In 2023, Delta Air Lines announced plans to make changes to its Sky Club access policies. We’re now just a couple of weeks from these policies being implemented, so in this post I want to recap the changes we can expect, as they’ll have implications for Delta passengers.
In this post:
Why Delta Sky Club crowding has been such an issue
Delta Sky Club crowding has been a pretty common issue for many years. In some cases, lounges have just been near capacity, while in other cases, there have been lines out the door.
For many airlines, lounges are a cost center of sorts, and are needed as part of their premium offering. In the case of Delta, Sky Clubs are a pretty big profit center in and of themselves, and a core part of the brand.
Why? Well, US airlines have a large percentage of their profits from their co-branded credit card agreements, and Delta has quite a lucrative contract with American Express. Delta Sky Clubs have primarily become credit card lounges, as the most common way that Delta wants people to use these lounges is with an Amex card.
For that matter, Sky Clubs are a key part of how Delta positions itself as a “premium” brand. The airline knows that many people with a credit card that offers Sky Club access are more likely to book Delta because they’ll get lounge access. So it’s a win-win for Delta — the airline gets more revenue from people booking tickets, and also gets revenue from Amex when people actually use the lounges.
The issue is, given how popular premium credit cards are nowadays, Delta Sky Clubs have become super crowded over time, to the point that there have frequently been lines to just get into the lounges.
Fortunately this is progressively being addressed. In addition to the Sky Club portfolio being expanded, we’ve also seen the introduction of Delta One Lounges, which are the carrier’s premium business class lounges, intended to help alleviate Sky Club crowding.
We’ve also seen Delta progressively introduce more Sky Club access restrictions. The latest of those restrictions is being implemented as of February 2025, so let’s talk about that…
New Delta Sky Club access changes February 2025
As of February 1, 2025, we’ll see the newest Delta Sky Club access restrictions introduced. These were announced back in October 2023, so we’ve had quite a bit of advance notice. Compared to some previous changes, these are actually pretty straightforward and mild.
Currently, these four cards don’t have limits on how often you can visit Delta Sky Clubs:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express (review)
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (review)
- The Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card (review)
- The Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card (review)
As of February 1, 2025:
- The Amex Platinum Card (personal and business) will each offer 10 visits per year to Delta Sky Clubs
- The Delta Reserve Card (personal and business) will each offer 15 visits per year to Delta Sky Clubs
There are a few more things to be aware of. First of all, all Sky Club visits within a 24-hour period will count as a single visit, including at different airports. So you can access multiple Delta Sky Clubs on the same day, and have that count as a single visit for your allotment (whether those visits are at the same airport or different airports).
Second of all, the access limits are per card, so if you have multiple eligible cards, you could stack the benefits of the various cards. In other words, if you had the personal and business versions of the Amex Platinum Card, you’d get up to 20 visits annually (just keep track of which cards you use each time). Authorized users on the Amex Platinum Card also get their own allotment of lounge visits.
Lastly, these restrictions only apply if you don’t spend at least $75,000 per year on an eligible card. If you spend at least $75,000 on a card, then you still get an unlimited number of visits. Eligibility is based on eligible spending per calendar year, so for the purposes of the first year, this would be based on your spending between January 1 and December 31, 2024.
If you exceed your visit limit with the card, you can buy access at the rate of $50 per person, using the card.
Will Delta Sky Club access restrictions alleviate crowding?
There’s no denying that Delta Sky Club crowding issues have gotten better over time, due to the factors shared above. Do I think these latest access restrictions will make a big difference? For one, I’d expect it to be late 2025 before we notice a difference from these changes, if there even is one. That’s because in February, eligible cardmembers are all starting with 10-15 visits, so it’ll be a while until people run through their allotment.
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.
I do think some of Delta’s past Sky Club access policy changes have probably made a bigger difference. For example, we saw the biggest changes implemented in 2023, when Delta massively increased the cost of Sky Club memberships, increased the fee to bring companions into lounges, stopped allowing Sky Club members on basic economy tickets access, eliminated lounge access for SkyMiles elite members on international economy tickets, and more.
Bottom line
As of February 2025, Delta will be introducing its latest round of Sky Club access changes. Specifically, those accessing lounges with select credit cards will start being limited to 10-15 lounge visits per year, unless they spend at least $75,000 on the card per calendar year.
Fortunately Delta has done a lot to address lounge crowding, between opening more lounges (including Delta One Lounges), and adding access restrictions. Personally, I don’t think these latest restrictions will do all that much in terms of crowding, but rather I think it’s about trying to generate more revenue, by having people spend more on their cards.
What do you make of these upcoming Sky Club access rule changes?
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!
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...
@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.
It seems that AMEX and DELTA do not care about their customers....Not good customer service....
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...
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.
That's a good strategy. Only 1,750 dollars a year to go to the lounge a few times.
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.
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.
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 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...
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
Glad I am KLM Skyteam Elite Plus. No need to pull out my Canadian Amex Plat.
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...
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...
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...
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.
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...
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.
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....
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.
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....
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.
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,...
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.
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...
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....
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.
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?
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
Good tip -- seems like a waste of that credit, but I guess if you really need(?) lounge access that's not terrible.
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.
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...
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.
Is the annual limit per account? i.e. how are Amex Platinum additional card holders treated, do they get their own 10 visit allotment?
@ AW -- Amex Platinum authorized users get their own allotment for lounge access.
"Amex Platinum authorized users get their own allotment for lounge access."
Did not know this. Thanks, Ben.
Amex VANILLA Plat gets 10 visits. Delta Amex Plat gets 0.
@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).
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.
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
@ 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.
Wow! $10B in amex revenue alone is crazy.
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?