In 2023, Delta Air Lines announced plans to make changes to Delta Sky Club access policies. These changes have now been implemented, so in this post, I want to recap the changes that have just been rolled out, as they’ll have implications for Delta passengers.
Continue reading: Major Delta Sky Club Access Changes February 2025: Now Live
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
DL has all the data, and knows exactly how many visits per card member, per trip, per year by City, by lounge, etc.
I don't think the 10/15 restrictions are just arbitrary. They have modeled this out and I would suspect know exactly what the impact will be toward crowding.
So I would anticipate DL will see a reduction in SkyTeam lounge traffic
Is the annual limit per account? i.e. how are Amex Platinum additional card holders treated, do they get their own 10 visit allotment?
@ DTWNYC -- I mean, keep in mind Delta initially wanted to make the restrictions 6/10, but increased that limit due to backlash. So if this was in fact based on data, then Delta still went 50%+ over that limit. I also think it's important to keep in mind that Delta wants Sky Clubs to be crowded.
Empty seats in the Sky Club won't get Delta to its goal of $10 billion in Amex revenue.
@ AW -- Amex Platinum authorized users get their own allotment for lounge access.
How can there not be a reduction? It seems reasonable to assume that most people do not possess both a personal and a business card, so there will be no stacking of number of visits. Further, if there will now be a maximum number of free visits per year, I suspect many who reach that limit will not opt to pay for additional visits. At least not often.
And if there are now D1 lounges specifically geared to that class of pax, that bifurcation of pax should reduce lounge numbers.
I'm curious how this new restriction impacts medallion members who gain entry via status (like on intl flights in premium economy). I called to ask whether an upcoming visit would count towards the 15 visit limit or whether the system would put the status entry first and neither Delta or Amex could give me a confident answer.
Worth noting that the Amex Platinum airline fee credit can cover up to $200 worth of SkyClub access charges (both guests and visits over the cap).
A reader once questioned why the people in first class got champagne and those in economy did not. Another reader responded that the people in first class paid for it. It seems that those who value lounge access will pay for that access. Those who don't won't.
Based on just anecdotal evidence from my travels, the SkyClubs already seemed less crowded than before over the past 6 months or so.
Ben, I hate to say this since obviously from a selfish viewpoint I don't want it to happen, but is there a reason Amex doesn't simply hike up the Platinum's annual fee? If demand for premium cards has truly increased, why is the AF essentially unchanged from several years ago?
Good tip -- seems like a waste of that credit, but I guess if you really need(?) lounge access that's not terrible.
"Amex Platinum authorized users get their own allotment for lounge access."
Did not know this. Thanks, Ben.
The Delta-Amex partnership really is quite clever. The perfect example of this is regional flights that are price-matched between, say, DL and AS (e.g., most of the PNW). If you don't have status with either airline, may as well get mediocre-lounge-access vs no access, for basically the same E175 on board experience?
Ben can certainly answer but Amex and Delta both know how much the non-Delta Amex cards contribute to the overcrowding. Delta loves to talk about the revenue it gets from AMEX but you can bet they are getting plenty from Delta. I believe the Delta -AMEX relationship is up for renewal Later in the decade. It will be very interesting to see what each side changes. Delta has the world’s largest airline club network and they’re still bursting at the seams. Even with Delta’s high percentage of business traffic, Amex is clearly sending a lot of traffic through Delta lounges.
They need to make the day pass rate significantly higher. Given how outrageous airport pricing is, I'm paying the $50 every time if I have time to kill and don't otherwise have access. $50 at a bar/restaurant in the terminal is barely a beer and a burger (might actually be even more than that with tax and tip). Meanwhile unlimited food and drinks in the lounge... I say that for all lounges, not just Sky Clubs.
A better solution might have been to raise the CC's annual fees, rather than curb access, but it's hard to tell. Here is why ...
If you fly a lot (i.e., you're the high frequency business traveler Delta covets), you visit the lounge more than 10-15 times a year. I fly a lot domestically (AA and UA usually) and visit Admirals Clubs 75 times a year at least, using my Citi Executive Card for access. If they were to limit how many times I had access as a card holder, I would downgrade the card and buy a club membership, which means I would probably be be putting less spending on my CC, since the downgraded City AA Platinum card gets a lower return. The airline (and Citi) would lose valuable CC revenue, which is the main revenue source for the airline.
Delta could see high frequency travelers who meet their status cutoffs naturally (i.e., not with spend) actually opt out of the high-fee cards for the sake of having a classic membership.
