In a stunning move, Delta has pulled yet another major devaluation – this time without a word – and one that hits its own Elite Medallion members extremely hard! Joseph May, a Platinum Delta Medallion, happened to be looking at the “Sky Team Benefits” page and noticed this:
Lounge Access
Effective May 1, 2014, all Delta third-party operated international lounges will become Business lounges. (6)
This little statement is devastating for Diamond, Platinum and Gold Medallion members! Currently, when traveling internationally, they have access to Delta third-party operated international lounges regardless of which class of service they are traveling in. After May 1, 2014, they will only have such access if they are traveling Business Elite.
Here is a pre-May 1, 2014 and post-May 1, 2014 comparison:
|
LOUNGE ACCESS PRIOR TO MAY 1, 2014: |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Delta Sky Club |
SkyTeam Lounge |
Third-Party Lounge |
|
|
BusinessElite Passengers |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Delta SkyTeam Elite Plus Economy Passengers |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
LOUNGE ACCESS PRIOR ON/AFTER MAY 1, 2014: |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Delta Sky Club |
SkyTeam Lounge |
Third-Party Business Lounge |
|
|
BusinessElite |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Delta SkyTeam Elite Plus Economy Passengers |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Here is the list of Third-Party Business Lounge locations:
|
Latin America and the Caribbean |
Bogota, CO (BOG) Caracas, VE (CCS) Lima, PE (LIM) Quito, EC (UIO) Rio De Janeiro, BR (GIG) |
|
Europe, Africa and the Middle East |
Accra, GH (ACC) Arlanda, SE (ARN) Athens, GR (ATH) Barcelona, ES (BCN) Brussels, BE (BRU) Copenhagen, DK (CPH) Dakar, SN (DKR) Dubaij, AE (DXB) Dublin, IE (DUB) Dusseldorf, DE (DUS) Frankfurt, DE (FRA) Instanbul, TR (IST) Lagos, NG (LOS) London Heathrow, GB (LHR) Madrid, ES (MAD) Malaga, ES (AGP) Malpensa, IT (MXP) Manchester, GB (MAN) Moscow, RU (SVO) Mumbai, IN (BOM) Munich, DE (MUC) Nice, FR (NCE) Pisa, IT (PSA) Roberts, LR (ROB) Shannon, IE (SNN) Tel Aviv, IL (TLV) Zurich, CH (ZRH) |
|
Asia Pacific |
Bankok, TH (BKK) Beijing, CN (PEK) Fukuoka, JP (FUK) Guam, GU (GUM) Hong Kong, HK (HKG) Nagoya, JP (NGO) Osaka, JP (KIX) Saipan, MP (SPN) Shanghai, CN (PVG) Singapore, SG (SIN) Sydney, AU (SYD) Tokyo (Haneda), JP (HND) |
This is a serious devaluation, and one that really slaps the Elite Medallion members. I don’t see Paris or Amsterdam on the list, so I’m hoping the Air France and KLM lounges remain available for use.
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A New York frequent flyer who elegantly combines her passions for worldwide travel, running a gazillion marathons all over the globe and staying fit ... without sacrificing her fancy for good wine and food.
CDG & AMS are both Skyteam partner airline hubs so good to go there but yes this hurts on top of the latest club announcement!
If you have access through Amex Platinum, though, that should still be fine – right? This only affects people who don’t buy any lounge access but want the benefit through being elite? If so, I would think that would affect a very small number of travelers.
Laura, given the fact that beginning in March, those with Amex Platinum will no longer have access to American Airline lounges, and beginning in May, those with Amex Platinum will only have free access for the cardholder to Delta Skyclubs (and will have to pay $29 for each guest, including children), I am not confident that those with Amex Platinum are “safe” from this or a similar blow.
It has always been dicey for international travelers. If you have AMEX Platinum, you get priority pass which gets you in to many 3rd party lounges (guests still pay a fee).