A few days ago Delta Air Lines announced a new policy that limits access to Delta Sky Club lounges for passengers with Sky Club memberships. This new policy won’t go into effect until Jan 1, 2019 so the airline is giving members plenty of time to decide if membership is still worth it. However, this is an unprecedented move for an airline lounge membership. Let me explain.
What Is Airline Lounge Membership
Majority of us who visit airline lounges usually do so thanks to a credit card benefit. The card may offer access to certain lounges or offer a complimentary Priority Pass membership. Either way, I’d bet most of us don’t actually pay an annual membership fee to access airline lounges.
For those who do pay an annual membership fee, there are added benefits. The largest benefit is that members can access their airline lounge of choice no matter what. You don’t have to be flying with a particular carrier or sitting in a certain cabin. With an airline lounge membership you can walk into your airline’s lounges whenever you want.
Since you have the added flexibility of accessing a lounge at any time, you’re going to pay a premium for lounge membership. For example, annual Delta Sky Club memberships cost $495! That’s a lot of money to shell out each year just to access Delta Sky Club locations and SkyTeam lounges. Keep in mind, members also get to bring up to two guest for free, but still, $495 is a lot of money.
Delta Restricting Delta Sky Club Membership For 2019 And Beyond
As I mentioned above, if you pay for an airline lounge membership you can typically access your carriers lounges at any time no matter what airline you’re traveling with. All you need is a valid same-day boarding pass to get past security.
However, beginning Jan 1, 2019, Delta is taking this benefit away. From that date and beyond, Delta Sky Club members can only access Sky Club locations when traveling with a valid same-day Delta Air Lines boarding pass. That’s right, you won’t be able to use the lounge if you’re not flying with Delta.
Additionally, beginning Jan 1, 2019, Delta Sky Club members will no longer have access to SkyTeam partner lounges. After this change United will be the only domestic carrier that allows United Club members to access partner airline lounges.
My Take On This New Restriction
I’m personally quite puzzled by this decision. Limiting access to Sky Club members traveling with Delta places membership on the same level as those accessing Sky Club locations with credit cards. For example, American Express Platinum customers can access Delta Sky Club lounges with a valid same-day Delta boarding pass. The same is true for Delta Reserve credit card holders as well. Essentially, after January 1, 2019, to access a Delta Sky Club you must actually be flying with Delta.
While I don’t think this is a HUGE deal, it makes me wonder what Delta is thinking. Who in their right mind is going to pay $495 for a Delta Sky Club membership when they can pay a $450 annual fee for the American Express Platinum card and have the same access. Sure, the Platinum card requires you to pay $29 for guests, but I’d bet people who use the lounges the most are generally traveling solo anyway.
Also, if you opt to pay for the Platinum card over a membership you’ll get $400 back in travel rebates (Airline of Choice and Uber) which reduces the annual fee to just $150. I’d gladly pay $150 a year and pay for each guest individually.
Other Airlines Potentially Following Suit?
Currently it seems that all US airlines lack originality. One airline does something and the other two follow. Just look at Basic Economy… My fear is that with this change United and American will introduce similar restrictions. After all, if Delta can get away with it then why can’t the other two? At least that’s how I think their Management teams think.
I’ve long considered re-opening the Citi Executive AAdvantage card. I’m not at the airport quite as often as I used to be, but it’s nice to have that benefit in your back pocket (literally!). It’s nice to know that if my United flight gets delayed 4 hours that I can walk a few minutes to an Admirals Club for a few free beers and cookies. If American introduces a similar restriction I’ll no longer see a benefit in opening this card since I usually get access to lounges thanks to my OneWorld Emerald status.
Final Thoughts
I’m glad Delta is giving their customers over a year of notice to this change. It’s really not a huge change, but with it I no longer see the benefit of paying for membership. I suppose if you’re traveling with your family a lot you’d save money each year. If you guest at least 12 people into Delta lounges a year it still makes sense to pay for membership outright.
As I mentioned I’m betting it’s only a matter of time before we see the other legacy carriers follow suit.
All in all this is a fairly minor change that probably won’t affect that many people. I suppose those who pay for Sky Club memberships primarily fly with Delta anyway. Either way, it’s change that’s coming and Delta is generously giving customers over a year to decide if membership is still worth paying.
