Review: Virgin Australia lounge Perth Airport
Perth passengers often fly the longest domestic routes in Australia: does Virgin’s lounge start their journey on the right note?
By Chris Ashton, February 12 2024
Country
Australia
City
Perth
Airport
Perth
Alliance
N/A
Airline
Virgin Australia
Cabin-class
Business
Notes
The Good
- Barista coffee all day plus bar service from noon
The Bad
- Hot breakfast menus need a switch-up
X-Factor
- Business zone with two bookable meeting rooms
Introduction
Virgin Australia frequent flyers will experience deja vu stepping into the airline’s Perth lounge at Terminal 1, with the pre-flight hangout virtually identical to siblings in Brisbane and Canberra in both features and design.
The white bar, purple mood lighting and leafy ceiling panels, perspex dividers and faux-timber curtains floating above the coffee station are all present, while seating, work desks and menus may have some questioning ‘Where am I today?’
Seating options are varied and plentiful.
That’s because, unlike Melbourne and Adelaide which now sport a new look and feel thanks to makeovers in 2021, the Perth lounge remains largely the same as its debut in late 2015 – around the same time as Brisbane’s expanded lounge.
Location & Impressions
After zipping through security (home to Virgin Australia premium security lane), you’ll find the Virgin Australia Lounge tucked immediately to your left. Signage points the way.
Natural lighting floods the space.
Past reception the lounge is dotted with white high tables and stools, curvaceous ribbon desks lined with power points, purple and grey horseshoe lounges and brown leather armchairs facing the angled windows.
Staff did a fine job keeping the buffet restocked.
The focal point is the bar, buffet and barista counter lining one side. A secondary coffee station sits beneath faux-timber curtains nearby, in addition to another long white bar counter featuring a soft drink fountain, though both are currently closed.
This same timber look is seen in many of Virgin's lounges.
Beers, ciders and Australian wines, including a sparkling option, are available from midday, in addition to all-day tea, soft drinks and sparkling water on tap.
Coffees were worked through at a rapid pace.
Though a steady stream of visitors come and go during our early to late morning visit, the lounge’s large footprint and varied seating means there are still plenty of places to perch.
Access
Virgin Australia's T1 lounge opens one hour before the day’s first VA flight until the final departure is called for boarding. On the welcome list are:
- Virgin Australia business class passengers, Velocity Gold and Platinum frequent flyers, lounge members and those part of the invite-only Beyond tier.
- Velocity Silver frequent flyers and various eligible credit card holders with a single-use Virgin Australia lounge pass.
- American Express Platinum Charge Card and Centurion cardholders on presentation of their eligible card and a Virgin Australia boarding pass.
- Gold and Platinum-equivalent frequent flyers of Air Canada, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.
- Other travellers who pay $65 per person at the door, up to two hours prior to departure.
‘On Arrival’ access is also available for Platinum frequent flyers.
Dining
On the dining front, Virgin Australia lounges typically offer breakfast from opening until 11am, followed by a lunch/dinner menu featuring light cold bites plus one or two hot menu items.
Breakfast on our visit consisted of cereal, breads, pancakes and fresh pastries, alongside yoghurt, fresh cut fruit and chia pudding. The ‘hot’ item was a sweet corn succotash, which didn’t appear to have many fans.
Grab-and-go cold breakfast items.
Not the most exciting dish, though jalapenos do add a nice zing.
Lunch provided much greater variety in the form of peri-peri chicken sandwiches and a well-stocked salad bar with Vietnamese noodle salad, pumpkin couscous, vegetable frittata and a potato salad, together with dips and assorted crudités.
Peri-peri chicken sandwiches are restocked regularly.
Both the couscous and Vietnamese salad are packed with flavour.
Two soup options were also available: minestrone and mexican beef with black beans.
Wheat and gluten free rolls are provided.
Work
Multiple workbenches are spaced throughout – and generally the first to be snapped up, thanks to the AC and USB power points lining their centre.
Additional power points can be found along the benches near the secondary coffee station.
These have the added benefit of a hook for your bag.
There’s also a dedicated business zone discreetly tucked away at the far corner of the lounge. It’s much quieter than the main lounge, making it a good option if you have a Zoom meeting.
The Business Zone entrance is to your right.
Work desks with multiple power points.
Two meeting rooms are available for hire for $50/hr: Room 1 has capacity for six guests, while Room 2 comfortably seats ten.
A meeting room with a view.
Rooms can be easily combined for larger meetings.
Bookings can be made by calling the Guest Contact Centre 13 67 89, or at lounge reception.
WiFi speeds hit a blistering 112Mbps download, and 176Mbps upload.
Relax
Two male and female bathrooms are available: one conveniently alongside the reception desk and another via a perspex-lined corridor in the centre of the lounge.
A single shower suite is found within the former. Towels are available at reception.
A spacious shower suite stocked with Appelles toiletries.
Verdict
Overall, it’s a nice lounge and one you’d happily spend an hour or two enjoying before your flight. Almost a decade on, the bones of the lounge remain solid and the atmosphere still surprisingly fresh.
The high-speed internet is a great way to spool up some content on your streaming service of choice (though Virgin’s inflight entertainment does have some good options).
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Jan 2018
Total posts 761
Chris, can you please mention the day of the week and time of the day you conducted the review?
07 Feb 2022
Total posts 24
The review was done on a Thursday between 9am and 12pm.
QF
16 Aug 2016
Total posts 1
looks great
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