Lounge access with SkyTeam
 

Is there a general rule about lounge access with SkyTeam? I am a Platinum member with AirFrance and I will soon fly in economy (it says "Premium/Abo on the boarding pass)from Marseille to Paris.

The AirFrance website says that access to the lounge is free of charge in Paris and in some few other airports against a fee of 25 € (if space allows). :confused:

I am completely perplex now. As a StarAlliance gold I have always free lounge acces when I fly with *.

Is the same not true in the case of SkyTeam? Do I really not have access to the lounge in Marseille?

You're entitled to enter in all lounges from the ST network free of charge...
http://www.airfrance.us/X02/en/local...e_platinum.htm

This is not correct. If you are a FB platinum member and you are on a national flight in France, you only have lounge access when departing from CDG. You will have lounge access to all lounges on your itinerary, whenever you are on a same-day international ticket.

This seems to be true throughout ST. For example, if you're a DL gold or platinum, you will have lounge access on those days that you also have an international connection, but not on other days (even if you're on an international itinerary).

It's worth pointing out that *A is not entirely dissimilar. UA/US/CO *G will not have lounge access in the US if not flying internationally. However, *G for other programs have lounge access to UA/US/CO lounges in the US even when flying on a purely domestic itinerary. (Hence the motivation for some US-based FTers to get A3 *G status.)

Great to know. I have on the same day a connecting flight to Moscow, i.e. Marseille-Paris-Moscow. According to you, I will be allowed to use the lounge in Marseille.

If the connecting flight is skyteam, you have access, exactly.

This is not correct, although there are not a lot of lounges you can access in other airports in France. But, even flying on a domestic flight (without international connection), FB gold & plat members can access lounges in ORY, BOD, LYS, NCE.
ORY, BOD and LYS are called "patio lounges" and are nothing to write home about. NCE lounge is quite decent and pleasant.

You might want to check again...

Which lounges give access?
 

How do you know which Skyteam lounges provide access? As a Skyteam Elite member flying BE internationally, I was denied access to one of Air France's Skyteam lounges, being told that Delta passengers don't get access, period. Delta's website says you have access to "most" Skyteam lounges. I also checked Skyteam's website, and can't find policies regarding specific lounges.

https://www.delta.com/skymiles/about...fits/index.jsp

Which airport? Almost certainly AF should have let you in if you were flying business class or SkyTeam Elite Plus. You can probably harass DL for some SkyPesos over it. At a minimum, DL should be told so they can talk to AF about it.

I don't think I will raise a stink over that because I have bigger issues to take up with DL over that trip. Plus, for all I know, that lounge might be one of the exceptions for some obscure reason. Nothing works the way it's supposed to at that airport, anyway--or the entire country, for that matter. That's expected.

Off this topic (although part of the same trip), but my bigger issue is that instead of reworking my original fully refundable, changeable, multiple stopover ticket when adding new legs to the trip, DL booked a whole new itinerary instead (on a lower fare class), messing up my upgrades, baggage allowances, and causing me to pay about $500 more than I should have. I didn't immediately realize it. When I called DL about it, one agent told me that even if they had originally booked it correctly as one itinerary, I would lose the international baggage allowances on my domestic legs. I told her it didn't make sense, b/c it's not like I'm going to get rid of some of my luggage on the domestic portions. But she said her supervisor confirmed what she was telling me. I could not believe how mind-blowingly ignorant of their own policies these DL agents can be, including the supervisors.

So see, this lounge thing was just a minor annoyance in comparison.

If you are a BE passenger, you're only entitled to the lounge DL has a contract with. If that's not the AF lounge, and you're not Elite+, you indeed weren't eligible.

But the DL website is VERY clear about this! They list all the lounges one can use after you've submitted your credentials (E+, BE, AMEX etc.).

Unless I am mistaken, there is NO Air France lounge in Marseille, nor is there a third-party lounge that Air France passengers can use.

Do you have the link listing the lounges? I could only find this link which lists the general SkyTeam benefits: https://www.delta.com/skymiles/about...fits/index.jsp

Having a list showing which specific lounges participate would be most helpful to avoid future inconveniences and embarrassment. All I know is that it was an Air France lounge that also had the SkyTeam logo prominently displayed, and I met the criteria according to the Delta SkyTeam benefits described in the link above, so the only reason would have been be some individual contractual thing at play here, but I can't find the link you are referring to that lists all the lounges.

The Delta site links to the SkyTeam site, which lists this particular lounge under their lounge finder, and their terms for use match that of Delta's site: http://www.skyteam.com/en/Why-SkyTeam/SkyTeam-Lounges/ This link lists their general access policy, but again, not anything specific to any particular lounge.

I confirm : no lounge in MRS halls 3 & 4, from where Schengen flights are leaving