United gives us "Star Alliance Gold" cards to alleviate some of the hassles of travel. In particular, these cards give us access to Star Alliance lounges, such as the United Clubs and US Airways Clubs in various airports, at least if we're flying internationally the same day. These lounges provide free drinks, free pretzels, and in many cases free wireless.
On Sunday 9 October 2011 we were scheduled to fly from RDU (the "Raleigh-Durham" airport, actually in Morrisville) to AMS (the "Amsterdam" airport, actually in Schiphol), changing planes in IAD and FRA. We arrived early at the airport, and we were through security more than an hour before the flight.
Earlier in the day I had checked usairways.com and found the following special note for RDU:
This US Airways Club is closed while we build a new club in terminal 2. You're invited to use the Delta Sky Club (terminal 2, across from gate C3) if you're a US Airways Club member, or First Class, Envoy or Star Gold passenger traveling internationally, until construction is complete.Each of us was a "Star Gold passenger traveling internationally" so this invitation applied to us. We proceeded to the Delta Sky Club.
At the Delta Sky Club there were no visible customers but there were several agents behind the desk. I handed our Star Alliance Gold cards to the agent sitting in front. "I understand you have a contract with US Air," I said.
The agent immediately handed the cards back. "Those aren't US Air cards," she said.
"We're Star Alliance Gold members travelling internationally," I said.
"We're only open for US Airways members," she said. "You can check online."
"Actually, I did check online," I said. I started pulling out my laptop; I had saved a copy of the web page from usairways.com.
Another agent jumped in at this point. "It doesn't matter what it says online," she said. "USAir paid us only for their own members."
"Do you have a copy of that contract?" I asked.
"No," the first agent said. "I know that I'm not allowed to let you in."
"You're invited to use the Delta Sky Club (terminal 2, across from gate C3) if you're a US Airways Club member, or First Class, Envoy or Star Gold passenger traveling internationally," I read from my screen. The agents didn't interrupt, although their facial expressions didn't include any signs of comprehension. "Are you saying that this web page is wrong?" I asked.
"I don't care what's on the web page," the agent said. "My training says I'm not letting you in."
"May I have your name, please?" I said.
The agent wrote "Jamie K RDU 125" on a scrap of paper and handed it to me.
"Do you have your policy in writing?" I asked.
"This conversation is over," the agent said.
"So you don't have anything in writing?" I asked.
The second agent jumped in again. "You can't come in," she said.
"May I have your name, please?" I said.
The agent took the same scrap of paper, wrote "Manisha RDU 125" on it, and handed it back to me.
"Can you please write on there that you're refusing to let me in?" I said.
"No," the agent said. "I'm calling management. You can be escorted out of the airport either by security or by police. What would you like?"
Wow. It's probably time to stop asking for free drinks, free pretzels, and free wireless if the airline agents are threatening to kick you out of the airport. I sighed and packed my laptop. "Last chance to give me something in writing," I said.
The Delta agents stared at me, silent. I shrugged and started heading for the door. Suddenly the first agent spoke up. "May I have your name?" she said.
"I don't see why," I said, continuing towards the door.
"So you think this is one-sided?" the agent said.
"You had our cards a minute ago," my girlfriend said. We left.
Is it true that USAir paid Delta only for USAir members, not for other Star Alliance Gold members? If so, why did USAir's web site explicitly invite other Star Alliance Gold members? If not, why did the Delta agents refuse to let us in?
Why, in the space of thirty seconds, did we have one Delta agent telling us to check the policy online, and then another Delta agent telling us to ignore the policy online? Why did both agents refuse to show us a written lounge-access policy? Why did the agents refuse to even write down the fact that they weren't letting us into the lounge?
I find it hard to believe that these agents didn't have a Delta memo in the desk saying exactly who was allowed to use the lounge. Perhaps the agents knew that they weren't following this policy. Then all their behavior would make sense: it would be stupid of them to show us the policy that they were ignoring, and it would be really stupid of them to give us a document in their own handwriting saying that they were refusing to let us in. But why wouldn't they follow the policy in the first place?
Would the Delta agents really have called the cops? What would the cops have done? Was I doing something wrong? What are the rules for kicking people out of the airport, anyway? Of course, asking these questions becomes easier after the flight, although finding the answers becomes harder.
A few minutes after leaving the lounge, we bumped into a USAir agent and asked if she could point us to a manager. She asked what was going on, so we explained. "That's terrible," she said.
She introduced us to another USAir agent. That agent said that she had asked the Delta agents about first-class passengers, and that the Delta agents had said the lounge was only for international first class. Weird. If the Delta lounge agents only knew the "US Airways Club member" rule, and not the "First Class, Envoy or Star Gold passenger traveling internationally" rule, then why would they have told someone that there was an international requirement?
The second USAir agent summoned a USAir supervisor. This supervisor was sympathetic but said that he didn't know the exact rules and that the agreement with Delta would have been made by USAir agents in Charlotte who wouldn't be reachable until the next day. He also said that Delta didn't have to offer its lounge but was simply being nice to USAir.
Was Delta really giving USAir a freebie? I find this hard to believe. Surely Delta charged USAir a considerable sum of money in exchange for allowing specified uses of the Delta lounge. The basic question is what those specified uses were; the meta-question is why we weren't getting a consistent answer to the basic question.
Earlier, upon checking in with United, we had asked what they knew about lounge access. The United agents had said there was no lounge; had been very surprised to hear from us that there was a USAir-Delta agreement; and had pointed us to a USAir supervisor. That supervisor, in turn, had said that there was an agreement allowing US Airways Club members into the Delta club but that she didn't know whether Star Alliance Gold members were allowed. Later we bumped into the same United agent, who said that the USAir supervisor had told her that there was an agreement for US Airways Club members but that Star Alliance Gold members were definitely not allowed.
Maybe the Delta-USAir agreement really is limited to US Airways Club members. This would be consistent with most of what the agents were saying. But it wouldn't explain why the Delta agents didn't have anything in writing; why the Delta agents knew about an international-first-class rule; and why USAir's web site clearly invited other people to use the Delta lounge.
In the end, no lasting damage was done. This isn't a "United Breaks Guitars" story. It's just a story of broken promises, and of civil discussion terminated by threats.