There’s no doubt that the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class ground experience at Heathrow is pretty impressive.
Chauffeur pickup from your home/office. Arrival at the dedicated Upper Class Wing. Private check-in area. ‘Private’ security lane. And then the hugely enjoyable Clubhouse lounge.
Certainly beats anything that BA offers Club World passengers departing Heathrow.
Now available for Economy and Premium Economy too
Well, not the Clubhouse bit, unfortunately, but Virgin has announced that customers can now book their chauffeur service irrespective of their class of travel. Before you get too excited though, it appears Economy and Premium Economy passengers will actually have to pay the service, albeit at ‘preferential rates’.
The email from Virgin said this:
We’ve got some fabulous news. Our chauffeur car service to and from the airport is now available to book for any Virgin Atlantic customer, no matter what cabin they’re travelling in.
So if a customer wants to arrive at the airport in a little extra style, it’s easy to book our chauffeur service at a preferential rate. Plus, Flying Club members will earn 2 miles per £1 spent. Just add their Flying Club number at the time of booking.
On closer inspection, it appears Virgin is utilising Tristar for this service. Tristar operates the existing chauffeur service available to Upper Class passengers.
How to book
Visit the MyBooking link on the Virgin Atlantic website
Alternatively, you can ring +44344 412 4666
As noted above, you will also earn 2 Virgin Flying Club miles per £1 spent on bookings.
Verdict
At the time of publication, I was still awaiting a response from Virgin as to whether Economy and Premium Economy customers using this service would also be dropped off at the dedicated Upper Class Wing for check-in.
It’s also not clear whether the option to redeem 17,500 Virgin miles per journey will now be made available to other passengers, as it is currently to Upper Class passengers departing the UK/USA.
Assuming customers using this chauffeur service can access the Upper Class check-in area or redeem Virgin miles, this may be a more enjoyable way of starting your journey. It’s worth seeing how these ‘preferential rates’ compare to your normal cost of getting to the airport.
Have you ever used Tristar, either via Virgin or otherwise?