Horizons

I'm a flyer who appreciates the exclusivity of an airline club for relative quiet and a place to get business done (change a ticket, use the computer or fax, make a call from the business center). Sometimes I just want to de-stress. My expectation is that once inside the club the atmosphere will be very different from what I left behind in the concourse. I am willing to pay for this.

Recent changes with the merger have left me upset about the direction that Delta is taking the SkyClub. I joined WorldClub a few years ago because I really liked how different their clubs were -- genuinely "clubby", with comfortable chairs, tasty snack selections, fireplaces, helpful & trained staff, overall good taste, and most of all -- quiet. Lots and lots of quiet. I had been a member of UA's Red Carpet Club in the past and am still a 10-yr member of AA's Admirals Club, so I have some basis for comparison.

My first reaction has come from vastly expanded access to the clubs, resulting in near-unbearable overcrowding at times. Once the clubs were exclusive oases for premium and frequent flyers, but now with day passes anyone can come in at any time (and they do). Consider all the ways to enter a SkyClub today:

Buy a one-year membership (the traditional way)
Buy a 3-year membership
Buy a 30-day membership
Use a free day pass
Buy a day pass
Be a member of a reciprocal airline club
Fly internationally as ST+
Fly transcon on a Premium fare
Have a Platinum Amex
Have a Centurion Amex
Have a Delta Reserve Amex
soon: any Diamond Medallion

With all these ways to come in, the clubs are more crowded and less exclusive than ever. I've lost track of how many times I have entered a SkyClub and simply could not find a seat. A single seat, not even in a business center cubicle.

Then Delta started changing the NW model of service. This meant getting rid of food options and beverage options, streamlining the clubs down to somewhere to get alcohol, watch CNN and leave. As a lifelong teetotaler, the idea of free booze doesn't excite me in the least. I would rather see Delta charge for alcohol and provide free sandwiches and fresh vegetables. I'm sad to see what has happened to the MSP clubs in particular, a frequent connection point on my travels.

I don't know what Delta's business model for the SkyClub is, but I would really like to see them wipe out at least half of the current ways of entry. Right now the clubs are getting overrun with families with rowdy kids. This week I was sitting in the designated "quiet" room of ATL Term E, seeking some peace after a 16-hour flight, and there was a family with 5 kids in there shouting, running and dancing (to iPods) and plenty of people talking loudly on cell phones. Not to mention phones ringing right and left. What again is the purpose of a club, particularly the Quiet Room? All those people were in there because there was nowhere else in the club to sit.

I could have had much the same experience out on the concourse, and been closer to my gate. This is not what a club is supposed to be.

The SkyClubs of today seem to be very different even from the WorldClubs of just 2 years ago. I had hoped that Delta would move more toward NW's model, but it seems that the trend instead has been more access, fewer amenities, and no supervision. The desk staff, instead of being highly trained agents like AA's that can work magic with a reservation (it is very hard to secure such a position in an Admirals Club, and the jobs are highly coveted), just seem to be there to deal with the most basic of issues.

I don't have a long-term experience with Crown Room Clubs, so can't really comment on whether there is a downward trend in that regard from 5 or 10 years ago. But I do see changes from the WC model that I believe are not positive from a quiet traveler perspective.

TheMoose

I couldn't agree more. Whenever I pass through ATL I always have to weigh my options: a crowded gate area or a crowded Sky Club. If the food options were expanded to be more like the WorldClubs were, and the bartenders were gone (they create a lot of the back-ups and lines), then maybe it would be an easier choice. But as it stands, it almost seems like choosing the lesser of two evils.

And now all the DMs will get free access as well? Maybe DL should start selling confirmed seating in the clubs and the rest of the folk get standing room only.

And the food options are pathetic. Oily olives, hummus from a jar, and biscoffs? I remember when the WorldClubs had carrots, celery, cookies, pretzels, salsa and chips, apples & oranges, and occasionally in MSP I saw hot soups. Mornings had bagels, muffins, doughnuts, yogurt, bananas, etc. Way to go DL... Whoever is in charge of the Sky Club products doesn't need to look far at what a good club was: you inherited it with the WorldClubs...

LegalTender

You won't have PriorityPass cardholders darkening the door soon (quite a few are PMs, by the way).

