Access to Euston First class lounge with off-peak ticket

[CheapAndNerdy]

I travelled first class from Euston in the summer on an Advance ticket and was able to use the lounge at Euston. I would like to travel first class again, but this time I need a flexible ticket (Off-peak return). However the website states:

All you need to do to get into our First Class lounges is show a valid Virgin Trains ticket – either Virgin Business, First Anytime or Advance First.

which, on the face if it, excludes off-peak tickets. Is this really the case? It seems a bit odd that I could access the lounge with a cheaper Advance but not a more expensive Off-peak.

Using the lounge is more of a bonus than a necessity, but it would be a nice way to start my journey rather than hanging around on the main concourse.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think it's just out of date and that you will be allowed access with any First Class ticket.

(The only one I'd not be sure about is pre-issued Weekend First which VT do do and show on their website as being Off Peak First Class but isn't actually a First Class Off Peak, rather it's a Standard ticket with a separate Weekend First upgrade)

 

[Deafdoggie]

Virgin didn’t do off-peak First Class tickets (still don’t do many) so I think it’s just something that doesn’t come up often.

 

[CheapAndNerdy]

I think it's just out of date and that you will be allowed access with any First Class ticket.

(The only one I'd not be sure about is pre-issued Weekend First which VT do do and show on their website as being Off Peak First Class but isn't actually a First Class Off Peak, rather it's a Standard ticket with a separate Weekend First upgrade)

Virgin didn’t do off-peak First Class tickets (still don’t do many) so I think it’s just something that doesn’t come up often.

Good to know, thank you. It's a normal off-peak return to Wigan.

 

[Mag_seven]

All you need to do to get into our First Class lounges is show a valid Virgin Trains ticket – either Virgin Business, First Anytime or Advance First.

I wonder how many people with first class anytime tickets think it needs to have the word "Virgin" on it - I find the term Virgin Trains ticket just slightly misleading in this respect.

 

[Deafdoggie]

I think they mean valid on Virgin Trains, but it could be much clearer

 

[island]

I think an off peak first class return will be fine (though maybe not if you turn up at 15:00).
As for “a valid Virgin Trains ticket”, that is almost certainly intended to refer to a ticket which could be used on Virgin Trains, so between two stations it serves, not routed LNR & WMT only, &c.

 

[47271]

You can get in with any First Class ticket that's valid and is close to time on Virgin or Caledonian Sleeper, I've never heard of anyone getting turned away when they've had either of those.

The other thing to be aware of is that they might not let you in more than one hour before departure, especially in the evening peak. The lounge can get quite overcrowded at that time of day.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

The lounge is hardly worth going out of your way to visit, it's nearly always full and only really offers a free tea/coffee plus biccie.

 

[47271]

The lounge is hardly worth going out of your way to visit, it's nearly always full and only really offers a free tea/coffee plus biccie.

It depends what you want, I use the business area most weeks and appreciate the desk, wifi and power in the hour or so before I board.

 

[gray1404]

Has the food offering gone down? I recall drinks, fruit, cakes and some other things.

 

[boxy321]

I think they mean valid on Virgin Trains, but it could be much clearer

They've started plastering 'This lounge is for Virgin customers only' on posters all over the lounges now. Somebody with a £££££ XC-only ticket won't get in but a regional pass/season valid on Virgin will. The problem is a VTWC-run station has their logo everywhere so the 1st class lounges can be assumed to be for all 1st passengers.

 

[Deafdoggie]

At Euston, it simply means no LNWR-only tickets. A XC-only ticket isn’t valid at Euston.

 

[Starmill]

I wonder how many people with first class anytime tickets think it needs to have the word "Virgin" on it - I find the term Virgin Trains ticket just slightly misleading in this respect.

I was at the Manchester Piccadilly First Class Lounge recently, having paid £30 for my ticket to London.

A couple came in and each had a First Off Peak Return to Aberdeen, £268.10 per person so over £500 they had spent. The host asked them which train they were catching for their journey to Aberdeen, they replied stating the time of a TransPennine Express service to Haymarket. They were then turned away on the basis that the lounge was for customers of Virgin Trains only, and they were travelling with TransPennine Express, not Virgin Trains.

Of course their tickets were 'Any Permitted' and thus perfectly valid on any number of Virgin Trains services.