Delta has just added access restrictions to its newest premium lounge. I can’t say I’m surprised, though it is a bit disappointing…
In this post:
Delta One Lounge Boston bans Air France-KLM passengers
Over the past several months, Delta Air Lines has been growing its network of Delta One Lounges. So far, we’ve seen lounges open in New York (JFK), Los Angeles (LAX), and Boston (BOS). The intent was that Delta One Lounge access restrictions would be consistent across locations, with access granted to three sets of passengers:
- Same day departing or arriving Delta One ticketed passengers (this is the name of Delta’s premium business class experience); it doesn’t matter if you paid cash, redeemed miles, or upgraded
- Delta 360 members departing or arriving on a same day Delta first class ticket
- Same day departing or connecting passengers on flights operated by select Delta partners in first or business class; this includes passengers on Air France, LATAM, KLM, Korean Air, and Virgin Atlantic
Unfortunately it hasn’t taken long for Delta to deviate from these access requirements. Due to capacity constraints, Delta is no longer allowing Air France-KLM passengers into the Delta One Lounge. Those passengers can either use the Air France Lounge or Delta Sky Club in Terminal E.
Since LATAM and Korean Air flights depart before the Delta One Lounge Boston opens at 2PM, those passengers don’t get access either. It sounds like the only partner passengers who get access to the Delta One Lounge Boston would be those on Virgin Atlantic.
This change is disappointing but not surprising
I’m not surprised to see access restrictions added to the Delta One Lounge Boston. The lounge is just 6,700 square feet, with seating for 121 guests. That’s a tiny lounge — by comparison, the Los Angeles and New York locations are around 10,000 and 40,000 square feet, respectively.
My assumption was that the Delta One Lounge Boston would get super busy during peak periods, and I wondered how the airline would handle that limitation. Well, now we know, and it’s that the airline is limiting accessing to partner passengers.
On the one hand, I can’t blame Delta, since the alternative is probably just to have a line to get into the lounge on many days (and I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens anyway over peak summer travel periods).
On the other hand, it’s super disappointing to see a newly opened lounge add such restrictions. For example, there’s not a single American Flagship Lounge or United Polaris Lounge that adds access restrictions due to capacity, because the lounges are big enough to accommodate the number of travelers with access (though certainly get busy over peak periods).
Furthermore, it shows how airlines love to play both sides when it comes to their joint ventures. Air France-KLM and Delta are part of the same transatlantic joint venture, whereby they coordinate schedules and fares, and share revenue.
Airlines love to market to consumers how there’s metal neutrality with these arrangements. Despite that, passengers who book an Air France or KLM flight (even as a Delta codeshare through delta.com) are going to have an inferior ground experience here.
I’m curious to see if access restrictions spread to more Delta One Lounges. For example, with the upcoming Delta One Lounge Seattle (SEA), it sounds like it’ll be similar to Boston, in terms of being a joint Sky Club and Delta One Lounge facility. We don’t know exactly how big the Delta One Lounge there will be, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see similar restrictions… and that would be disappointing.
Bottom line
The Delta One Lounge Boston has added access restrictions, deviating from the standard Delta One Lounge access rules. Air France-KLM business class passengers departing from Boston don’t have access to this lounge anymore, but must instead use the Air France Lounge or Delta Sky Club. This is disappointing, but not surprising, given the small size of the Delta One Lounge.
What do you make of these Delta One Lounge Boston access restrictions?
If delta allowed passengers with a delta marketed ticket in the lounge I wouldn’t feel strongly one way or another, but given many people don’t even pay attention to whether a flight is operated by delta or a partner means this is going to be awful for the check in agents to deal with.
Yet another example of why SkyTeam is by far the worst of the three alliances.
Hey, the world’s most premium airline is just getting more exclusive, and thus, even more premium!!
