A reader of The Gate — whose identity will be kept anonymous for now — sent a letter to me pertaining to “the Delta Sky Club Day Pass miasma” in which she was inadvertently caught. She thought she was paying $59.00 each for two day passes to Delta Sky Clubs — but when she received her bill, she found out that she was being billed for significantly more that that…
What Went Wrong With This Delta Sky Club Day Pass Fiasco to a Reader of The Gate?
…and she is still being billed to this day on a monthly basis.
So what happened?
One change in policy which became effective as of Thursday, November 15, 2018 is that single visit passes — which cost either $59.00 or 5,000 SkyMiles — for access to Delta Sky Clubs will no longer be sold, according to this article which I wrote back on November 15, 2018…
…but 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.
“I signed up for 2 day passes @ $59 ea when I booked travel in early November of last year for travel on Nov 21 and Dec 5”, the reader of The Gate wrote in her letter to me. “However, when the AmEx bill came I was charged $65 + $39.99 initiation fee and have been charged $65 per month every since – for an ‘Executive Annual Membership.’ Delta told me the Day Pass product was discontinued, and that they switched to a third-party entity to handle Sky Club billing.”
When she communicated with a supervisor, she was actually told that “the fine print says Delta can change the membership rules at any time without notice.”
Using an intentionally absurd example, she then asked whether Delta Sky Club could charge her American Express account $500.00 a month for the next 20 years. He replied, “Yep. Pretty much.”
To the credit of the team members at American Express, they are attempting to sort out the entire situation for her as best as possible — “but Delta’s third party entity is saying they don’t offer a Day Pass – so clearly the customer bought an annual membership.”
Summary
Many contracts and agreements contain the legal fine print which claims that they can change the rules at any time without notice — and also that they are not responsible for any loss or damage. I am not a lawyer; but those disclaimers do not necessary absolve them of responsibility — nor do they give them license to egregiously and brazenly do whatever they want if what is done is generally considered unreasonable.
This is apparently one of those things that make you go “AHHHHHH!!!!” No, really — she actually included that expression to describe how she has been caught in the cancellation of “the Delta Sky Club Day Pass miasma” in her letter.
She ended the letter with “Thanks for letting me vent.” I intend to contact Delta Air Lines pertaining to this issue in an attempt to assist her, as she should only be charged $118.00 at the most for those two single visit passes to Delta Sky Clubs — but I am left wondering how many other people found themselves caught in a similar situation.
Are you one of them?
Photograph ©2016 by Brian Cohen.
