jsmith50

Flying out of ORD tomorrow and see that the gate assignment for my (domestic) DL flight is showing as the international terminal. Though I think this is likely an error that will change before I arrive at ORD, it does bring up a curious question. If I am flying DL, can I access the Air France lounge on my day of travel (I am a Sky Club member)? If this gate assignment holds true, the Air France lounge, according to the ORD terminal map, is 2 gates away, much closer than the Concourse E SC.

MSPeconomist

You can verify lounge access on delta.dumb by going to airport information/SkyClubs/locations and select SC member on the drop down menu.

jsmith50

In theory, your comment is correct. However, my experience has been that sometimes when flying domestic or international and trying to access Sky Team lounges when not flying that airline, access is denied despite what the Delta Sky Club website shows. In fact, Delta has the disclaimer "Airline partner lounge guest access is subject to the policies and capacity restrictions of each partner lounge. Delta Sky Club cannot guarantee entry at partner lounge locations." Because I have had this issue in the past, I thought I'd put the call out to FT hoping someone who is a Sky Club member and who has tried to access the Air France lounge at ORD while flying Delta might be able to comment on the reality of getting in the door.

Thanks for the thought though!

MSPeconomist

If you're concerned, you should carry a printout of the webpage. Also, be ready to point out to the dragon the SkyTeam ElitePlus very tiny designation on your DL FF card. Some of them don't seem to see it or haven't yet gotten the message that DM is above PM.

Klm is Dead - Long Live KLM

In the past when flying from a United States airport on a KLM business class ticket with an Air France Flying Blue Platinum Elite Plus card which entitles one to lounge access, I have been denied entry to the AF lounge and required to go to the NW/DL or KL lounge.

If you are not flying AF, the AF dragons are well known for denying you entry due to "space restrictions" and "policy".

You can try it, but have a Plan B.

jsmith50

To update: As expected, the posting that the departure gate was on the international terminal was incorrect. However, after the discussion here, I arrived at ORD early enough to attempt to access the AF lounge. DENIED! As suggested here, I printed the Sky Club benefits/lounge access from the DL webpage and showed it, along with my DL BP and my SC membership card to the "AF dragons." I was, not so politely, informed that the AF lounge was for travellers flying AF and with a valid, same day BP and that I could access the DL SC on E concourse. I had time to swing by the SC on E, got a drink and complained loudly to to the DL staff in the lounge. They simply shrugged shoulders and said it's up to the "airline's discretion." So, what's the benefit of a Sky Team, if it's every one for themselves???

Dubyasee9

To make the consumers believe it when they pay for the SC. Just another way to make money.

GrizShel

I was denied entry to the AF lounge in Hong Kong as a Sky Club Member. The Dragon there didn't know what my Delta Sky Club lounge card was and said it had no relevance to them. I emailed Delta Sky Club (they don't answer the phone or even give out a phone number for members), and they said:

jsmith50

I've had better success with the AF lounges outside the US than within the US. In fact, I've been in the Hong Kong AF lounge so it's not a general policy to be denied entry there by the dragon. I have found it's useful if you carry a copy of the print out from the DL website showing that you should have reciprocal admission privilages. If the dragon doesn't let you in, sometimes it is useful to ask for a supervisor and show them the print out. Sometimes it still doesn't work and they will cite that very clause which they so quickly used on me in Chicago.

worldwidedreamer

It is for all these reasons that I vastly prefer the Star Alliance lounge access policy where all entitled to access have either a "Star Gold" or "Star Lounge" logo on their card...plus it works alliance-wide instead of just the closest partners with a few limited exceptions. At least it is better than AC reciprocal relationships: only QC when flying QF or AS when flying AA.

peachfront

I didn't even try at Hong Kong although I thought later I overheard a couple of Golds say they got in and got a beer just to prove they could. My flight was too early in the morning for me to want to deal with the notorious Air France "dragons."

DaddyRabbit

ALWAYS have your PM or DM card with you. They have always worked for me. Always.

Denolloyd

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

+ 1 ( or GM). I have never had an issue with my medallion credentials. However, it may be different for sky club members which are not GM+.

jsmith50

I have had problems with my DM credentials not getting me into to ST lounges, when the dragon denied any knowledge of what a Diamond Medallion was supposed to mean to him/her. Sometimes having my SC membership card and the print out of reciprocal privilages as I mentioned previously, I have had less of an issue. I figure, the more documentation you can give them to show that you are supposed to be there, the better chance you have of getting your feet in the door.

MSPeconomist

Note that DL uses a different lounge at HKG for BE departures. I think it is the QF business class lounge that seems to be beyond a bunch of duty free stores and downstairs at the beginning of a wing with gates, not too far from the DL departure gate for the DTW nonstop, but I could be confused. I am pretty sure that I have not been sent to an AF lounge at HKG.