Virgin Australia Lounge — Local services in Melbourne

Aug 2023: As a regular I do like waiting in this lounge at Tullamarine.

Good view of apron and ample space most of times.

During the morning rush between 0500-0800 hrs you'll struggle for some privacy but after that I found that space is ample.

Food choices limited but enough to stop you from going hungry during the flight.

Decent barista coffees either to have in or take away.

I always found the toilets and shower in a clean state.

Big nuisance is the increasing number of families with screaming young toddlers in the lounge. Kids cannot help it but to see the parents' lack of respect for other people in the lounge is very disappointing. Lounges should not be playgrounds in my opinion.

To say that I would spend money ( I think $65 nowadays) on a single entry or on an annual lounge pass: probably not.

March 2024: 7 months in and I can still say that I enjoy being in this lounge. Unfortunately, whether it is cost cutting or not I noticed that the food on offer get sparser and sparser. Visiting this lounge several times a month there was no refill on eggs, bacon, sausages at times. no yoghurt, no fruit anymore but only some bean salad. No drinks apart from coffee and water. It seems getting less and less these days. Barista coffee remains the only stronghold.

Aug 2025 review add-on: Whatever the reason is I do not know but for a few months this lounge has been overcrowded. 20+ guests waiting in line for coffees, whether it is 0500hrs or 1000hrs. It seems that the days have gone where you can enjoy a relaxed stay in the VA lounge. Even in weekends outside school holidays there are line-ups.

Decent meals are hard to find nowadays. No meat anymore just a cheap and lame sort of thai curry sauce with dry rice. And this amidst the increased fares and reduced value of existing velocity points. Not a good trend at all VA.

It started very well two years ago but a slow decline has ever been present, hence my reduced...

The virgin lounge used to be a haven to escape the craziness of crowds at Melbourne Airport. The last few visits have been truely unpleasant to the point that I’m asking myself do I use my Lounge Key pass and head to one of the other lounges or included restaurants instead… (even Biggie Smalls is on that!)

To be fair my most recent visit was at 6pm on a Friday. The lounge was packed out with not a single spare table. We had to beg borrow and steal a couple of seats and precariously perch on the end of a long laptop bench:table. Incidentally none of the power was working on this entire bench so people’s frustrations were showing. Some were laughing at new advertising catch phrase “bring on wonderful” on the Telly and about how this experience wasn’t that!

The drinks fridges and wine section seriously depleted and my low joule coke no sugar out of order (assume this meant out of stock). I had a 15-20 minute wait for the butter chicken with queues of people snaking down the passageway to the toilets. I might also not surprise you that Butter Chicken seems to feature regularly. One fellow more regular lounger exclaimed it was “always the option” and “honestly I can’t have it again. I don’t want to fight other patrons for a tray of burgers that might come out so I’ll often just grab an apple for dinner”

Rest of the food options were sadly slammed and we couldn’t even find the cheese (thinking I’m a rat in a maze at this point)

Toilets were the only thing that presented well in an otherwise unpleasant experience.

Virgin honestly need to lift their game given how much better airport have become in recent times. There seem to be much better options out there that don’t tie your loyalty to just the one...

I have been a loyal Virgin Airlines customer for more than 6 years. In the past the lounge experience was a whole lot better than what I have been experiencing lately and I felt the need to voice my opinion. Upon entry the staff seemed extremely rude and obnoxious and not welcoming. This is not the way I would expect a gold or platinum member to be greeted. The most disappointing issue that I would like to address is the staff working behind the food service counter. I don’t think I have ever been spoken to or addressed to so rudely as I was by staff serving food and beverage at Melbourne airport. These staff are making virgin look like an absolute mockery. Not to mention the food that is now being served is absolutely atrocious compared to how it was a couple of years ago. I honestly thought I had food poisoning after eating a chicken sandwich which was basically all that was on offer at both Melbourne and Gold Coast. Virgin you really need to up your game for your loyal passengers because it’s the same thing over and over everyday it’s never fresh or something new to enjoy when spending alot of money or points to use at your lounge. I can assure you alot of my staff will be starting to travel with quantas and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way. 1 star ⭐️ I hope you get this message and endeavour to up your game in your lounges food and beverage and...