VA Gold nonAUH J lounge acces when flying EH

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Up&away

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Hi,

We're flying EH from Cairo to Jakarta via AUH in Y. I'm VA Gold. I know I'll be in the ah rheem lounge in AUH, but will I be able to access the Ethiad's (partner) lounge in Cairo?

Sorry if this is an obvious question or has been answered elsewhere, but the posts on here and on the VA/EH websites seem a little ambiguous.
 
notzac said:
Per Lounge Access with Velocity Membership | Velocity Frequent Flyer, yes you will have lounge access at CAI. Velocity Gold members (+1 guest) flying EY are entitled to access "All Etihad Pearl Business Class Lounges outside Abu Dhabi and worldwide Etihad Partner Lounges".
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I've just landed in Abu Dhabi. There was a large sign outside the Pearl Business Class lounge saying that Velocity Gold and Platinum members flying in economy or premium economy could only access the Ah Reem lounge in Terminal 1. Last month I was able to access the Pearl lounge as Velocity Platinum. Anyone know when this changed?
 
notmensa said:
I've just landed in Abu Dhabi. There was a large sign outside the Pearl Business Class lounge saying that Velocity Gold and Platinum members flying in economy or premium economy could only access the Ah Reem lounge in Terminal 1. Last month I was able to access the Pearl lounge as Velocity Platinum. Anyone know when this changed?
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Quote from the V Australia site (it is a footnote at the bottom of the table on this page

^ When travelling in Coral Economy Class Velocity Platinum and Gold members must access the Etihad Airways Al Reem Lounge in terminal one until further notice."
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Sorry to bump this thread but I have bad news for the Velocity Gold and Plat FF.

I am about to travel to LHR in about 2 months so I thought I would check on the update of the Etihad "expanding" Pearl lounge situation because of overcrowding as a result of Etihad letting their Silver guests use the lounge, along with the Gold and Gold Elite members.

Etihad has said that it won't be expanding the Pearl lounge at all now, so as a result, the move to Al Reem lounge in Terminal 1 will be permanent rather than temporarily as they initially told us, plus most flights depart from T3 so you have to go through about 3 security checkpoints when transferring between gates to use the lounge.

I guess there is nothing we can do about it LOL except wait for Qatar Airways to come along and sweep Virgin off its feet :)

Oh well I guess I can still use the Pearl lounge in LHR on the flight back or the American Airlines Admiralty lounge in Paris (lets hope they recognise the velocity card because its an Etihad partner lounge)
 
airtraveladdict said:
Sorry to bump this thread but I have bad news for the Velocity Gold and Plat FF.

I am about to travel to LHR in about 2 months so I thought I would check on the update of the Etihad "expanding" Pearl lounge situation because of overcrowding as a result of Etihad letting their Silver guests use the lounge, along with the Gold and Gold Elite members.

Etihad has said that it won't be expanding the Pearl lounge at all now, so as a result, the move to Al Reem lounge in Terminal 1 will be permanent rather than temporarily as they initially told us, plus most flights depart from T3 so you have to go through about 3 security checkpoints when transferring between gates to use the lounge.

I guess there is nothing we can do about it LOL except wait for Qatar Airways to come along and sweep Virgin off its feet :)

Oh well I guess I can still use the Pearl lounge in LHR on the flight back or the American Airlines Admiralty lounge in Paris (lets hope they recognise the velocity card because its an Etihad partner lounge)
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Heartbreaking news.

All things considered, is the Al Reem lounge better than nothing??

Also, I have a flight coming up BNE->SYD-(Y+)->AUH->CDG and am wondering the same thing about AA lounge in CDG. Website says 'all partner lounges' included. Hope it comes to pass that there are no probs.

Also, off topic, how good is Y (coral) with EH? Disappointed I couldn't be ticketd Y+ all the way, nor even, due to fare mapping mysticisim, fly Y+ to AUH and then J to CDG.
 