And CO President's Clubbers.....gone!!!

Buck up.

DeltaFirst

Well then, it's a good thing that you don't run the place. No matter, it's still better than sitting at the gate. I agree, times have changed.

LegalTender

I never use ATL SkyClubs. Most have the ambience and noise level of 8th grade cafeterias.

SCs elsewhere are generally more civilized.

pmaddock

Although I would second the general comments I do want to say its not so much black and white - WC good CRC bad.

First off though the OP does have a few valid points - most of the CRCs I've seen to tend to get rather crowded and its pretty easy to see a bean counter behind it. Exhibit A would be the main CRC in ATL A. Its a big nice looking facility yet they close it on weekends and leave their tiny auxiliary club in A to handle weekend traffic. At the DTW hub NW took the opposite strategy - leave the large main club open and cut hours at the smaller clubs at the ends of DTW A.

Edit - dropping Priority Pass may be a helper per the previous poster although I have no idea how much.

That said - WCs were FAR FAR FAR from perfect. Many of them look like a Doctor's waiting room from the 70's (most of the non hub stations along with MSP G). DL CRCs have a better and more consistent decor and look - save for the size I can't think of one that I've been in that didn't look like an actual club. WCs may be less crowded and had better food but they've been languishing a bit for some time.

DL hasn't exactly been asleep at the switch either - SC food offerings have gotten better - albeit as WC offerings have dropped. They finally got rid of those darn T-Mobile cards, added the Regus access, and it sounds like they may be bringing in Coke Zero. I think if they looked at these possibilities - things could be just fine:
1. Restrict Access - increase the price of day passes and maybe the membership itself. That said don't go back to looking at BPs constantly - it wastes time and backs up the entry lines.
2. Locations - stop closing clubs and start looking at expansion as we lose CO. Where possible increase space and/or utilization (close up the hole in LAX, open up ATL A).
3. Food - hold a focus group or something and find a better compromise level between old CRC and old WC.

james318

Write a letter... Enough letters and they may do something. Send a TTU. You can copy and paste this.

I disagree with your choice to eliminate some entry methods... As a long time WorldClub member, now that my travel is so infrequent, I like to be able to pick up a day pass if I have a long layover...

And I don't get why people are upset that the DM's get access... These folks are: a) likely to have already been club members or b) qualify in another way already.

It's not like we are going to be seeing mass influxes of unwashed masses due to this. Wasn't it only a few years ago that PM's got CRC access?

And while we add to the list of grievances... I'd ban Mr. Bigshot Business man talking WAYYY too loudly, and Mr. shoes off guy with his feet on the table.

keeton

Since I fly out of ATL and have been a PM for over a decade, I've seen a Crown Room or two.

CR membership used to be a perk of PM (until about 3 years ago). Some clubs were _always_ crowded during peak business flying times. So what you are seeing is nothing new.

Most of those ways to get in the SkyClub are revenue sources (including the AMEX cards - wonder why they swipe them?) so I don't see those going away. The family thing is a product of summer travel - this doesn't happen in other airline clubs as well?

I've dealt with some crackerjack agents in the CRs before. My only real beef is with SkyClubs that were former WCs where the agents didn't know DLs system.

The food offerings vary by time of day and I will admit that the mid-day offerings are pretty meager. Since you specifically mentioned this club - the E-concourse SkyClub in ATL serves the international flights and puts out a pretty good spread after 4 PM.

If you want to have a quiet SkyClub, you should limit your visits to Tuesdays or Wednesdays during the mid-day.

safigan

When the Skyclub starts running a line to get in the door to the club because of overcrowding, something is broken. This is supposed to be a benefit?

gt_croz

My biggest complaint is the noise level. There should be a segregated and enforced area for people who feel like they need to gab on the phone the entire time. If I wasn't surrounded by a blaring TV and a bunch of self-important suits gabbing on the phone I'd be in heaven even if the club was filled to capacity.

berlinflyer

I honestly couldn't agree more with you!

But I think the problems with the CRC's have to be seen in various categories:

(Lack of) Food/Drink Options
This is a general problem of ALL airline clubs in the US and ALL airline clubs by US airlines abroad (with the exception of the new ST LHR lounge, but then again, it's a ST lounge and not a specific airline lounge). Their food offering is pathetic, charging for alcohol (like UA, US) is a joke and the general presentation of their "offerings" couldn't be worse.

