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There’s some potentially good news for some Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Medallion members taking international trips through a certain West Coast airport.
Lounge Access!
Delta used to allow Diamond, Platinum, and Gold Medallions to visit Delta Sky Clubs during international trips on Delta— regardless of which cabin they were flying. (These Medallion members are considered SkyTeam Elite Plus — a status that has some benefits with other SkyTeam airlines).
They didn’t need a Sky Club membership or have one of the American Express Cards that give cardholders Delta lounge privileges. They could also bring in one guest traveling with them. It was a great Medallion perk.
But in an effort to curb overcrowding, Delta stopped allowing its Gold, Platinum, and Diamond Medallions (and their guests) to visit Sky Clubs during International trips — unless they were traveling in Delta One or Premium Select. Or, of course, if they were Sky Club members or held one of those Amex cards.
However, other airlines’ SkyTeam Elite Plus members could still use Delta Sky Clubs during international trips. Delta was punishing only its only loyal members.
But there might be some relief on the way.
One Mile at a Time writes that an Air France Lounge will open its doors on Friday, June 21, 2024. It will be located in the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT)’s new-ish Midfield Satellite Concourse.
Air France is a SkyTeam airline (in fact, Delta and Air France have a strategic partnership). So, it’s reasonable to deduce that Delta’s SkyTeam Elite Plus members will be able to enter the Air France Lounge (with a guest!) when taking Delta international trips.
But will overcrowding be a problem? Ben Schlappig theorizes that the Air France LAX lounge will be open to Priority Pass members (as Air France lounges in the U.S. are currently part of the Priority Pass program).
RELATED: Review: SkyTeam KLM / Air France / Priority Pass Lounge Chicago O’Hare Airport
Get Ready to Walk?
If the Air France Lounge is available to Delta’s Diamond, Platinum, and Gold Medallions during international trips, plan to get in a bunch of steps.
The Midfield Satellite Concourse is a decent walk from Delta’s Terminals 2 and 3. (The two terminals will eventually be considered just Terminal 2 as part of a massive renaming cluster– er, project. TBIT will be considered Terminal 3. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.)
LAX will rename its terminals, gates, people mover stations, and other facilities as part of a wayfinding enhancement program. Terminals 2 and 3 become Terminal 2/T2. Tom Bradley Terminal becomes Terminal 3/T3. People Mover stations get letters A-G. https://t.co/Wy0w3GovLa pic.twitter.com/mk8iGKvsmi
— numble (@numble) April 22, 2024
The Delta gates are now connected airside (post-security) to the Tom Bradley Terminal. (It took me a little over five minutes to walk from the Delta TSA checkpoint over into the Bradley terminal.) The Midfield Satellite is something like 1/5 mile from the main TBIT concourse. In this video, it was about an eight-minute walk from TBIT over to the West Gates/Midfield Concourse. So, plan on at least 15-20 minutes to hoof it each way from the Delta gates over to the Air France Lounge.
Final Approach
A new Air France Lounge will open at LAX in June 2024. This lounge will hopefully provide somewhere for Delta’s SkyTeam Elite Plus members to visit before international Delta trips if they don’t otherwise have Sky Club access.
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If the AF lounge is indeed a Priority Pass lounge, any PP member on any airline can use it (subject to any time restrictions). It would be the only Priority Pass lounge at LAX. And, as you note, its location makes it impractical unless one is departing from the TBIT. No thanks.
I remember when Priority Pass had several lounges at LAX. Some of those closed because of Delta taking over T2 and T3 (Air Canada and Virgin Clubhouse). But Alaska is still there. The Korean lounge in TBIT is still there, albeit not exactly a marquee club.
To clarify, are you saying that Delta has a lounge arrangement with Alaska? Or, PP has an arrangement with Alaska?
PP does not list access to the LAX Alaska lounge.
Thanks.
PP had agreements with Alaska and Korean.
Thanks! I had no idea. The Alaska lounge is not listed on the PP website. Hmmm.
It’s no longer part of the PP program. But it was great back in the day when it was. When I flew JetBlue, United, or Sun Country, I’d pop into the Alaska lounge.