"permanent" is a bit of a misnomer in this context. Abu dhabi is building an entire new terminal complex that will open in 2013 or 2014. I am sure the lounge will be expanded then. The new airport will be about 10 times the size of the current one and will be managed by Changi. The plans are very impressive and construction is well under way (see google earth!)
 
..then given this lounge arrangement at AUH will extend for a good few years (personally think that 2013 is a touch optimistic!), VA need to do a significantly better job on the lounge negotiation front for Platinums. Until it's fixed I won't fly with VA to Europe (perhaps a bit melodramatic, but I don't care for the Al Reem lounge at all - all things being equal I would rather book with SQ or VS until the ground experience at AUH is improved).
 
Actually correcting myself here. After a bit of searching it looks like the new terminal won't open for another few years.
 
notzac said:
..then given this lounge arrangement at AUH will extend for a good few years (personally think that 2013 is a touch optimistic!), VA need to do a significantly better job on the lounge negotiation front for Platinums. Until it's fixed I won't fly with VA to Europe (perhaps a bit melodramatic, but I don't care for the Al Reem lounge at all - all things being equal I would rather book with SQ or VS until the ground experience at AUH is improved).
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Yes I agree with you 100%.

Well I am travelling to Europe in the next 2 months so I was just curious and somewhat hoping the lounge access situation has changed :) but.... to my dissapointment I found on FT that Etihad Guest Gold members received an email telling them that the new lounge won't be built for awhile, so it looks like the Al Reem lounge is going to stay for awhile, maybe until 2015 or so. YIKES!

But I don't get why Velocity Platinum, which is equivalent to Etihad's Gold Elite members, cant even use the Pearl lounge.
 
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bigbadbyrnes said:
Heartbreaking news.

All things considered, is the Al Reem lounge better than nothing??

Also, I have a flight coming up BNE->SYD-(Y+)->AUH->CDG and am wondering the same thing about AA lounge in CDG. Website says 'all partner lounges' included. Hope it comes to pass that there are no probs.

Also, off topic, how good is Y (coral) with EH? Disappointed I couldn't be ticketd Y+ all the way, nor even, due to fare mapping mysticisim, fly Y+ to AUH and then J to CDG.
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Y class on Etihad is pretty standard and its hit and miss, 30-31" pitch seats, a huge variety of movies than most airlines. I guess the Al Reem Lounge is better than no lounge at all, but it is in a different terminal :p as far as I know, you must pass through 2-3 security checkpoints to transfer between terminals, and it is a 20minute treck also ( i think) so it ends up being a big hassle.

I'm also thinking about buying a J class ticket from Abu Dhabi to CDG, but I can't work out how to do it, since Virgin Australia does not sell cash upgrade at the airport, you have to call the Brisbane call center within 24 hours of travel to find out how much it costs to do a cash upgrade. And since you will be checking in with Virgin Australia in Sydney, i dont think they can sell cash upgrades for Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi to CDG.
 
With Regards to the admirals lounge @ CDG it is by invite only so make sure you get the invite when you check-in as your Velocity card will not get you in!
 
airtraveladdict said:
thanks for the tip.

Is that the standard procedure for all Etihad partner lounges for Velocity members when flying with etihad airways?
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Yes, you get a lounge invitation at the check in desk. I believe they do it at every port where they have lounge access - regardless of lounge provider.
 
777 said:
Yes, you get a lounge invitation at the check in desk. I believe they do it at every port where they have lounge access - regardless of lounge provider.
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I'm guessing that at ports where they have their own lounge (DUB/MAN/LHR/FRA/AUH), there is no need for this .. certainly, I've never received a lounge invite before for DUB and AUH.
 
notzac said:
I'm guessing that at ports where they have their own lounge (DUB/MAN/LHR/FRA/AUH), there is no need for this .. certainly, I've never received a lounge invite before for DUB and AUH.
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Not necessary for their own lounges. But in IST for example they gave me a lounge invitation at check in to the third party lounge there.
 
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