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Well, this isn’t very pleasant.
Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Diamond and Platinum Medallion elite status holders may no longer access the stellar Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at London Heathrow — unless they travel in a Virgin Atlantic premium product or Delta’s Delta One or “in premium” which we take to mean “Premium Select.”
According to this Reddit thread, Diamonds and Platinums (and up to one guest) flying in Comfort+ and Main Cabin are now relegated to the Aspire Club. (One FlyerTalk member said the “announcement was made a few months back.” I don’t remember hearing about it but that’s not to say it didn’t happen.)
Sure enough, the change is reflected on the Clubhouse’s website.
Perhaps this has something to do with Virgin Atlantic joining SkyTeam.
I haven’t been to the Clubhouse since the COVID-19 pandemic started and I don’t know if it was affected by the overcrowding issues that plagued a bunch of other lounges (at least, US-wise).
I enjoyed visiting the lounge a few times while flying in Comfort+. SkyMiles redemption prices for Delta One were always very high. I guess this is one way to encourage Platinums and Diamonds to buy at least Premium Select.
And/or it’s an attempt to thin the Medallion herd. But considering Delta owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic, don’t you think they’d have some leverage to keep their higher elites happy and continue letting them use the Clubhouse — even when flying in steerage? (Angering your customers has never seemed like a good business practice. But what do I know?)
Revivals Lounge and Upper Class Wing Still Available
There’s some good-ish news, I guess.
Diamond and Platinum Medallions may still access the Revivals Lounge and the Upper Class Wing (which features an exclusive security screening area somewhat similar to the new Delta One check-in lounge at LAX, though not quite as fancy.)
Who knows how long it’ll be before those privileges are yanked?
Final Approach
Delta Diamond and Platinum Medallions flying in coach — including Comfort+ — may no longer access the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at London Heathrow.
The news is disappointing, for sure. And I think it’ll serve to drive more people to rethink their loyalty to Delta.
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I don’t read it the same way. I read it as
Delta SkyMiles Diamond and Platinum Medallions
+ a guest traveling in premium on Virgin Atlantic or Delta premium
What do you consider “Delta premium”?
That’s how I read it too, it’s very ambiguous, it’s likely the explanation here but I would hope it’s the way you and I read it, especially as I will be flying in there in 2 weeks.
I think it could be read as saying that anyone who is Delta Diamond or Platinum can enter, but only their guests in Premium can enter.
However I also wondered the same as you. We are assuming Premium means Premium Select/Economy. Maybe it means Delta One or Upper Class?
Premium definitely means PS/PE on VS or DL, and D1 /UC is obviously settled.
Take a look at the Wayback Machine from March 30th to get an idea of the language structure they use and it’s clear it excludes PM/DM not traveling in PE/PS or UC/D1.
Yes you are correct. Even though in most cases I would still qualify, the more I think about this, the more obnoxious I think it is. It’s also irritating that non-Delta Sky Team Elite members get club access that we don’t. There’s also the fact that even club members (like me) don’t get access to third party lounges overseas. This also seems to be tied in with the new policies that came into effect in February. However having an American Express Reserve card doesn’t help.
It seems to get worse and worse and Delta does nothing really to relay to you that they again have DECREASED or TOTALLY taken away some of our earned loyalty benefits!!! If it were not for You Chris and a few others we would not have a clue unless we tried to use these benefits!! Thank You again…
Isn’t this in keeping with Delta’s Sky Club policy, where platinums and diamonds no longer get access to the Sky Club if flying internationally in economy? I suspect this is coming to Sky Team system-wide. This is a very unfortunate downgrade, although the Heathrow Virgin flagship lounge gets insanely crowded. Sometimes the staff force random strangers to share tables.
Oh yeah, Delta has also eliminated bag tags and job well done certificates!
Is that true for 2024? For this year I received both though they took much longer to arrive than in years past.
I have it in email by a supervisor and rank-and-file customer service agent that elites who qualified at the same status level in 2022 for 2023 status and in 2023 for 2024 status will not receive bag tags or job well dones. Sadly, the blogs won’t write about this. Delta’s PR people have successfully buried this.
