During my 30 minutes of lunch away from my actual job, I sometimes like to take a look at FlyerTalk or Milepoint just to see what’s happening in the traveling world. I have a few reasons for this, the first being that I might learn something. Second, I may even stumble across something that is blog worthy. Lately, I haven’t been able to focus on important things like maximizing miles and points because I can’t take my eyes off the still-developing saga of the complimentary liquor change at the Delta Sky Club. I’ve been paying particular attention to this thread. In it, some FT members are detailing how much money they have spent outside the Sky Club in protest of the change. Do take a look.

Prior to a recent Delta flight, I had the opportunity to actually “belly up” to the bar at one of the Atlanta Sky Clubs and chat with the bartender. Someone came up and ordered a drink, indicated “house” was fine, took their drink and left. I asked the bartender if he had been getting lots of complaints about the new liquor setup. He said a few, most people just take what they have and leave, and some will pay for better. You might remember that I’m one of those that hasn’t consumed the house wine (if there’s another option) since Luxury Bar hit the scene. For what it’s worth, in the dozens of drinks served while I was seated at the bar, no one griped about the liquor change. The bartender then asked me if I ever read FlyerTalk, and of course I said yes. He could not believe the number of comments and views of this thread. So… one could conclude that the issue has the attention of those directly affected on the inside….the bartenders.

As you know, I spent Monday afternoon at the opening of the new Atlanta Sky Deck adjacent to the F Concourse Sky Club. I had the opportunity to chat with some senior Delta managers about things the airline is doing on the product side, the evolution of the Sky Club product, the Delta inflight product, etc. I even learned a bit about the logistics of offering food selections like those recently introduced at JFK. In short, I don’t think it’s as easy as it looks, but I also think that is an option you’ll see coming to some other clubs in the future. The liquor subject did come up, but I did not really pursue it because I find it remarkably uninteresting, and I expect all I would have gotten was what was in the original press release anyway. For what it’s worth, I think we all recognize that Sky Club, Admirals Club, or the United Club are not the Lufthansa First Class lounge or the BA Concorde Room. The lounge model in the USA has been, and I expect will continue to be, different.

I’ve listed my reasons for paying for Sky Club access previously, and those have not changed. I value a place to hide, and access to experienced Delta agents more than the availability of complimentary alcohol. After conversing with the Delta people I met, I’m pretty sure those things I (and I expect a not so vocal but significant number of the rest of us) value in lounge membership are not changing. If they do, I’ll admit it here first. And I also commit to try a bloody mary with the Gordon’s Vodka next time I’m on a leisure flight. If I can truly tell the difference between that and the Ketel One I usually opt for, the next decent drink for the first lucky reader that meets me at the Sky Club is on me.

Coming soon – a house liquor comparison across the big three airlines.