Let’s face it, even if you’ve got a first class ticket, flying home from vacation flat-out-sucks. With hotels slicing away at your check out time, the joys of deadlifting checked luggage from place to place, and the misery of the airport on the horizon, it becomes increasingly hard to feel like it was all worth it. For those traveling to Barbados, Virgin Holidays just created the coolest thing to keep the vacation vibes flowing all the way until you hit the skies…
They’ve Created Departure Beach…
That’s right, island paradise does not end when you get booted from your hotel. Virgin Holidays have created a fusion between your perfect vacation and the airport, where you can check in, drop your luggage, grab your boarding pass and then head on out to a private beach, with free food refreshments, and of course, an air conditioned lounge as well. Rather than spend your last hours trying to kill time by deadlifting luggage, you can sip mojitos in the sun on a sandy beach, or passed out in the air conditioning, avoiding the sun entirely, because of your overly painful sunburn from a successful vacation…
Here’s How It Works…
If you’re traveling on a Virgin Holidays booking, and jetting off on Virgin Atlantic out of Barbados, you can pay a mere $25 to spend your last day in blissful peace. $25 per adult and $15 per child gets you pickup from your hotel, access to Departure Beach’s private check in and bag drop facilities, a locker for your carry on luggage, complimentary lunch and refreshments. If something with a bit more “tropical buzz” is what you seek, there’s also a full service, fully stocked bar. When it’s time to fly, Departure Beach will drop you at the terminal to breeze through security and jet off.
Why Is This Not Everywhere?
A beach club, where you can part ways with your checked luggage, grab your boarding pass, catch up on emails and relax in a space far more palatable than any airport lounge? Enjoying the delights of a beach in Barbados? This should be everywhere. It NEEDS to be everywhere. Virgin currently has no plans to expand their “Departure Beach” concept, but this seems like a no brainer for an enterprising company with access to a nice beach near an airport. They’ve got at least one guaranteed customer…
HT: to my buddy Chris from Atlantic Fairways…
