Before my Delta Air Lines flight to Amsterdam, I had time to visit all five Sky Club locations in Detroit’s beautiful McNamara Terminal. This review highlights the A38 Club.
Delta Sky Club Detroit (DTW) A38 Review
The last time I walked by this club it was 2010 and this was a Northwest Airlines World Club. While more than a decade has gone by and the club now bears a new name, I’m not sure much has changed inside. It was midday and the lounge was crowded, but not full.
Location + Access + Hours
This lounge is available to:
- Delta Sky Club members (along with same-day boarding pass for Delta or a partner)
- Lifetime members can access the club regardless of the airline they are traveling on
- Two guests or immediate family (including all children under age 21) are permitted
- Delta One or SkyTeam premium cabin passengers
- Access only when traveling on a branded “Delta One’ (versus first class) domestically
- Access when connecting to/from a same day international Delta One flight
- No guests permitted
- SkyTeam Elite Plus members traveling on an international ticket in any cabin of service
- Includes Canada, Mexico
- Excludes Caribbean, Guam, Palau, Saipan
- One guest permitted
- Select credit card holders
- Delta SkyMiles Reserve from American Express
- two guests or immediate family permitted
- American Express Platinum / Centurion
- guests are $39 each
- Delta SkyMiles Diners Club card
- two guests permitted
- Delta SkyMiles TRUST CLUB Platinum/Gold Visa card
- two guests permitted
- Delta SkyMiles Reserve from American Express
- Virgin Australia Club members (through June 12, 2022)
- One guest permitted
- WestJet Business Class passengers
- No guests permitted
- WestJet Rewards Gold and Platinum members
- Access only when traveling on a transborder flight
- One guest permitted
The A38 Sky Club is located just past security in Concourse A of the McNamara Terminal. It is open daily from 4:45AM to 10:30PM.
After entering on the ground level and having your credentials validated, you can take an elevator or escalator up to the lounge on the second floor.
Seating
This is a sprawling lounge with chairs and tables one very direction you look. There was a lot of people in the lounge, but still plenty of seats. I can only imagine how brutally crowded this lounge got before the A43 Sky Club opened right next door.
I ran into Greg from FrequentMiler while here…that was cool!
Food + Drink
Beverage stations with coffee and water are located around the world, but there’s a central feeding trough (buffet) in the center of the lounge, with a number of hot and cold items.
I literally stood at the buffet for 15 minutes (probably looking like a fool) waiting for it to clear so that I could get these pictures:
The midday lunch selection included:
- salads
- Waldorf chicken
- apple, cranberry, walnut, kale
- potato
- buffalo bleu cheese pasta
- sandwiches
- turkey swiss
- ham cheddar
- hummus with veggies
- charcuterie board
- chicken Parmesan
- cheese tortellini
- soup
- beef barley
- chicken florentine
- Miss Vickies potato chips
- Planters Nuts & Chocolate
- Rice Krispie Treat bars
- apple crisp
- brownies
- chocolate cream pie
- fruit
- bannans
- apples
Not a bad selection at all, though I skipped it all (diet, diet, diet).
In the same area, a full-service bar offered a selection of alcoholic beverages, some complimentary, some for purchase.
Complimentary drinks included a number of wines, bottom-end spirits, and Veuve duVernay Champagne (about $12/bottle).
Coffee, water, and soft drink stations were positioned throughout the lounge:
Restrooms + Showers
Restrooms are located on both sides of the lounge and were spacious and clean.
Shower facilities are present, but were still closed (Feb 2022) due to the pandemic.
Printing
Although it is increasingly unnecessary, I still find it necessary to print sometimes (just had to print a COVID-19 test in a lounge the other day) and was glad to see that this lounge still has printing facilities, including copying, scanning, and wireless printing.
CONCLUSION
I don’t get a chance to visit Delta Sky Clubs very often and was impressed at the generous selection of food at this particular lounge. While the lounge looks a bit tired and had a lot of people, I had no trouble finding a seat and enjoyed my stay.
Not a bad selection. Detroit looks like a nice airport, only thing is that Detroit is a horrible city so I will never have any reason to go. Delta really has hubs in awful cities.
Also, glad you got one of the real Delta one planes to Amsterdam. I saw that Delta isn’t going to be retrofitting the used A350s it is buying from LATAM, just leaving on the old LATAM seats. I think that is laughable, and I feel bad for anyone who has to fly Delta! Delta had so much potential and already was a great airline in a lot of ways, but it’s management team has just done so poorly navigating covid. Sad to see!
Besides retiring the 777 fleet, which that alone was one of the biggest mistakes any US airline made during the pandemic, and their executives have pretty much admitted that now without directly saying so, what other mistakes have they made?
Detroit is a fabulous city. Moved here four years ago and have never met a prouder and nicer people than Detroiters. Incredibly diverse and delicious food scene. All the entertainment options one could one are here as well.
Detroit is a terrible city. That you’ve never been to.
Douche.
The brand spanking new sky club opposite this is significantly better! Check it out next time — it reminds me of the new one in Austin.
I actually visited all five Sky Clubs. Stay tuned for those reviews. But spoiler: A43 was my favorite!
Veuve duVernay isn’t champagne, it’s just a cheap sparkler…
As for the printers, I use them very often because my line of work has me dealing in paper, and I don’t have, nor do I want, a printer at my home! Sky Clubs print in color, but the printers in the Admirals Clubs get the job done much faster.
The Delta terminal at DTW is arguably the best domestic airport terminal despite being 20 years old.
This Sky Club has actually changed a lot since 2010. Most of the changes occurred in the last 3 years. The buffet area, bar, elimination of TV areas, customer service desk relocations, etc.
Also, all the booze is free. There are no non-complimentary drinks at this particular Sky Club:
Mybe Delta should only build it’s hub’s in really nice cities. Which one’s are they again? The sparkling wine/ champagne they serve is better than what they serve in first class. 38 is a great club with excellent service, it’s a great airport and super city, and to suggest otherwise, not true.