Will the Sky Club Visit Change Rumors Will Come to Fruition?

It’s that time of year: Delta usually announces some kind of changes to its SkyMiles program and/or Sky Club lounge access.

And rumors are circulating that Sky Club changes are afoot — and will affect new rules that haven’t even gone into effect yet.

Delta Sky Club Access Changes: What’s Already Been Announced

Last September, Delta announced entrance limits for people holding eligible American Express cards with Sky Club access. The cards currently allow members unlimited Sky Club admission when flying a same-day Delta-marketed or -operated flight. But that changes next year.

The original changes were:

• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card: 10 complimentary visits per year, then $50 each thereafter
• Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve Business American Express Card: 10 complimentary visits per year, then $50 each thereafter
• The Platinum Card® from American Express: 6 complimentary visits per year, then $50 each thereafter
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: 6 complimentary visits per year, then $50 each thereafter

“Visits” meant one entrance. For example, you could enter four Sky Clubs during a roundtrip and burn four of your visits. (That certainly would dent Sky Pub Crawls.) Maybe you’d enter one of Delta’s nine Sky Clubs in Atlanta, decide it’s too crowded, then visit another. That would kill two of your visits. However, spending $75,000 on your respective card during a year — not across multiple cards — would give you unlimited visits for the rest of that year and all of the following year.

Those changes didn’t go over well with most cardholders.

Delta then (wisely) modified their original decision and announced more “Visits” per card. First, each “Visit” constituted unlimited entries to Sky Clubs throughout the system during a 24-hour travel period. Visits were then increased for each year.

• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card: 15 complimentary visits per year, then $50 each thereafter
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card: 15 complimentary visits per year, then $50 each thereafter
• The Platinum Card® from American Express: 10 complimentary visits per year, then $50 each thereafter
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: 10 complimentary visits per year, then $50 each thereafter

The Reserve Cards’ changes go into effect on February 1. The Platinums’ changes take effect on January 1.

Changes to the Changes But — Back to the Original Changes?

A Redditor posted this interesting comment:

Today I was chatting with a Sky Club agent at one of the hub clubs (intentionally being vague on which one) and I mentioned the overcrowding and the new rules. They shared they think there will be some further tweaks.

• The credit card visit caps will revert to the originally announced ones last September, undoing the “backtrack” in October
• The visit cap will not apply to Diamond or 360, assuming they have legit access
• The 3 hour before flight rule will no longer apply to Delta One or Diamonds

If true this would seem to benefit top tier flyers at the expense of the occasional traveler. Thoughts?

In other words, Reserve Card members would be limited to 10 visits and Platinum Card holders back to 6 visits. But those rules wouldn’t apply to Diamond Medallion or Delta 360 members. The current rule that you can’t enter a Sky Club more than three hours before your first flight’s scheduled departure time would be waived for Diamonds and Delta One passengers. (Although there’s some flexibility already in place.) I’ve asked Delta for comment and will update this post as necessary.

I’m Not Too Worried

Frankly, not much surprises me in Delta-land or the loyalty program world in general. It’s certainly possible some or all of these changes are in the pipeline.

But I highly doubt these modifications would take effect soon. Here’s why:

• Delta doing anything that could be seen as negatively affecting consumers — especially those who hold their cobranded Amex cards — would be a horrible move right now. We’re not that far removed from the utter IT disaster that affected tens of thousands of customers. Then, CEO Ed Bastian headed to Paris for the Olympics while the problem was still being resolved. While the issues were well on their way to being fixed, it still wasn’t a great look.
• From what I have experienced, Sky Club overcrowding is drastically down. But others also told me they’ve seen the same thing. That’s before the new 15/10 Visits rules take effect next year.
  • Maybe I’m lucky, but I haven’t noticed any substantial lines at Sky Clubs. (I surely just cursed myself and my fellow travelers 😉 ). Relaxing the visit cap and three-hour rules now would likely introduce more problems before Delta can see how the changes affect Sky Clubs and passengers next year.
• The Redditor wrote that the Sky Club employee “Shared they think there will be some further tweaks.” (Bold mine.) Perhaps I’m taking things too literally here, but notice that the employee “thinks” there will be changes — and what they will or might be. This could all be speculation. Maybe the Sky Club employee was thinking out loud about the changes they’d make if they were in charge.

That said —

Don’t Discount Frontline Employees

I don’t dismiss what the Sky Club representative allegedly told the Redditor.

On other related posts, several people commented words to the effect of What would a lowly employee know about major changes?

Here’s the thing: people talk.

They’re sometimes “sworn to secrecy” by managers or other employees with loose lips. Or they see a memo not meant for everyone’s eyes. Perhaps they learn sensitive information and aren’t explicitly told it’s confidential.

Then they share information when maybe they shouldn’t. Maybe they merely talk shop with people who share a similar interest.

Or they tell tales out of school when they shouldn’t.

Maybe both.

Let’s remember that someone claiming to work for Amex leaked the Sky Club changes more than a month before Delta made their original announcement.

Final Approach

A Reddit post claims that a Sky Club employee thinks lounge visit allotments will be rolled back to their original figures. I don’t think we’ll see that happen — or at least not yet. But frontline employees shouldn’t be discounted.

What do you think about the purported rollbacks? 

H/T: Enrila viaView from the Wing

For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, please visit this link.
For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, please visit this link.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, please visit this link.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card, please visit this link.