SkyTeam Changes Lounge Access Rules

The international airline alliance announced several changes to the current lounge policies starting April 1, 2025, including for certain domestic flights.

Delta, Aerolineas Argentina Opt Out of Domestic Flight Access

Under the new rules, Elite Plus customers will be allowed to visit airline lounges on select domestic flights as a benefit of being a high-tier frequent flyer. The airlines participating in the program at select lounge spaces include Air France, China Eastern, Garuda Indonesia, Kenya Airways, KLM, SAS, Saudia, and Vietnam Airlines. Although “separate domestic lounge access policies may apply” for Delta Air Lines SkyMiles and Aerolineas Argentina Aerolineas plus members, SkyTeam notes the group is planning “to gradually widen domestic lounge access to more lounges in the future.”

For those Elite Plus guests who qualify for lounge access, they will be allowed to bring one guest with them into the lounge space. This policy only applies to passengers who are on the same SkyTeam-operated flight as the Elite Plus member.

Finally, lounge access will now have a time limit for departures. At the origin city, Elite Plus, business class, and first class flyers will only be able to access the lounge three hours prior to their scheduled flight. However, Elite Plus flyers transiting between two flights will still be able to “enjoy same-day/24-hour access at the point of connection.”

The new policies comes after the carrier’s airlines were bestowed with honors for being the most punctual carriers in 2024. In a report released by Cirium, Aeromexico, Saudia, and Delta were all named the most on-time carriers in the world for the calendar year.

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