GUWonder

Perhaps this is DL wanting to cut its costs to try to save a bit on food costs and maybe even the costs related to showering visitors. When I'm in them, the busy DL departure lounges don't seem to me to be generally busy because of huge hordes of arriving DL passengers with no same-day onward flight plans. The lounges being busy seems to be because so many people have access to them for departing/onward flights.

KDCAflyer

I actually think this would have better achieved their desired result vs pissing everyone off over arrival access. Although I would have made it 2 hours (in line with the TSA's recommended arrival to the airport).

The vast majority of my arrival club visits are in the morning at outstations where crowding isn't a problem (DCA, CVG, IND, etc). It's really silly and petty for them to turn folks away from empty clubs because some B-team MBA thought that it would fix overcrowding at the ATL clubs.

jghassell

I often stopped in the Boston SC on the way into the office in the morning, commuting from CLT through JFK (fares were unbeatable and I could be in a conference room by 9 am reliably, unlike with AA even nonstop). I never remember it being too crowded to the point of needing access restrictions.

My feelings on using the "airport bathroom" are largely reflected in this Louis CK bit: (NSFW)
Plus a cup of coffee, a bagel, and a chance to tidy up appearance.

DTWflyer

I haven't read all these posts but this isn't going to do a darn thing.

I'm fine with the 3 hour rule

The arrivals thing is really annoying. Like said, many times I have gone into a club after an early morning flights that is quasi-redeye to basically collect myself and get ready for my day before heading to a customer/client site. At 8-9am, at least the clubs I've been into at that hour, have never been busy.
If that isn't when they are "busy" then why limit access?

I think a better compromise would have been either we will not allow arriving passengers if a club is more than X% of capacity, or perhaps no arriving passengers during peak hours which at least in my observations tends to be afternoons and evenings, so after 12pm seems like a fair compromise.
Plus every city is different based on hub vs outstation, flight schedules, etc.

The worst clubs are ATL & MSP and there is no easy solution for crowding there.

zxrst

It seems that Delta just xerox copied centurion policy. If Delta doesn't know or care about differences between SC customers (loyal Delta travelers) and Centurion customers (Credit card holders), I am certainly going to cancel my reserve, get a platinum and fly less Delta.

volabam

The new terms say if outbound flight is delayed that SC entry is still available three hours before the originally scheduled departure time, at least.

yogimax

It's not really three hours. Boarding takes place 40 minutes before departure so time in the Club is actually being limited to 2 hours, 20 minutes assuming you arrive precisely on time..

That restriction is a major change. From previous comments, it seems the major problem is folks using the club at their arrival airport which is something I have never done.

Buster CT1K

I think Delta is just copying Amex and guessing at the effect.

ijgordon

CO President's clubs were part of the original group IIRC, I think they were dropped probably around the time of the UA merger but possibly before. Both the UA tie-up and loss of lounge access were a key part of my decision to go from die-hard CO fanboy to complete UA stranger.
AA became part of the lounge access program (again IIRC) when it was acquired by US, which was a partner. (And I'm wondering if this actually went back to HP).
I feel like TWA might have also been a partner at one point.
Generally as the airlines consolidated and lined up with banks for the credit card business, UA with Chase and AA with Citi/Barclays, they ended their Amex partnerships.

javabytes

The real solution would be to drop SC access for the Amex Plat altogether, and eliminate the companion certificate benefit on the Reserve card. Both of those cards currently offer so much value that it can make sense to hold them even before considering lounge access benefits, so lots of people have them... especially the Amex Plat. Make the annual fee primarily about paying for lounge access. But $ talks so that's never going to happen.

KDCAflyer

Yeah this is the real fix. The UA and AA clubs are nowhere as overrun as the SkyClubs (despite having much more generous guest policies), and the common denominator is no third-party credit card access.

MSPeconomist

People pig out in the lounge because they won't get a meal on their flights. DL's action and customers' reactions.

I'm also OK with a three hour rule, but I think the way to solve the problem is to end free and reduced rate guests. If DL wants to allow people to pay for guests, make sure the price is high enough: $39 for someone with a DL Plat AmEx card is 50-100% lower than the price should be, given that someone paying to enter will be sure to pig out on the food and have several drinks. Paying to enter a SkyClub costs significantly less that what the person would spend for equivalent F&B in an airport restaurant. Make almost everyone pay for all guests (with numerical limits for lifetime members who currently have guest privileges, with NO EXCEPTIONS FOR FAMILIES) and make sure that the price is high enough.

A lot of people abuse the family privileges by claiming that their kids' friends who are traveling too are their stepchildren, etc......and those who travel with large "family" groups are the ones who pay for permanent guest access privileges. It's simply self selection, and it causes more crowding than looking at average family or traveling party size would suggest. [I also think pets should be charged as guests, obviously with an exemption for genuine service animals but not emotional support anything. Pets take space and they eat when their owners get food from the buffet for them. However, this is a different discussion.]

zxrst

This actually makes the most sense. Of course, many people would leave and choose AA/United and their primer cards (with no time restriction and arrival entry). Look, there is a reason why Delta operates eight out of ten most expensive short routes in the USA. A lot of people stick with Delta due to the loyalty. The SC changes are huge downgrades and we will see what happens.

Beckles

I don't understand how some posts in this thread claim it will do nothing to address the problem while so many others are pointing out how badly they will be impacted (i.e, they won't be in the Clubs when they otherwise would have been).

Maybe I'm naive in thinking Delta had someone slice and dice SkyClub entry data to know that this will cut down on entries to some extent, of course they don't know how long arrival folks are staying, but clearly from the anecdotes in this thread not everyone is popping in to grab a coffee or take a dump.

As for the oh so common argument in this thread that the bathrooms are better ... last time I needed to drop a deuce and go to the Club I stopped at an airport bathroom first because I knew it would be about as clean and a lot lower chance that I'd have to wait for a stall. Unless the line at an airport bathroom is out the door I'm not going in a SkyClub to use the bathroom, chances are the SkyClub bathroom is no better.

Adelphos

The idea that Amex/Delta would remove SkyClub access from the Amex Platinum are simply unrealistic for the reasons everyone knows. Maybe guest fees can be increased, but I wouldn't expect anything more than a $10 increase to $49 or so. Amex is already increasing fees on the cards themselves. I think clubs will be crowded until Delta/Amex build more.