Delta has compensated me for the embarrassing lounge access snafu at LAX earlier this month.
In case you missed it, Delta denied me entrance to the Terminal 2 Sky Club at LAX even though I was traveling on a SkyTeam international business class ticket (to Mexico City on Aeromexico). Agents cited a “local rule” and refused to bend even after I presented clear evidence that I was entitled to access on the basis of my ticket.
I wasn’t fishing for compensation when I wrote my story, but I’m not going to turn down legitimate compensation just because I have a bigger voice than most travelers.
So how much?
10K miles…
It’s not much, but I’ll take it. I would have preferred a smooth experience at LAX. I don’t think anyone can accuse me of pulling the blogger card to receive excessive compensation.
Far more important than the compensation, I trust the lounge agents and supervisory staff at LAX have been retrained. There is no excuse for “local rules” even if Aeromexico was not paying the bill for its passengers. Delta has assured me what happened to me will not happen to other guests. A Delta spokesperson told me via e-mail:
We share your concern about preventing this error for other customers. After you brought it to our attention, we worked with our Delta Sky Club team to make sure it doesn’t happen again – in LA or any of the airports where we operate alongside our partners.
We, however, must keep Delta accountable for this.
CONCLUSION
I wasn’t expecting anything, so I’ll take the 10K miles. Stay tuned: I’ll be paying a visit to the LAX lounge again to see if the policy has really changed.
“10K miles… It’s not much, but I’ll take it.” Seriously? You think access to a DL lounge is worth more than 10k SkyMIles? Whew, must be nice to have those kinds of mileage balances where you can just thumb your nose at 10,000 miles instead of a couple hours access to a mediocre lounge.
Sorry, but I’m in the camp that really thinks you don’t deserve compensation.
You raised a fuss about them denying you entry, which was reasonable given the fact that the SkyTeam policy stated otherwise and the lounge staff made up their own rules. BUT YOU STILL GOT IN……and I’m sure that you left this convenient detail out in your complaint.
That’s like basically going to a restaurant, ordering one thing and then they bring you out something completely different. Logically you complain to the manager and they offer to not only bring you the correct dish, but comp your meal entirely. Then you decide you to complain to the corporate office about the horrible treatment you got and how they didn’t live up to the promises listed in the menu blah blah blah…and you get a certificate in the mail for a free meal.
Sorry, tacky in my book.
Absurd analogy.
Lounge agents never let me in the lounge on the basis of my ticket. I had to go to great lengths to get in another way and that took an hour of my time.
Does everyone with a first class ticket have access to the lounges? I always fly first class and often use the lounge but have to pay the $40 to $60 to get in, then again the same price for the same day at the same delta lounge but at another airport
Delta first class passengers do not have access on domestic itineraries. But on international business class tickets, even to Canada and Mexico, access is granted.
Argosy,
Your analogy isn’t even close to correct nor your reasoning. The only reason he got into the lounge later was through an alternate means, not his Aeromexico ticket which should have rightly got him in. If he didn’t have access to those other means he would not have gotten in at all. The local staff violated Delta policy and infringed on a benefit he should have gotten because of his ticket. Delta rightly should compensate someone in that case.
A better analogy would be to say you go to a Priority Pass restaurant to get your free food, they refuse because the restaurant is crowded. If he then bought a meal would you say the restaurant is in the right and he shouldn’t complain to PP because they weren’t honoring his membership?
Good for you.
I’ve seen a few allusions to the other way you used to get in – how did you get in, lol?
Can you explain how you eventually got in?
Thanks for posting the resolution to this. Whenever there’s a travel snafu that is the fault of the airline/hotel/tour operator etc I always try to be reasonable and commensurate in the sort of compensation I expect. It’s often not easy to determine what is “reasonable and commensurate”. In this case, do you try to measure it based on the value of the product that you missed out on (ie. lounge access) or on the time spent and frustration caused by the issue. 10,000 sky miles seems satisfactory; not great, but not bad. I think considering that the cash price of skyclub access is around $50, I would have been looking for the equivalent in a Delta voucher or skymiles.
Matthew, thanks for doing this and you should take the 10K – good for you. My only hope is it changes behavior.
Did you ever determine if there is such a thing as “local rules”? If there are, this would seem to greatly impact the benefit/value of their product. If local management can just implement their own rules – which we cannot see – then how are we to know what the rules are? While I understand the need to have overly snarly gate guards at the lounge entrances, they should not be able to simply implement their own version of who gets in.
Agree with everything you said but…
Couldn’t you just get in with amex plat? Why’d that take another hour?
No AMEX plat access because I wasn’t flying on Delta (I was on Aeromexico).
After being denied admittance you came up with another way to get in. And THEN you wrote a glowing review of the breakfast. You’re a class act Matt. Delta should have given you a Sky Club Membership for having dropped the ball. Had they done so it would have generated tremendous publicity on social media.
Thanks for the wonderful LAX Sky Club reivew. The day after I read it I went straight to the club. You were right. Awesome breakfast.
I hope you’ll tell us how you got in!
why wont you tell us how you got in?!?!
Because a gentleman never tells. 😉