Frozenguy

I stop by on my arrival maybe 3/5 times to grab a quick snack and use the bathroom. If there happens to be a wait, I'll move along. It was nice but I'm not too worried about the new changes.

NYC Flyer

Agree--it's a nice "extra", but if the new policy means reduced crowding/entry wait times, I can adapt.

mridley2

This happened to me today. Finished with a client at about 1:30PM. Got dropped off at IND airport at 2PM for a 7PM flight. Immediately got to the club sat down opened the laptop and started working away at missed emails, etc. Today we got into the Club right away. but under the new rules I would have to wait 2 hours for entry to the club at the 3 hour mark before my flight.

The new rule sucks but I do understand the balance. While IND airport was never SRO or even near a queue for entry I know many other Sky clubs do face that during peak travel times. So I get the balancing act here.

IADCAflyer

Lets note that it really means quite a bit less in terms of time in the club. If boarding starts at T-40 minutes, and assume a 5-minute walk to the gate, the access to the lounge is really only 2:15.

sydneyracquelle

Put yourself on the standby list for any earlier flight even if you have zero intention of taking it.

kavok

The problem is… these changes aren’t going to reduce the crowds much.

Consider the rules today, where arrivals are allowed. If the lounge is crowded creating a line to get in, most arriving guests who were looking for a quick coffee and clean restroom just go elsewhere, not adding to the crowd. Otherwise if the club isn’t crowded, they enter, use the toilet, grab a coffee and 5min later off they go. The arrival guests who are now being restricted are not the ones causing the crowding problems.

And let’s be honest here… most of us know which SkyClubs tend to have the worst crowding problems and why. (Spoiler: not arriving guests):

MSP- Despite being a huge DL hub, there are only two clubs at MSP… and the one in C doesn’t have good food options.

FLL- Brand new club that was built way too small.

MCO- Disney kids… and they still haven’t maximized space by taking down the wall they put up 15 years ago.

ORD- This club is being replaced in September, which should hopefully alleviate crowd issues. It will be bigger, and shared with KL & AF.

Despite ATL and DTW clubs getting full-ish, there are enough clubs in those airports that you can usually find one with seats. Other than at the new, small A43 club, I have never had to wait in line at DTW.

SLC- The new club is great, but again gets full-ish. They could use a second club somewhere.

LAX- I hope the waits here went away three weeks ago, but haven’t been since the new club opened.

jamesteroh

I thought about that but what happens if you don't want on that flight and clear and aren't at the gate?

Everytime I fly SB I wait by the gate of the new flight. I was under the impression if you cleared the standby list and weren't there you lost your original seat on your later flight.

NYC Flyer

It seems logical that this change will have relatively lower impact at the hubs, given the higher percentage of connecting customers vs O&D. Overall the change may only help around the margins, but I don't see what other options DL has that have an immediate impact on the problem.

Amex Platinum dropped AA and CO club benefits years ago to be DL-exclusive. I don't see the benefit getting cut, although over time, I could see Amex offering the DL lounge benefit at a higher membership fee or as a choice in lieu of other card benefits. The other leak is free membership for Diamonds--DL could make this more restrictive (i.e., make GUCs and SkyClub choice benefits mutually exclusive).

In light of the realistic alternatives, I am hopeful DL has done their diligence and the announced changes will have a material impact on crowds.

jetsfan92588

I'd be interested to know the effect of the free membership for DM, but my guess is 1 - a large number of DMs have Reserve/Plat cards already, and 2 - if DMs lost free lounge access, most of those DMs would just get an Amex/Reserve card (after all, if you don't use your DM benefit on lounge membership, you can get $200 as an alternative, so off the top, your "fee" for the card is reduced by $200)- so the effect on crowding would be negligible.

NWA777

When we flew from FLL MSP FLL March 18 and 23, 2022

March 18, 2022 FLL Was there when it opened. Not Busy.
March 18, 2022 MSP 1000 Arrival at MSP. Main SkyClub was pretty full. The only seats open that were open was in the back by the printer.

March 23, 2022 MSP 0700 - 0830 Arrival to Main SkyClub. Very Full. The only spot that my wife and I could find was the opposite side of the SkyClub. We didn't know there was a spot to sit there. We've never been to this little cubby hole. It was standing room only there. When we left there was a line outside approx 20 people waiting to get in.
March 23, 2022 FLL 1445 Arrival from MSP. FLL SkyClub was busy about 20 people ahead of us. Only about a 10 minute wait. It went by fast. We went to the bathroom, got a quick drink and left. In and out within 10 minutes.

FLL Is too small. It's nice. They should have made it bigger.

It's nice to sit and relax in the Skyclub, and catch up on some work, and or relax in a quiet setting before the flight - vs - being out by the gates where it's to loud and crowded

It's nice to stop off when we arrive at our destination(s) to go to a clean and decent restroom, pick up a quick bite to eat and drink before we start our day.
When we arrive at our destination(s) we stay no more than 5 - 10 minutes.

I'm DM with Delta Reserve
My wife is GM with Delta Reserve

We'll be flying again soon. We'll soon see what ATL, JFK, LAX, SLC Skyclubs will look like.

Within the next few months I'll be doing multiple JFK, LAX, JFK, LAX, JFK, etc. Redeye flights again.
The last time I did this was before COVID and it shut everything down.
I don't know if you can use the showers again? But if you can, It's nice to take a shower to be refreshed to start a new day, especially from flying all night from one coast to the other.

Adelphos

Anyone reports from the MSY club? Never been there and visiting in a few weeks

JFK is an interesting one, the SkyClub can get crowded, but I feel like it hasn't been as crowded since the Centurion Lounge opening, and the D1 lounge will help the situation even further. SEA has not been that crowded in my experience, and is one fo the best in the system. Eagerly awaiting the new LGA club in June. PBI club seems get full, but not too crowded.

shoodawg

sea is getting to capacity. As does jfk, lax, Pbi and more. They must shorten the access window to 90 mins preflight.

mot29

Im a traveling pet sitter and sometimes the sits end mid-late afternoon. And if traveling from the west coast, waiting for an 10/11 pm or so red eye.
Those are really he only times when I show up more than 3 hours before the flight.
Ill adapt.

dtwlarry

@shoodawg, as @IADCAflyer points out, the useful time is cut down as a result of the new boarding T-40 philosophy (including the possibility of the doors closing at T-10 or T-15), with that brisk walk to the gate, a 90 minute access window is just a bit skimpy for using the perk as preferred, IMHO

DrMilano

I haven’t step foot in the Delta JFK SkyClub since the Centurion lounge opened up, as I’ll go out of my way and walk past the SkyClub.

Atlanta needs a D1 lounge badly, as I assume that AF and KLM J and F passengers would be granted access too. But with D1 transcontinental market, suspect that is why JFK and LAX were announced 1st. It’s just so amusing that airline industry goes in circles, as I still remember Delta shutting down the former BusinessElite lounges.

When the ATL Centurion lounge opens up and the AmEx Platinum/Centurion members no longer swipe to enter the Atlanta SkyClubs this should be interesting how this affects Delta’s SkyClub bottom line with this lose of revenue.