lounge invite when I check in or whether I just rock up at the lounge reception with my boarding pass and VA gold card? I'd prefer to avoid any embarrassment and / or missing out on my time in the lounge. I had a search on here but couldn't find anything, so forgive me if this question is already answered in an FAQ somewhere!

On a related note, the Velocity website lists the ANA Lounge when flying etihad out of Narita but the etihad website lists the Narita Travelounge. Anybody know if the VA website just hasn't been updated, or if they do indeed use different lounges?

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
Just your physical gold card will be enough to get you through the door. In some places your boarding pass alone will be ok, but often the card will need to be sighted by airline/lounge staff.

I'd probably say one of those websites is out of date - airline check in desk should direct you to the correct one.
 
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VA has no real rhyme or reason to their international lounge access. It can literally change week-to-week.

Best practice - Bring your Gold card, check the VA website, but always ask at check-in. They will let you know the latest situation, and if you need an invite for that particular lounge they will give you one.
 
I always have my card handy when I fly and hand it over with my passport at check in, but I usually fly SQ and have had 'Ptnr Priority' (or similar) on my boarding passes, which seems to be fine for all the lounges I have used so far (SYD, SIN, LHR, KL)

The exception is the last time I left SYD and they were having a system issue so they couldn't see VA partner status at the Lounge, so they asked to see my card before they let me in. Generally speaking if you're worried, hand it over at check in/lounge entry anyway - if they don't need to see it then they'll let you know.
 
You don't have to be a newbie to be confused about international lounge access on partners (or on VA either for that matter)!
 
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