Is Delta Air Lines tarnishing its brand with its Sky Club changes?

It’s about to be more difficult to get into Delta Sky Club lounges, and frequent flyers are already in an uproar.

Many frequent travelers have grown accustomed to having access to the free drinks, snacks, and a place to relax by signing up for certain Delta-Amex co-branded credit cards. But as the Sky Clubs have become increasingly crowded—with long lines snaking out of the one in New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, for instance—the airline decided to change the rules.

This week, the Atlanta-based carrier announced plans to significantly restrict access to its network of airport lounges over the coming years, capping visits for customers who earn access with a credit card, removing it entirely for others, and barring members flying on a no-frills basic economy ticket. 

The new Sky Club access rules accompany a larger overhaul to Delta’s SkyMiles loyalty program, which will see elite status in 2024 determined solely by how much money a customer spends.

“I am 50,000 miles shy of hitting One Million miles with Delta,” wrote one X/Twitter user.  “Unfortunately with the changes next year, looks like I am going to have to find a new airline.” 

The reason for the changes, Delta said, were twofold: to simplify the rules for elite status qualification and stem overcrowding at Sky Clubs. Despite opening five new lounges and expanding others this year, “visit growth has outpaced capacity,” the company noted in a statement announcing the news.

“These changes will help preserve the premium experience that Delta customers love and expect,” the statement said.

But the changes risk frustrating other Delta loyalists, some of whom have been vocal on social media this week.

“I’ve never seen the anger and frustration from a customer base that I have since these changes rolled out,” said Clint Henderson, managing editor of news at The Points Guy (a former colleague of mine).

Starting in 2025, customers with a Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card—who pay a $550 annual fee—will be limited to 10 Sky Club visits each year. The same goes for Reserve Business cardholders.

Delta Platinum Amex ($250 annual fee) and Platinum Business cardholders, will lose access entirely starting in 2024.

Those with a Platinum Card from American Express (a high-end card unaffiliated with Delta that provides access to Sky Clubs) will now be limited to six visits annually.

To earn unlimited access to the Sky Club, Delta Reserve and Amex Platinum cardholders now need to spend a whopping $75,000 on their cards per year. 

There are a few other ways to get access: Diamond Medallion members can opt for a Sky Club membership as a perk of their status. Some lower-tier loyalty members can purchase a Sky Club membership—for nearly $700 a year.

However, no one traveling on a basic economy ticket will be allowed inside.

Delta officials told Fast Company that the changes—including those made to the Sky Club access rules—were the result of customer feedback, while noting some of the restrictions don’t take effect for more than a year. 

More than $75,000 in spending is a lofty benchmark, particularly when viewed alongside the airline’s sweeping changes to its SkyMiles loyalty program which, beginning next year, will award members elite status based solely on spending: to reach Diamond status and its option for unlimited lounge access, members will have to accrue 35,000 “Medallion Qualifying Dollars,” earned through dollars spent on flying, card spending, and on other travel expenses like car rentals and hotels booked through Delta’s website.

Clearly Delta had a supply and demand problem with its Sky Clubs, but some experts wonder whether the changes may have gone too far, with some customers on social media already threatening to cancel their Delta cards.

“I just wonder what’s going to happen if Delta and American Express start getting a lot of card cancellations,” Henderson of The Points Guy says.  “It’s now a big spender program.”

The stakes are high for Delta, which recently cut profit estimates because of higher costs. Its credit card partnerships bring in a large portion of revenue. 

The company now expects to earn nearly $7 billion from its Amex partnership this year, Delta president Glen Hauenstein said Thursday at the Morgan Stanley Laguna Conference, up from $5.5 billion in 2022. At Delta’s Investor Day in June, CEO Ed Bastian noted that the money spent on Delta-Amex cards is approaching 1% of the U.S. GDP. 

The airline is betting that the changes won’t deter high-spending customers—which the airline says represents a growing portion of its customer base—and will prompt customers to increase spending on their Delta cards.

“Our hypothesis is that people will find their way to get to the levels they want to. That’s the whole premise of the loyalty program—is to encourage behaviors that demonstrate loyalty to us, and in return we give you benefits,” Hauenstein said at the event Thursday. “And I think that’s what this is designed to do. It’s hopefully going to be stimulative.”