VS LHR Clubhouse is quite restrictive too for SkyTeam members;
Passengers travelling in the following cabins
Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic + guest traveling with Virgin Atlantic or Delta
Delta One on Delta
Clase Premier on Aeroméxico
Passengers with the following loyalty status;
Flying Club Gold Card members + a guest traveling with Virgin Atlantic, Delta or Aeroméxico
Delta SkyMiles Diamond and Platinum Medallions + a guest traveling in...
VS LHR Clubhouse is quite restrictive too for SkyTeam members;
Passengers travelling in the following cabins
Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic + guest traveling with Virgin Atlantic or Delta
Delta One on Delta
Clase Premier on Aeroméxico
Passengers with the following loyalty status;
Flying Club Gold Card members + a guest traveling with Virgin Atlantic, Delta or Aeroméxico
Delta SkyMiles Diamond and Platinum Medallions + a guest traveling in premium on Virgin Atlantic or Delta premium
Flying Blue Platinum members + a guest traveling in premium on Virgin Atlantic or Delta premium
It is hard to believe that a site that makes its core focus hawking credit card and mileage programs doesn't grasp that there are different benefits from different loyalty programs and cards for good reason.
DL got average fares on a global basis comparable to UA long before DL opened its first D1 basis and DL's average fare premium on international routes is growing.
They aren't opening D1 lounges in order to provide a...
It is hard to believe that a site that makes its core focus hawking credit card and mileage programs doesn't grasp that there are different benefits from different loyalty programs and cards for good reason.
DL got average fares on a global basis comparable to UA long before DL opened its first D1 basis and DL's average fare premium on international routes is growing.
They aren't opening D1 lounges in order to provide a service that is comparable to what AA and UA need to provide to get the average fares they get for business class.
DL clearly intends to grow its premium revenue, they have said that is the driver behind the D1 lounges, and they have the ability to rewrite the rules for the benefits of each amenity and for the alliance.
As for the airport-specific aspect of this, the lounge situation is unique at each airport.
It is doubtful that KE or LA was willing to pay for D1 lounge operations at the time their flights operated. The LA flight will be a DL flight so the D1 lounge apparently will not be available for that flight during the time DL operates it.
There is no such thing as uniformity in everything alliance related
And I also don't think DL decided this on a whim but that AF and KL as well as KE and LA were well aware of what DL was thinking long before the D1 lounge was open.
As with everything in the free market, if DL is making a mistake, it will become clear and they will change course.
And, as noted below, this all might be part of unbundling business class which other SkyTeam carriers do and the size of the D1 lounges are related to how many actual paying customers on DL or loyalty redemptions that DL considers worth gaining access.
Yep, unsurprising. DL just doesn't seem to be able to manage its lounge situation the way that UA and AA have successfully done.
I'll bet this is "temporary". IMO, the ultimate end game is when DL finally does unbundle business class fares, only the most expensive D1 fares will come with D1 lounge access, while other D1 fares will allow regular SkyClub access or no lounge access. Once that happens, the crowding issue will most likely decrease and therefore allow the AF/KL passengers.
If AF passengers can get into the AF lounge, why would they care about not getting into the D1 lounge? It's not like DL is telling them to sit at the gate.
@ NSS -- They would care because the Delta One Lounge is way better. It's one thing if Delta said in the first place that these lounges were just for Delta passengers, but that's not how they were marketed. They were also supposed to be for joint venture passengers.
thank you.
Virgin Atlantic does not have its own lounge in Boston but does in other cities.
As much as people like to think that JVs mean you share everything, there are undoubtedly charges that take place behind the scenes for functions that each airline within the JV provides to other airlines.
It is entirely possible that AF/KL has said they do not want to pay the access fees that DL is asking.
And...
thank you.
Virgin Atlantic does not have its own lounge in Boston but does in other cities.
As much as people like to think that JVs mean you share everything, there are undoubtedly charges that take place behind the scenes for functions that each airline within the JV provides to other airlines.
It is entirely possible that AF/KL has said they do not want to pay the access fees that DL is asking.
And it is also possible that DL knows that AF/KL has a higher rate of loyalty program redemption business class tickets than DL has and so DL's intent is to prioritize its D1 lounges for customers that are using paid business class tickets or are using SkyMiles business class redemption tickets.
