Again in January 2021, Aeroplan and Virgin Australia linked as much as kind a brand new partnership, by which Aeroplan members had been capable of earn and redeem factors on Virgin Australia metallic.
Like Aeroplan’s different non-Star Alliance companions, the connection ended there: you weren’t capable of entry lounges, get extra baggage, or take pleasure in precedence safety when travelling with such companions.
One in every of these is altering as of at this time, as lounge entry on Virgin Australia flights is now granted on the idea of Aeroplan Elite Standing!
Lounge Entry with Virgin Australia
As of September 7, 2022, Aeroplan 50K, Aeroplan 75K, and Aeroplan Tremendous Elite members will now be granted entry to Virgin Australia lounges when flying on a same-day ticket with Virgin Australia, whatever the fare or class of service.
Utilizing your Aeroplan Elite Standing to entry Virgin Australia lounges will work very equally to accessing lounges inside the Star Alliance community: having Star Alliance Gold will grant lounge entry, whereas Star Alliance Silver is not going to. Equally, Aeroplan 50K and above members have entry to Star Alliance member lounges as an elite profit even when travelling in economic system class, and this may now apply to Virgin Australia.
Actually, for the needs of lounge entry, you possibly can consider Virgin Australia as a Star Alliance member, as you’ll have the ability to deliver one visitor to the lounge along with your Aeroplan Elite Standing. Notice that enterprise class passengers aren’t usually allowed company, whereas elite members are.
Virgin Australia lounges will complement present Star Alliance lounges that Aeroplan 50K and above members have already got entry to in Australia, such because the lounges operated by Singapore Airways or Air New Zealand.
Virgin Australia operates a lounge within the following airports:
- Adelaide
- Brisbane
- Canberra
- Gold Coast
- Melbourne
- Perth (Terminal 1)
- Sydney
All of those Virgin Australia lounges don’t belong to any lounge community (i.e. DragonPass, Precedence Go), so Aeroplan Elite Standing is the best method to acquire entry for Canadians.
Personally, having lounge entry when flying economic system class could possibly be sufficient to sway me to guide home flights in Australia utilizing 8,000 Aeroplan factors (on the shortest distance band, which is almost all of flights between populous cities). Moreover, I may add a stopover inside Australia for an additional 5,000 factors, bringing the whole for 2 home flights to as few as 13,000 Aeroplan factors.
That is approaching the identical value as the identical flights booked with Avios, which could solely value 6,000 Avios on Qantas per flight – however with out lounge entry.
On one other word, this lounge entry settlement is reciprocal, so you possibly can count on to see Virgin Australia Velocity Gold and Platinum members in Maple Leaf Lounges any further.
A Refresher on Virgin Australia
As a reminder, Virgin Australia is an airline based mostly in Brisbane that primarily flies home routes, with a number of worldwide choices sprinkled in. You possibly can consider them because the WestJet of Australia, flying largely Boeing 737s across the nation.
Pre-pandemic, Virgin Australia used to have Boeing 777s and Airbus A330s as nicely, which supplied aggressive lie-flat merchandise. Nevertheless, because of downsizing their operations because of the difficult previous few years, these are now not supplied.
Bali, Indonesia now represents Virgin Australia’s main worldwide vacation spot, with direct flights from Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne.
The airline at present operates Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737-700, Airbus A320, and Fokker 100 planes, however the the Boeing 737-800 represents 79% of their fleet. Should you fly with Virgin Australia, you’ll most probably be on this plane.
The enterprise class cabin is restricted to recliner seats throughout the whole community in a 2-2 structure. Financial system class is in an ordinary 3-3 configuration.
Talking of hopping round Australia, flying between any of Brisbane, Cairns, Sydney, and Melbourne from Brisbane will value a mere 8,000 Aeroplan factors in economic system class or 20,000 factors in enterprise class. The airline’s extra unique locations like Vanuatu, Fiji, or Alice Springs will value 12,500 factors one-way in economic system class, or 30,000 factors in enterprise class.
Conclusion
To any extent further, Aeroplan 50K and better elite members could have entry to Virgin Australia lounges, supplied they’ve a same-day ticket with the airline in any class of service. You’ll even be permitted to deliver a visitor, which represents a lounge entry coverage nearer to Star Alliance Gold than flying enterprise class.
This is a superb new perk for higher-tier Aeroplan Elite Standing members who’ve upcoming journey plans to Australia.
The worth-add right here is important, as none of Virgin Australia’s lounges belong to any third-party lounge community, so Aeroplan Elite Standing is by far the best method to entry these fancy areas.
