Amex was pretty adamant that even the original 6 visit limitation would cover the vast majority of Platinum Card holders, so I wouldn’t expect the crowds to thin out that much. And given the price of food and booze at airports these days, don’t underestimate the willingness of people to pay $50 for entry. The Centurion Lounges certainly haven’t gotten much emptier after the new guesting rules went into effect.
But I would expect the new D1 Lounge at JFK to help quite a bit with the late afternoon/early evening rush.
That's probably true for "the vast majority of Platinum cardholders" however, I'm not talking about Platinum cardholders and Centurion lounges here. I'm referring to DELTA Reserve cardholders who are more likely to be road warriors and would be more frequent users of the DELTA clubs/lounges. Personally, I had 10 travel days by the end of April this year and 15 by May. You can see how a 15 visit annual limit starting next year is a problem for those of us who are frequent business travelers. My card renewal is up in September and last year it was $550, this year I'm looking at a $650 renewal fee for less perks. The math isn't mathing! Also, 75K in spend to unlock unlimited visits is a very high bar to meet that most will not get to. Unlimited access, as literally purchased for the - now $650 card fee, should be the standard as it has always been .... until now.