Citing continued investment to provide an elevated experience and increased demand for access by visitors, Delta Air Lines has announced that the cost of membership to access Delta Sky Club airport lounges will increase for the first time in two years.
Delta Sky Club Membership Rates Increasing in 2019; No More Single Visit Passes
To ensure the continuation of providing an exceptional experience for members — as well as taking care of guests who choose to fly with Delta Air Lines or with its partners — the following changes will become effective as of:
- Thursday, November 15, 2018:
- Single Visit Passes — which cost either $59.00 or 5,000 SkyMiles — will no longer be sold
- Any Single Visit Passes which guests already have will be accepted through the expiration date printed on the pass — as long as they are being used in conjunction with same-day ticketed air travel on Delta Air Lines or partner airlines; and an expiration date must be printed on the Single Visit Pass for it to be considered valid
- Tuesday, January 1, 2019, Delta Sky Club membership annual rates will increase, as detailed later in this article
New Membership Rates
In this article which I wrote back in November of 2016, the following membership options — payment plans of 12 monthly installments requires a one-year contract and initiation fee — included unlimited access to 251 Delta Sky Clubs and partner lounges amidst a price increase which became effective in 2017; and the rates for 2019 are highlighted in dark red type:
- Executive Membership You can guest up to a maximum of two people per visit at no additional charge — which is your best option if frequent guest access is important to you. The rate for one year is:
- 2016: $695.00, 110,000 SkyMiles or $59.99 per month
- 2017: $745.00 or 70,000 SkyMiles or $65.00 per month
- 2019: $845.00 or 84,500 SkyMiles — which is an increase of $100.00 or 14,500 SkyMiles per year — or likely $75.00 per month, as specific monthly rates have not yet been announced
- Individual Membership You can guest up to a maximum of two people per visit at the rate of $29.00 per person per visit — which is your best option if you typically travel alone and rarely need guest access. The rate for one year is:
- 2016: $450.00, 70,000 SkyMiles or $39.99 per month
- 2017: $495.00 or 47,000 SkyMiles or $45.00 per month
- 2019: $545.00 or 54,500 SkyMiles — which is an increase of $50.00 or 7,500 SkyMiles per year — or likely $50.00 per month, as specific monthly rates have not yet been announced
More Restrictive Changes in Policies to Access Sky Clubs
As I wrote in this article on Friday, October 21, 2018, customers must be flying as a passenger on an airplane operated by Delta Air Lines or its partners in order to gain access to Delta Sky Club airport lounges. Partner airlines include airlines which are members of the SkyTeam alliance, Virgin Australia, Virgin Atlantic, Gol and WestJet. The access policy varies based on the way you and your guests access Delta Sky Clubs, as detailed below:
- Delta Sky Club Individual or Executive Members
- Members and their guests may only gain access to the Club in conjunction with same-day ticketed air travel on Delta or its partner airlines.
- Delta Sky Club Members will no longer have access to Air France, KLM Crown or Virgin Australia partner lounges.
- Delta Reserve Credit Card Members from American Express
- Card Members will continue to have complimentary access when traveling on a Delta flight or a Delta-marketed and Delta–ticketed flight operated by WestJet.
- Card Members traveling on other partner airlines can access the Club for an exclusive per-visit rate of $29 per visit.
- Card Members can bring up to 2 guests for an exclusive per-visit rate of $29 per person, provided the Card Member and their guests are traveling on a Delta or partner airline.
- Platinum and Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card Members from American Express
- Card Members and up to two of their guests must be traveling on a Delta flight to access the Club for an exclusive per-visit $29 rate, per person.
- Platinum and Centurion Card Members from American Express
- Card Members will continue to have complimentary access when traveling on a Delta flight or a Delta-marketed and Delta–ticketed flight operated by WestJet.
- Card Members can bring up to 2 guests for an exclusive per-visit rate of $29 per person, provided their guests are traveling on a Delta flight.
Diamond, Platinum and Gold Medallion Members have SkyTeam Elite Plus Status and will continue to receive complimentary access to partner lounges when traveling on a SkyTeam international flight or a SkyTeam domestic flight connecting to or from a same-day international flight.
Delta One passengers will continue to have access to international lounges upon their departure or connecting flight.
Learn more about access and guest policies.
Summary
A reader of The Gate was so outraged about the news pertaining to the changes to the more restrictive access policies of the network of Sky Club airport lounges that he sent to me an e-mail message to please call to your attention to them; so I can only imagine how much angrier he must be after reading about the increase in prices for membership to Delta Sky Clubs — especially as rates had already increased effective as of Sunday, January 1, 2017, which is only two years ago…
…but he will get no sympathy from competitors, as last month, American Airlines announced similar policy changes to its Admirals Club airport lounges, through which both rates will increase and access will be more restrictive. United Airlines also announced that access to its United Club airport lounges will be more restrictive as well. Even though this latest news from Delta Air Lines comes as absolutely no surprise, I have to admit that I must have been asleep while earning my Master of Business Administration degree during the class which apparently teaches that a company must exactly follow the lead of its competitors in order for it to be successful. After all, why bother taking the time to come up with anything original on your own?!?
I offered my reasons in this article which I wrote on Monday, October 19, 2015 as to why I personally would not pay $59.00 for a one-time visit to a Delta Sky Club — but that is just my opinion, and that is no longer an option as of today…
…but then again, the Delta Sky Club at Concourse B at the international airport which serves the greater Atlanta metropolitan area is certainly very nice; and you can see 70 photographs of it at its grand opening in this article I wrote on Thursday,
Although these policies will adversely affect many people, some will welcome the aforementioned changes, as they see them euphemistically as ways of the reduction of crowds in Admirals Clubs. This comment which was written by Donald Osborne — who is a reader of The Gate — pertaining to the more restrictive change to access to Delta Sky Clubs is one example of that mindset: “I’m good with that. A dramatic reduction in the crowds in the Sky Club is much more important to me than the one or two times a year I might visit a Delta lounge when flying another airline. Delta is smart in this policy. They know that the most loyal flyers will like it and those who fly frequently fly non-Sky Team airlines but use the lounges anyway won’t. There’s no real incentive to make them happy so I get it.”
All photographs ©2016 by Brian Cohen.
