DLHubber

It definitely varies. 30-60 minutes is the range I’ve personally experienced.

WillBarrett_68

no idea what this list you're talking about is, no idea how many lifetime club members there are, not sure what any of this means. No idea what the bending of STE+ access rules has to do with this, if you're mad about general steps to reduce overcrowding, ok, that's fine, do you have some sort of alternative plan?

if your point is "bribing legislators is bad in general and bad for citizen passengers" I would agree with that but you've taken a really long road to get to that point.

GUWonder

The 3 hour rule doesn’t massively reduce the crowds at the DL lounges, nor does the newest restrictions on DL lounge use by DL SkyTeam ElitePlus flyers. What would massively reduce the crowds is for DL to completely get off its greedy addiction to money from Amex. This thing with Amex goes to show that DL doesn’t really care as much about addressing the elephant in the room when it comes to crowding in the DL lounges, and DL is primarily playing this game of divide and conquer with DL lounge access so as to try to reduce its costs from lounge use while still being able to feed itself like a glutton courtesy of what Amex keeps sending it. Waivers and favors around the 3 hour rule, DL’s pettiness toward its ElitePlus flyers, and DL’s stance with regard to non-Medallions becoming SkyClub members — all that is just a sign of DL’s continuing insincere and inconsistent concerns about lounge crowding. It wouldn’t surprise me if DL itself were also pushing the images of massive lines outside some DL lounges in order to pursue the business course it wanted to purse even if there was no such crowding to photograph.

FalconStng

I don't know about everyone else but since Feb. 1, it seems to me that the clubs are less crowded. I've been in several clubs since Feb 1. Not once have I had to wait to get in. Granted they aren't empty, but to me it's a significant improvement over last year. What actions that have been taken to date seem to be working. Is there anyone here that's travelled since Feb. 1 and had to wait for any significant length of time to get in when within the 3 hour rule?

physicsdude

From my experience, this happens a lot at DTW, but the past few weeks, I've been in some queues at BOS and LGA where a lot of people in front of me wave their Amex card to get in. The thing is, you can often see the difference between those who have Amex cards and those who have status/membership/in a premium cabin. Those with Amex cards often have a group of people enter with them, waste space by spreading out their stuff on other empty seats nearby, and create a mess.

The thing is, DL thinks that their SkyClubs are on-par with the Al-Mourjan lounge at DOH, Polaris lounges, or Flagship lounges but they're frankly not and need a reality check. Problem is, even if all of the people with status/membership/in a premium cabin stop using Sky Clubs, they'll still be packed with all of the Amex guests.

GUWonder

Could be a whole bunch of things — beyond just the 3 hour thing and whatever else DL did publicly in addressing lounge crowding with published policy changes — that may explain a different lounge crowd experience this February compared to last February. It could even be that DL’s published policy changes may even be the least significant factor in your different crowding experience this February than in the prior one.

flyerCO

I've had no issue at same lounge with flight just after midnight. In past agents have told me as long as it's before 3am it's same day.

sfoeuroflyer

Turned away and sent to the "penalty box" outside in Los Angeles for being 15 minutes early. "Did my time" and then was admitted.

DLHubber

This is some strong cope. "Sure, the lounges may be less crowded, but that definitely can't be due to the changes Delta made to make them less crowded! Those changes impact me and are bad!"

GUWonder

If that were what I had said, then I would agree with your words above. But I suggest re-reading my post, as that is not what my post said.

Some lounges that were previously packed last February were less packed on comparable days this February. And those were lounges where there’s been no published policy changes related to crowding in the period since. In other words, observed changes in lounge demand between one period and the next are obviously not always a function of published policy changes to the access rules.

Ryno1234

If this has been asked before I apologize: here is the scenario i face next week:

I am doing an "up and back" same day in and out of Boston. I land at 800 am. have my meeting and then fly back out at 700 PM the same day.

Lets say my meeting ends at 200 PM and I heard back to the airport because I am pathetic and have nothing else to do.
- I know I cant use my 700 PM boarding pass because i am WAY early,
-HOWEVER could I use my boarding pass from earlier in the day to get in to the club? is there a cut off of having access to the club after arrival? Technically, I could have landed at 800, wandered around the gates, made a few calls, grabbed a bite and THEN headed to the club.

Not a hypothetical: this is what I am facing next week.
Thoughts?

xliioper

Do they have electronic check-in at BOS? I suspect the system would reject early arrival at club since flights would be on separate fare components, have separate check-in's, etc., but don't know for sure. If they have earlier flights, you could see if you could add yourself to standby list which would allow earlier entry into club even if you do not want to take earlier flight.

sydneyracquelle

Are both your flights on the same pnr? I would just show them your outbound boarding pass and say you landed and had a quick meeting in the airport. Your same-day arriving boarding pass has no cutoff time for admission.

dilbertsdaddy

Slightly off topic, but..

When standing by for an earlier flight (confirmed flight is over 3 hours out but standby flight is not), I'm not sure what the rule is.

The first time I did this (can't remember where), there was no issue.

The second time (MIA), the guy's scanner said no, but at the desk there was no issue.

Incidentally, the guy with the scanner did not know how to read a BP: he was trying to use my time departing from ATL (connecting point) as justification for denying me.

mbluecpa

You should have access as caveated below, per DL’s website (Sky Club Access FAQ):

What if my ticketed flight is outside the three-hour window, but I’m standing by for a flight earlier in the day?
Club access is allowed in this case, provided customers intend to board the earlier flight if a seat becomes available.