Starting February 1st, some changes to Delta SkyClub access went into effect. These changes have been known about for over a year but it was interesting to see how Delta implemented the new policies.

Basically, you now get 10 “visits” per year with the Amex Platinum (including the Morgan Stanley and Schwab versions) or Amex Business Platinum cards and 15 “visits” with the Delta Reserve (personal or business) card. You can have multiple cards and the “visits” are cumulative. For example, I have both a Delta Reserve Business card and a Morgan Stanley Amex Platinum card that gives me 25 “visits” for the year.

Why am I putting “visits” in quotes? Because a “visit” is all SkyClubs accessed within a 24 hour period. So, if you’re flying from Miami to Atlanta to Los Angeles on the same day, you can access a SkyClub in all three airports and it will only count as one “visit” against your total for the year.

As you can see above, when I scanned my boarding pass, the system recognized both my Morgan Stanley Amex Platinum and my Delta Reserve Business cards and let me select which card to use for my visit. I’m not sure that it makes any difference which card you select, but if you’re planning on closing one of the cards before the end of the year, use up your “visits” with that card first.

Here are a couple of additional tips:

• Put all credit cards that provide SkyClub access in your Wallet in the Delta app. This will then automatically show the cards when you check in as in the picture above. Note that one of the cards in my Wallet is not my card and the screen reflects that.
• If you plan to spend $75k on one of these cards to get unlimited access and you have an easy way to make that spend either through a business or manufactured spending, do it early in the year if you can. Why? Because your unlimited access will last all of this year, all of next year and won’t expire until 1/31/2027.
• Don’t forget to use your SkyClub guest passes that come with the Delta Reserve cards. You should see four passes in your Delta app. You could also save them for when your traveling companion runs out of “visits.”

For the first few months, the SkyClub won’t be any less crowded as people use up their allotted “visits.”. For most people 10, 15 or 25 (if you have multiple cards) “visits” will be enough for the year anyway. The frequent business travelers may have to start spending more time at Amex Centurion Lounges or other lounges when they use up their allotted ”visits.”

If you have questions about this post, let me know in the comments or send me an email at emptynestermiles@gmail.com. If you are thinking about opening a new credit card, please use one of my links.