Every US airline invests to make money for its stockholders; that is why they exist.
DL clearly makes more money than AA and UA do because DL doesn't do what they both do.
More likely scenario is the Delta is prioritizing its investments, aka the 49% stake in VS. Notice how KE/LATAM, where Delta also has large equity stakes, are unaffected?
Delta has proven itself to be very punitive with lounge access policies already for the sake of cost cutting, this really just seems like yet another way to do that.
It’s a bad customer experience for someone to purchase a JV flight with a Delta flight number...
More likely scenario is the Delta is prioritizing its investments, aka the 49% stake in VS. Notice how KE/LATAM, where Delta also has large equity stakes, are unaffected?
Delta has proven itself to be very punitive with lounge access policies already for the sake of cost cutting, this really just seems like yet another way to do that.
It’s a bad customer experience for someone to purchase a JV flight with a Delta flight number only to be turned away at the Delta One lounge
You weak argument might have some credence if this standard was applied universally across the D1 lounges. It is not.
Therefore the only explanation is the lounge is too small for the amount of traffic eligible in BOS. Who's fault is that?
Its not UA and AA
The AF lounge at Boston is a dark underground bunker with bad food options.
seriously this has to be trolling
Skyteam is trash. SAS managed to be in a semi-bad position in *A and now in an even crappier position in Skyteam.
Thank god for that LH status match
Yet another reason to appreciate the One World alliance. Delta goes out of its way to undermine SkyTeam in every way it can
Delta don't care about their own pax, why would they give a hoot about those from SkyTeam partners.
Sometimes people (and airlines) may forget that when you make lounges better, you increase usage. Before, maybe a certain percentage of Delta One customers at BOS didn't visit any of the lounges. With the Delta One lounge, I am sure many more will go. That also eases up space for additional customers at the regular SkyClub.
At the end of the day, Delta's clubs are designed to get people to book Delta metal and...
Sometimes people (and airlines) may forget that when you make lounges better, you increase usage. Before, maybe a certain percentage of Delta One customers at BOS didn't visit any of the lounges. With the Delta One lounge, I am sure many more will go. That also eases up space for additional customers at the regular SkyClub.
At the end of the day, Delta's clubs are designed to get people to book Delta metal and to acquire/spend on Delta cards, so other alliance/JV partners will have to be secondary...
Delta’s JV is supposed to make these partners metal neutral. Delta earns the same revenue as a Delta One flight vs an AF/KLM marketed flight.
I suspect the more likely factor is that they have large equity stakes in Virgin Atlantic and to a lesser extent LATAM and Korean Air, although those two don’t get access on a practical level, due to the extremely narrow operating hours anyways.
@ Anthony -- "At the end of the day, Delta's clubs are designed to get people to book Delta metal and to acquire/spend on Delta cards, so other alliance/JV partners will have to be secondary..."
It's kind of ironic that:
-- Delta SkyMiles SkyTeam Elite Plus members only get Sky Club access when traveling in international economy when on a partner airline, and not Delta
-- SkyTeam Elite Plus members with other airlines...
@ Anthony -- "At the end of the day, Delta's clubs are designed to get people to book Delta metal and to acquire/spend on Delta cards, so other alliance/JV partners will have to be secondary..."
It's kind of ironic that:
-- Delta SkyMiles SkyTeam Elite Plus members only get Sky Club access when traveling in international economy when on a partner airline, and not Delta
-- SkyTeam Elite Plus members with other airlines get Sky Club access when traveling internationally in Delta economy, while Delta SkyMiles Elite Plus members don't
Kind of goes against that point, no?
In a way it is ironic, but not really - you have to look at the second part of my statement, which involves the credit card. Delta conditions its fliers to hold a Delta Reserve (or Amex Platinum). If you are holding a credit card and flying Delta, you don't need to worry about alliance partners, what status you are, etc - you get access to a SkyClub while holding the card, point blank. With...