@FNT – I got my DM tags and JWD certs in 2023 and I qualified mid-2022.
The one thing you CAN trust in 2o23 is not to trust anything anyone from Delta tells you. 🙁
Me too
I received my bag tags and JWD cert’s, qualifying for 2024 a month or so ago.
I didn’t get the job well done for this year, I did get my tag. I was wondering about the Job Well Done though.
Great. I switched to earning my Flying Club Gold status just in time.
I am truly amazed, your blog should be renamed to the eye of negativity, its shocking that everything you post is about a complaint, a dislike, a wrong action, an avoid. If you hate how Delta works, thats fine, forget them, breathe in – breathe out – There are so many good and fun things about this hobby you should redirect your content an energy on (At least a part of it)
Oh, honey.
I’m all about constructive criticism. But please check out these posts.
Read all of those posts. Or, rather, re-read them. I guess you’ve seen “everything (we) post.”
Then, tell me how “everything (we) post…” is something about you think we “hate how Delta works.”
I look forward to your reply.
I recently flew Virgin via Heathrow 3x in the past 2 months. Two flights were in Upper Class and one was in coach. I was able to visit the Clubhouse both times. It was about 50% full each time. The Clubhouse is by far my favorite lounge – better than United Polaris and most other lounges including Qatar etc.
The 3rd time was in coach and I was relegated to the Aspire Club. Horribly crowded with a long line outside. Luckily, I was able to get in using my Delta Gold Medallion status. Priority pass card holders seemed to be waiting for an hour or two. The lounge was mediocre.
While I enjoy the Clubhouse, I actually like the Gulf Air lounge at Heathrow better. I was there twice recently when flying Air Malta. It’s empty, has superb food, amazing wine, and great staff. I’m not sure I would enjoy it if was full, but I’m told it’s only used for a dozen or so flights a day.
Don’t compare any lounge to Qatar premium lounge, the food, the service, the quality is unmatched and never crowded as it doesn’t let elite in and nor part of cheap business class,it’s Heaven.
Sigh. At Heathrow and can confirm I was denied access for the first time in 5 years. Delta really need to wake up. I travel to London every z3 weeks. Yet between a horrible path to get comps to Dekta One as space is available and how this.
As a whole, Sky Team provides the weakest benefits to elites. A premium cabin ticket provides virtually all of the benefits that tier status does. Lounge agents are more accessible than phone agents during IRROPPS. Given this, it seems as if the only meaningful benefit of tier status is its earn rate on revenue tickets. If someone is flying on points in a premium cabin, I don’t see the value of tier status. Have I missed something?
This lounge is my absolute favorite. I was last there in January and figured, after the Sky Club cuts, that this lounge was too nice of a perk to continue. The new rule is a bit of a joke…you get access if you are in Delta One regardless of status. So they are really not allowing much of anything if it’s limited to Diamond and Platinums in PS.
I actually support Delta shifting their focus to pay to play. I might buy 5 or 6 flights on Delta a year, but I spend more than most elites. I like to get on the plane first, visit an uncrowded lounge with good food, and get my bags as soon as possible. After all, I pay for the service. I say, kick them out.
The overcrowding issues you mentioned in the US [SkyClubs], is because everyone has some “premium” credit card that gets them in. If there was some overcrowding in the Virgin Clubhouse, it was because of the glut of Diamond Medallions due to the covid years MQM and MQD rollovers. It’s too bad they couldn’t hold out a few more months. The number of DMs is going to drop precipitously in January when nobody hits the $20K MQD number.
You are right in principle although there was no MQD rollover and the MQM rollovers will have an effect for at least a couple more years. The MQD 25K Platinum waiver is also still there.
You don’t have a complete picture. The US is not the only problem child. Each of the biggest SkyTeam players is doing it. Holders of Virgin’s credit cards receive tier points from spending. With substantial spending and little flying, a person can achieve Virgin Gold. Same thing with Flying Blue.
What exactly are the spending requirements to get to Virgin Gold? Taking into account domestic complimentary upgrades on Delta and global upgrades on international flights, is Virgin Gold a substitute for Delta Diamond for a frequent Delta flier?