sent an email to Scotrail, to comment that 1st advance tickets do not allow access to the lounge at Aberdeen, and that they should publicise this more effectively on their website, as they are now (I think) the only company that do not allow lounge access on first advance tickets, and had the following reply... confused....:roll:
Dear Richard,
Thank you for your email dated 10 September 2017 regarding 1st Class lounge at Aberdeen Station.
It is disappointing to learn that on the 9 September 2017 you were not permitted access to the lounge.
Unfortunately the 1st Class lounge at Aberdeen Station is not operated by Scotrail, this particular lounge is operated by Virgin trains.
Thank you for contacting Scotrail.
Yours sincerely
T**** ******
Customer Relations
ScotRail
I wonder if anyone who has used the lounge recently can confirm whether it belongs to Scotrail or Virgin. The Virgin website still states it is only open to Scotrail customers. I would have thought if it now belonged to Virgin they would make a big deal about it. I suspect it is still a Scotrail lounge.
Assuming it
is still a Scotrail lounge they DO accept Scotrail 1st advance tickets. Last year I had a problem entering the lounge with a Scotrail 1st advance so I wrote a letter to customer services. Here was the reply (I've highlighted the key points):
Many thanks for your email dated the 15th of November regarding your recent journey with us between Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
Please accept my apologies for the length of time taken to respond, as our office has been dealing with higher than normal levels of correspondence.
I understand that there was some confusion surrounding using the First Class lounges with your
Advance ticket and I am really sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused. There are some restrictions depending on what lounge you are trying to use. If it is a ScotRail first class lounge then
all tickets are accepted when travelling with ScotRail. If using the likes of using a Virgin first class lounge then certain ticket restrictions will apply.
I will however, pass this on to the manager for Aberdeen station to make sure this is accurately briefed for all staff as
your ticket should have been accepted.
Hope this helps. I hope your future journeys with us are more enjoyable.
Yours sincerely
****** ******
Customer Relations
ScotRail
I have taken this email with me to guarantee access when using a Scotrail 1st Advance ticket. Also, the very first line on the 1st class section of the Scotrail website quite clearly states "First Class travel allows you to make flexible journeys in the comfortable surroundings of our First Class lounges."
So, if the lounge does belong to Scotrail it will accept Scotrail 1st advance tickets.
If the lounge now belongs to Virgin it will accept Virgin 1st advance tickets.