In a way it is ironic, but not really - you have to look at the second part of my statement, which involves the credit card. Delta conditions its fliers to hold a Delta Reserve (or Amex Platinum). If you are holding a credit card and flying Delta, you don't need to worry about alliance partners, what status you are, etc - you get access to a SkyClub while holding the card, point blank. With Delta One, if you are flying Delta metal in Delta One, you get in. When you look at it that way, it becomes more simple. Admittedly the card visit limits next year complicate things a bit.
Expanding on my comment from the previous article, but this seems to be a combination of overly draconian lounge policies from Delta and poor planning/execution.
Quite frankly, this blended Delta One lounge and SkyClub concept doesn’t seem to be that great if they’re already hitting capacity limits. It’ll be years before Delta can expand their lounge footprint again in BOS, if at all. (I’ve also read that the food isn’t anything special tbh)
The other...
Expanding on my comment from the previous article, but this seems to be a combination of overly draconian lounge policies from Delta and poor planning/execution.
Quite frankly, this blended Delta One lounge and SkyClub concept doesn’t seem to be that great if they’re already hitting capacity limits. It’ll be years before Delta can expand their lounge footprint again in BOS, if at all. (I’ve also read that the food isn’t anything special tbh)
The other core issue is that Delta functionally markets AF/KLM flights as their own, given the joint venture. This seemingly defeats the whole purpose of “metal neutral” and reciprocal benefits, when Delta is actively blocking AF/KLM passengers, a large chunk who have probably purchased their tickets off of the Delta website with a Delta flight number. Even if not from a cost perspective, passengers are going to be very confused when their AF/KLM business class flight, ticketed by Delta doesn’t get them into the Delta One lounge.
Delta already has the world’s most bizarre lounge access policy for their elites and now they’re adding to the complication for business class passengers.
I surmise the problem is that Delta is SUPER late to the premium lounge party. And since airport space is finite, they painted themselves into a corner by not snapping up space sooner so now the only space left must come from somebody vacating an adjacent space. In all, Delta's lounge planning situation is pretty abysmal even if the lounges themselves are nice - albeit crowded. Laughably abysmal. I'll still use the heck out of...
I surmise the problem is that Delta is SUPER late to the premium lounge party. And since airport space is finite, they painted themselves into a corner by not snapping up space sooner so now the only space left must come from somebody vacating an adjacent space. In all, Delta's lounge planning situation is pretty abysmal even if the lounges themselves are nice - albeit crowded. Laughably abysmal. I'll still use the heck out of the D1 lounges when I have access, but let's not put lipstick on Delta's lounge system pig. Maybe they can shill some more CC's for D1 Lounge access...
Yep, exactly what I said, poor planning/execution, this hybrid Delta One lounge/SkyClub model just simply isn’t very good, with how much it cuts into each other’s footprints. UA Polaris and AA Flagship lounges are all vastly larger, all 10k+, often closer to the 15k to 20k marks.
It’s really just cost cutting at the end of the day. For the most part, a Delta One lounge is a cost center, and hard to monetize in...
Yep, exactly what I said, poor planning/execution, this hybrid Delta One lounge/SkyClub model just simply isn’t very good, with how much it cuts into each other’s footprints. UA Polaris and AA Flagship lounges are all vastly larger, all 10k+, often closer to the 15k to 20k marks.
It’s really just cost cutting at the end of the day. For the most part, a Delta One lounge is a cost center, and hard to monetize in a traditional sense, but clearly it’s become a necessity to avoid attrition to other airlines and for Delta to grow.
BOS and probably SEA are the most egregious in terms of size, but LAX really isn’t that large either and lacks a lot of basics like dedicated shower suites.
The new lounges look nice but it truly is mind boggling how unable Delta is to forecast demand. AA and United have had these clubs for about a decade and still allow their OneWorld or Star partners access.
It boggles the mind why Delta would ever grant access to AF/KL in the first place just to revoke it a few short weeks/months later.
Is their internal usage forecasting really that bad?