Delta Airlines has been “adjusting” its admission policies for the Delta Sky Clubs to account for the increased number of people who have access. Besides those who pay for membership with cash or Delta Skymiles, many other travelers have access to the lounges through their American Express cards.
One of the changes to the admission policy is that American Express Platinum (personal or business) or Delta Reserve AMEX (personal or business) cardholders only have access for themselves. If they want to bring up to 2 additional guests, they must pay $39 each. Delta Skymiles Platinum AMEX cardholders can pay $39 each for admission for themselves and 2 guests.
There are situations when it makes sense for us to pay $39 for both of us to enter a SkyClub, such as when we have a long layover as we did in Los Angeles or when we arrived at the airport early for our flight from Orlando to New York.
In that instance, I figured my AMEX Platinum airline credit would pay the entrance fee. That’s the same trip where I forgot to bring the Platinum card with me and I paid for entrance with my Gold SkyMiles Business card. While that did allow us entrance to the club, I’m not getting the money back (which I’ve not told Sharon until now) (Note from Sharon: Then we shouldn’t have gone. Or just you should have gone since you get in for free, and I would have gone on the 6-mile long Starbucks line). Hey, I paid $39 for each of us to get a decent coffee and a hot breakfast of cheese omelets and turkey sausages in an empty SkyClub.
When we landed at LaGuardia, we passed the entrance to the new Delta SkyClub.
I wanted to check it out but since we were on a tight schedule, Sharon said I should run up to look around and she’d stay downstairs.
I scanned my boarding pass and was allowed entrance. On my way upstairs, I asked the agent that was helping people check in a question. Since I paid for Sharon to get into the SkyClub in Orlando as a guest, could she also come to the NY club with me?
He smiled. Then he said that unfortunately the entrance fee for guests is limited to the club where you paid the entry. If I wanted to bring a guest into the club at LGA, I’d have to pay an additional $39. He added that back in the “Golden Age” the entrance fee was good for 24 hours but Delta did away with that policy several years ago.
I found that interesting because when we paid for entrance to the AAdmirals Club at Austin Airport, the agent informed us that we’d be able to stop at the Orlando club upon arrival for a drink or a snack.
I understand Delta is trying to limit the number of people in SkyClubs. But if you’re going to charge people to a guest into a club, it should count for the whole trip instead of having to pay for access to each lounge on your itinerary.
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