dtwlarry

Not so today. Of course, it's a Monday, so the business traveler was out in full force...as were couples in shorts, etc. A bit of everything flying out/connecting today. There was an agent standing in the opening of A43 with a large sign suggesting the lounge was close to full, and maybe another of the lounges would better serve my needs. But as he confirmed I was a party of one, he waved me through.

Zorak

Synapseturquoise

I have a feeling that the person you are replying to is talking about the Amex platinum cardholders not the Delta reserve but I could be wrong. The Amex Platium also gives them access as a benefit but this is secondary. It makes me think that this is the reason why Amex plans to build a very large CL in ATL.

TomMM

Would Dan Cortese have to wait in line?

VFR

Does anyone have a data point on someone with a platinum card being turned away in favor of memberships / Reserve cards? I don't think Delta treats Amex Platinum access as secondary.

Amex is now the only credit card company that gives their premium, unbranded cardholders access to an airline-operated lounge. I think they realize that DL has a lot of leverage over them in terms of Sky Club access and cost to Amex, and building Centurion lounges in Delta hubs is a way to de-leverage the relationship slightly. They also stand to pick up some premium cardholders that don't necessarily fly Delta in those locations.

Adelphos

I doubt this happened recently - it potentially may have happened when Amex Gold cardholders had the ability to purchase one time access - I could see it happening in that situation. I could also see curent Amex Delta Platinum cardholders being denied the ability to purchase access today in a similar situation. I doubt Amex Platinum cardholders would be turned away today. I would imagine the majority of people get access via Amex Platinum or Reserve

deltalirious

Seems like there's a simple one word answer to the source of this overcrowding issue: Guests.
Seems like there's a two word solution to the issue of overcrowding: No Guests.
And yes, that includes spouses, children, friends and business associates..
E.g., only the cardholder passenger (source of dues revenue) is admitted.

sydneyracquelle

Then that would kill one of the benefits and marketing pluses of the DL Amex Reserve card - the $39 guest fee access privilege and further restrict the population of people willing to pay $550 annually for a card to those who primarily travel alone.

rylan

That doesn't work with pax who have a membership that includes guests as part of it, such as executive SC or the guest choice benefit.

Xeno

One thing is clear that flying D1 does not give one any kind of priority.

jamesteroh

I would love to see guesting restricted but the problem is diamonds chose the exec membership/guesting as a choice benefit, it comes with a lifetime meembership and you get two free guesti passes a year with the reserve.

Maybe the way to go would be no paid entries. If someone has a platinum delta AmEx or other AmEx that requires you to pay, they don't get in and no guesting in people if you have to pay the fee. It would cut down on crowding and no punish those who have a benefit they paid for or earned.

jamesteroh

Please delete. Posted twice in error

VFR

Guesting is already quite restricted. The following people get free guests:

- Executive Members (including DMs that spent two choice benefits for an executive membership) (2 guests)
- DMs that spent one choice benefit for a credit card guest pass (2 guests)
- SkyTeam Elite+ traveling internationally (1 guest), and this is SkyTeam policy so it seems unlikely to change.

Folks getting access another way can pay $39/guest for up to two additional guests.

The guest passes on the Reserve were added recently, I'd guess in response to customer feedback that some folks want to take their spouse/family members with them. I'm not sure what you could cut that would make a huge difference.

Build more lounges. Open pop-up Sky Clubs. Try grab-and-go like some other airlines. Airport space is tough to get, but given the revenue that airlines seem to make from lounge credit cards, they should be able to do something.

Adelphos

Eliminating guesting entirely would impact the value proposition of the cards too much, and Delta/Amex rely heavily on those card sign ups / spend.

I do think all airline clubs should invest in grab and go. If people could walk into a club and grab a bottle of water/soda, quality sandwich, etc to bring aboard, many would choose to spend a lot less time in the club (they would get to the club for a few minutes before boarding rather than getting there an hour before and having snacks, drinks, etc).

jamesteroh

I'd love to see grab and go. They should definitely give D1 passengers a higher priority.

I'd also like to see airport food vouchers if you are d1 International. I'd rather eat at even a place like PF changs or SORA before an international flight, would be better food and would ease up on crowding in the SC.