Trip Report – Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse – Newark

by Adam

This is part one of a thirteen part trip report from my travels to the UK, Malta, and Mallorca. This trip reports includes my visit to the Newark Clubhouse, which also happened to be my first visit to any Clubhouse.

When I saw the chance to book a Virgin Upper Class ticket with SkyMiles, I jumped on it, even if it meant having to leave very early morning from Newark. One benefit of a 745am flight from EWR, total travel time from the east side of Manhattan was only 21 minutes!

Now, the Newark Clubhouse is not the JFK Clubhouse and I was fully aware of that prior to arriving for my flight. The JFK CH is quite a bit larger and recently reopened in March 2012 after a major renovation. It was also the first outside of London to include a Clubhouse Spa and billiards table.  I had heard a lot about the new JFK Clubhouse, but was completely in the dark about the Newark one, simply assuming it was older and smaller. Well, it might be smaller, but the Newark Clubhouse is actually newer. It opened eight months after the JFK Clubhouse in November 2012. I found it every bit as swanky and comfortable as I had pictured…

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With only the one daytime flight, the lounge was extremely quiet and not all that busy. I decided to set-up at one of the comfy red sofas. The vibe was actually a lot less formal than other lounges, most people actually taking advantage of the large seating areas to spread out and enjoy themselves.

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There are ample seating areas and as you can see, most were unoccupied.

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There was excellent wifi and standard outlets at all seats. There were also recharge stations positioned throughout the club.

VirginAtlantic ClubHouse Newark

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Now, you can order drinks and food at the bar, but there’s no need. The entire Clubhouse has waiter service, no matter where you choose to sit. There’s also a separate dining area if you like to eat in a more traditional setting.

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There were some pretty nice breakfast options on the menu, though I was definitely jealous of the dinner options – salmon slider, tilapia filet, Clubhouse burger to name a few. For breakfast, I decided to go with the shakshuka skillet egg and Greek yoghurt with seasonal fruits.

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The food was good, a very nice breakfast indeed!

Showers are available and can be reserved upon entering the lounge. I actually didn’t see even one person sign up during my time there, who takes a shower before a long flight…though I guess given the recommended check-in time for the flight, you might be coming straight from a night out….

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Overall, I really enjoyed the Newark Clubhouse. It’s quite small, but it was cozy and comfortable. There weren’t many people (although Upper Class was mostly full) and the waiter service and food were both excellent. Several passengers seemed to take advantage of the laid back environment,  putting their feet up while busying themselves with their laptops / iPads and waiting for food and drinks to be served. Good times.

Up next, Virgin Atlantic Upper Class EWR – LHR…

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7 comments

Brendan Kelly July 29, 2013 - 7:12 pm

Is the lounge airside or do you still have to go through security after exiting the lounge?

Reply
adam July 30, 2013 - 12:35 am

@Brendan – The lounge is airside

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Larry July 13, 2016 - 6:12 pm

Is it free if you are flying economy on VA?

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Adam July 14, 2016 - 6:03 am

@Larry, unfortunately not unless you have status.

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