Have you ever been to the LH Tower Lounge in FRA (not to speak of the First Class Terminal)? Have you ever been to The Pier in HKG? Have you ever visited one of the BA lounges in the new T5? Well, those are lounges with a "real" food and drink offer.....US clubs are lighyears behind.


Access policy
I do think that a lot of clubs are overcrowded, especially in ATL, because they allow a lot of families in and also because basically anybody can buy a day pass. For US airlines, clubs are a source of revenue - for European and Asian airlines, lounges are a benefit for their loyal travellers.


Lounge Interior
IMO this varies a lot. There are a lot of nice Sky Clubs out there (BOS, RDU, MSP, ATL E2, SLC) and a lot of crappy ones. The new joined SkyTeam lounge in LHR is certainly the exception, being extremly nice, with lots of comfy chairs, a modern interior etc.

BUT the feeling that lounge interiors create really vary from visitor to visitor. One passenger might like the cosy fireplacw atmosphere in SLC, others (like me) like the sleek approach of LHR. That just varies by person and there is certainly not the one desing that fits all.


So in conclusion, I can fully agree with the OP that Delta needs to decide where to take the concept of the SkyClubs in the future. Do they want to drift towards the lousy UA RCC's? If so, they don't have to change a lot, they will get there eventually.

But if they want to make sure that the SkyClub's are above industry standards, they need to change a lot: food offerings, entrance policy, interior etc.

DiverDave

^ At the DO, we were told that the clubs now have to pay for themselves. That was a change under Mr. Anderson's tenure.

David

Horizons

Thanks for everyone's observations.

Yes, I am planning to write to Delta about the clubs. I am encouraged by things like the Delta Blog, which indicate that there are division managers who really are interested in what flyers have to say. I give credit where it is due, and one thing Delta does well is put faces with functions and try to emphasize to passengers, especially frequent flyers, that input is sought and considered. This is different from at most large airlines.

Most of my WorldClub lounge experience has been in the past 3 or 4 years at MSP concourse C, at DTW, and at SFO Int'l. Those seem to have been very well-run and well-stocked operations, but more amenities are moving out than moving in. Most of my CRC experience has been at Atlanta A17, SFO and FLL. I really like the SLC club, but don't get to use it much. And I should mention that the club I was in this week was the smaller one in ATL E across from the food court, since the larger one (formerly BusinessElite lounge) is closed until the afternoon. I always enjoyed using that one when on international travel, especially for the hot food and nice runway views.

I'm not suggesting a wholesale revamp of the clubs and access. Just a few tweaks could make the membership and usage experience much more pleasant and personal. Maybe when the merger dust settles the SkyClub management could take a step back and evaluate.

Global_Hi_Flyer

I agree, especially about ATL.

In the last couple of years, I've been flying AA more and more - the AA clubs, IMHO, are much nicer decor and a bit less crowded than DL's clubs (esp. the small DL club in ATL/B). AA lacks the free booze (which Mrs. GHF cares about, but is not that important to me), and the food is less, but the atmosphere is better.

My last couple of international flights out of ATL (June 2009), I found the E clubs completely packed. There was nowhere to sit - at all - in the old CRC, and there were a handful of seats in the old Intl Biz lounge.

The DTW club is very nice - especially compared to ATL.

It's not a product that I'd pay a lot of money for.

Lemurs

I'm actually fairly satisfied with the soft product in the SkyClubs for what they are. There are small things here and there that would be better, but that is not what I am paying for. What I am paying for is a more comfortable seat, a plug within easy reach, and Internet access. The SkyClub is coming up short there. I can't think of a SkyClub I've been to recently that hasn't been disturbingly crowded, with many obvious day-passers.

I'm not against DayPasses as a revenue source, but if you're going to offer them at all clubs, you need to size the club accordingly. You simply cannot force people to pay to get into your club and then make it a standing-room-only affair. I simply will not pay for that. Also, the quiet areas need to be a little better picked out, because if you are going to constantly pack the house, simply putting a sign in one part of a huge open space doesn't actually make it QUIET.