A few points in response to some of the posts here
1) High frequency business travelers that are visiting lounges 50, 100 times a year, etc, are probably going to be Diamond status - those flyers can choose (if they wish) to use one of their choice benefits for a SkyClub membership (though this means they can't select something else)
2) I have seen a lot of people say Amex should raise CC annual fees. Remember that the Amex Platinum and Delta Reserve are already the highest fee cards out there (outside of stuff like the Centurion). Sure you get a lot of the fees back with various coupons, credits, flights, etc. But the fees are high. Higher fees may result in more cancellations (regardless of the value of the clubs), and less credit card revenue. They have to tread carefully there
I am sure that around mid year, some high frequency fliers used to unlimited visits are going to have to make some different choices. If traveling on business, I expect many to try to just expense visits.
Good post. Honestly it's so hard to speculate on all this because we don't have access to data. Based on my tiny sample size of SEA/SLC/LAX SkyClubs.... it *seems* like the majority of the traffic is generated by Platinum card holders bringing in their partners/family members more so than the stereotypical single business traveler. And therefore I'm of the opinion that the 10-15 pass limit might not really make much of a dent in traffic, since most of those Platinum holders won't come anywhere close to hitting the 10 mark in the first place. But we shall see.
@RealTaylor, well yeah but the Delta Platinum is not considered a premium card. It's best utilized as a step ladder for product changes if you get nice upgrade offers.... or, I guess a decent card if you visit Hawaii/Alaska once per year and don't mind flying economy? It's the weird step-child of that whole family (at least the no-AF Blue serves as a placeholder when not travelling Delta frequently).
I think over crowded SkyClubs were a myth propagated by social media and encouraged by Delta because they have a mistaken belief that they can drive greater profits by limiting SkyClub access.
Yes, the lounges at JFK and ATL Terminal B were over-crowded and often had lines (though ATL B is much less of an issue given there are 8 other SkyClubs at ATL).
I routinely fly through all other Delta hubs and outlying stations like DCA, BNA, AUS, DFW, and BOS and have never once encountered a line of more than 2 people (which was just a line for people to scan their boarding pass, not a crowd capacity issue).
It will be very interesting to see how this plays out. I routinely buy Delta flights that are sub-optinal due to price, time, and / or number of connections because I like flying Delta, in large part because of the SkyClubs. With less SkyClub access, I will switch some flying to other airlines. I'm sure I won't be the only one.
I bet we see some serious modifications of this in 1-2 years. Maybe something like earn an extra X visits for each $10k you put on the card. Let's see!
You may just be getting lucky with your departure/layover times, similar to how I've personally encounters a line for the SEA Amex lounge yet my partner encounters one every other week.
Although... I would add that the simple lack of a line does not imply that a lounge isn't overcrowded (apologies for the double-negative). SLC and SEA rarely have long entry lines yet finding a seat can be quite challenging and the noise level can be annoying. To me that's "crowded" and I would rather find a quiet gate or restaurant to kill time, but I guess to others that's just normal... shrug...
You are correct that this crowding problem has been isolated to a few lounges, but it very much was real. It is also a product of the hub and spoke system where there is enormous pressure put on the hub for a very short period of time and then it is repeated several times per day
Delta is building more and bigger lounges. The D concourse lounge in Atlanta is supposed to be almost as big as the B Concourse sky club at JFK. The B concourse sky club at Salt Lake City is going to be 35,000 ft.² which makes it one of the largest lounges for any US airline. Delta clearly wants the revenue and there are people that want to access and they simply have to balance those two
"It is also a product of the hub and spoke system where there is enormous pressure put on the hub for a very short period of time and then it is repeated several times per day"
This is probably the best explanation. If you spend three or more hours at a SkyClub you can often experience those traffic waves first-hand.
They raised the AF a couple of years ago from $550 to $700 on both versions of Platinum. I think the Reserve went up from $550 to $650.
I don't get Delta. Flew international first class (per the ticket) and was denied entry at MEX and DTW airports. What's the point of buying a first class ticket if you don't get lounge access?
This just means that I now fly on Delta 10 or less times per year. I've actually been doing this in 2024. I'm 2024, I've had 4 total segments on DL, 57 on UA and 82 on AA.
My guess is based on the data they have they would lose too many cardholders with significant rate increases. 10 cardholders at $650 yr is better than 6 at $900 per year.
I agree - I think a lot of people cancelled cards out of spite. While I rarely use the lounge at my home airport (SLC), I always look at the line and it has gotten considerably better.
For most people that hold those two credit cards I guess ten visits won't be a problem. Some that often travel on Delta/Skyteam it might.
Redacted: One of the former perks for the Delta Platinum card used to be a discounted rate for SkyClub access from the regular buy at the door rate. You could get in for just $29 at one time, then $39. But this perk was dropped a few years ago in one of the attempts to reduce overcrowding. It was then I switched from the Delta Platinum (which was, at the same time, raised to $350/year annual fee) to the Blue/No Fee card.
This right here sums it up for me....! I travel extensively for work and rely on decompressing in the lounges before, during and after my travel. I'm sick and tired of the increasing number of "groups" (my polite way of saying a family with screaming kids) that are taking up one entrance slot. So now I have to worry about my ability to use the club capped at 15 times when I travel 50+ times a year. It's no wonder why I have moved most of my travel to American Airlines over the last year. Take me back to when these lounges catered to business travel and were not trying to be country clubs....
Here's what I've been doing in anticipation of these caps: Amex Lounge Restrictions--having a third platinum (charge) card issued in a foreign country. Priority Pass Restrictions--diversify credit card issuers.
I chose Singapore (annual fee: ~$1,250) which came with unlimited centurion lounge access +2 guests, all authorized users get that same benefit and elite status upgrades. To get around the Priority Pass restrictions, I got the HSBC USA Elite card (annual fee: $495 for Premier clients, $0 for Private Bank) which gets myself unrestricted Priority Pass + 2 guests.
It seems that AMEX and DELTA do not care about their customers....Not good customer service....
That's a good strategy. Only 1,750 dollars a year to go to the lounge a few times.
This is a common issue with Delta - they offer lounge access with "Delta One" itineraries, which are usually longer haul (transatlantic, transcontinental, transpacific, etc). Delta doesn't offer Delta One on most of its flights to MEX - only regular "first class." You don't get club access automatically with a paid first class ticket on Delta, "international" or not. The one exception is that if you have status (Gold or Above) and a first class ticket, you may get lounge access on flights like DTW to MEX, ATL to MEX.
The best and most consistent way to access Delta SkyClubs is to just hold an Amex Platinum or Delta Reserve, the rest of the rules are too confusing
Dropped my Reserve card last week...gave it a shot the past year, but the crowds in the Delta lounges have been awful. Even in ORD, where the SkyClub is quite large (and very nice), it is typically mobbed - hardly a relaxing environment to spend some time in ahead of a flight. Same with the Centurion Lounge at ATL. Dropped down to the Delta Platinum Amex for now to keep the $2,500 boost, but doubt I'll hold onto it for long. Happy with my new Venture X thus far!
I wouldn't say it's "isolated to a few lounges." If you fly through through Trans Pac hubs - ATL, MSP, DTW - with any sort of regularity, you won't experience what you've experienced at the outstations. Even at some of the outstations (ORD comes to mind very clearly) that serve a number of SkyTeam partners with business class cabins (at ORD, that means KE, AF, KL, and now SK since their lounge is awful here), it's not a pleasant experience anymore.
Ralph,
I have been in other SkyClubs and the demand and crowding issues are not equally distributed. Since you can see the crowding by Sky Club in the app, it can be confirmed that there are very much peaks and valleys.
I suspect that you are in the ORD SkyClub in the afternoon during the peak international periods.
No airline - or any other company - can afford to build facilities that are comfortably spacious for a small period of time and then at half or less capacity for most of the day.
The ORD SC is a very nice facility but is a SkyTeam investment that DL made.
Remember when the Crown Room on Concourse L was effectively "the" foreign carrier departure lounge when the current terminal 1 was under construction and the foreign carriers did check-in in the parking garage and foreign carriers used Concourse L for their widebody departures?
Even though DL hasn't had a large presence at ORD in over 40 years, they still have an outsized connection with international operations there - it is just focused on SkyTeam carriers.
Ben and a lot of other travel influencers are coming to the same conclusion that, unless you are really a die-hard, high dollar passenger, many of the elite tiers are not worth chasing and the airlines are making it harder to reach those top levels unless you actually have paid, butts in seats premium cabin miles.
@Tim this is so true nowadays. I no longer do projections on my travel and what status I'll hit with United. Back in the day even the tiers at 50K miles were helpful (Premier Exec I think?) and 1K was great.
More recently I had Global Services which was extremely valuable but more and more it seems that is the only status where they really differentiate the experience and even that status they've measurably diluted over the past 6 years.
It is much cheaper to just buy upgrades or the class of service you want than to try to hit the spend thresholds if you wouldn't already do so naturally with work spend. And it frees you up to fly the airline you actually want when it's the well-priced option.
As cards are residency specific, how are you dealing with a Singapore address? And, Amex allows dual residency?
Will just add a data point - the ATL A17 club was essentially the same crowding level as usual for an early morning. Agents were announcing when checking people in that today was the day the visit limit was going live and that your visit window was 24 hours. Didn’t see anyone turn around and nope out, so not sure how well this will actually address crowing in the long run (maybe as the year goes on and folks use up their passes, though I imagine for a decent number of people at that point they’ll just wind up forking over $50 for a visit to avoid the social pressure of saying no…).
“ However, personally I don’t think we’ll see any major changes to crowding levels, since having 10-15 visits per year is quite significant, especially when you consider there are also other ways to access Sky Clubs. If anything, I think these changes are about encouraging people to spend more on Amex cards and improve margins, rather than just about crowding.”
Isn’t this a contradiction?
If 10-15 visits isn’t much of a restriction, then why would it compel much additional Platinum spending?
Delta tier status affords what benefits that a premium cabin ticket doesn't? While some might answer this or that, I've experienced nothing of substantive value . . . given my circumstances. Others might differ. To me, the cost of seeking tier status outweighs the value tier status provides . . . given my circumstances. Others might differ. In two other programs, I do maintain tier status for specific benefits of substantive value.
Avid hobbyists are likely to hold multiple Amex Platinum cards (and zero out the annual fee with statement credits). And, I'll bet that avid hobbyists have a few tricks up their sleeve, which will not be shared in a public forum. So, it would seem to me that this is not going to be a problem for avid hobbyists.
I think there will be some people who will change their behavior beginning today, though I don't know how big of a difference it will have on crowding. I probably visited Sky Clubs about 20-30 times last year. Most of those were not worth $50. If I have an alternative, like Centurion/Escape, I will try that first. I think those clubs will have longer waits now (though usually I add my name to the list before going through security). At my home airport (SEA), I would often pop into the the Sky Club for 5-10 minutes if Centurion had a wait, or stop by quickly after my flight to grab a coffee and use the nicer bathroom. I will definitely skip those visits for now, but those did not contribute much to overcrowding (I often do not even sit down!). When I have a 3 hour connection in LAX, SLC, or DTW--definitely using my visits then.
Spending $75K on Delta cards is such a waste.... the Skypesos you earn are worth so much less than if using a different. Just buy the skyclub access outright and earn points elsewhere that actually have value.
Lounges built between gates or on upstairs above the security check point aren't going to work anymore. Alaska is building a huge 5 story addition between C and D at SEA for the new Alaska Lounge. The lounge will be 32,000 sq ft on the top 3 floors with create views. More airports need to copy the Emirates lounges in the A380 at Dubia. -5 or 6 story concourse building with both the business and first class lounges eac occuping an entire floor the size of the terminal - allows all gates to have direct access via elevator.
Ryan and NK3 make good points. Can people get serious about the value of SkyClubs? 75K a year for the privilege of SkyClub access which is not even worth $7.50 and of course Ben will tell you to tip the lounge attendants, hehe.
Because you get unlimited SkyClub visits after you spend $75k per year on Delta Amex Reserve or Amex Vanilla Plat
Just because they don't possess both cards, doesn't mean they won't meet the spend threshold for unlimited entry.
Hell, just putting rent on the card, automatically gets me halfway there. That's an experience many people living in larger cities can relate to. Add utilities, insurances, groceries, and it really doesn't require much discretionary spending to get past the requirement.
I used to have the Delta Platinum until they dropped the SkyClub access AND raised the annual fee to $350. Not worth it. Switched to the no fee Blue card, just so I can keep the account going, since I haven't flown Delta in a couple of years (sticking with United).
My co is forcing all of us regular Biz travelers to use a Corporate Card instead of personal cards so I’ll be dropping the Reserve card as I’ll no longer be able to earn MQD’s from travel spend. This impacts about 500 biz travelers and we’re upset but nothing we can do.
Makes me wonder how many people lost status this past year due to the switch to MQD’s. Anyone know if there was a significant reduction? Will be much harder for me to earn status in future
I think you are probably in the minority in your apparent opinion that domestic airline lounge food is equivalent in quality to what you can find in the terminal for $50. You can't get a burger (or, IMO, anything really edible) in a Delta Lounge (or a United Lounge, etc.; Centurion is the only one where I will actually eat the food). And the drinks that are comped are limited. I'd personally never pay $50 -- or even $25 -- for single-day entry at any domestic airline lounge.
I was just flying out of LAX with my son a couple days ago. We swung through the United Lounge, saw how horrendous the food options were, left and ate in the terminal, and then came back to sit on the balcony (cool feature there). They at least comped me the Manhattan that was not supposed to be free.