How to use Delta skymiles to join Delta Club to use lounge

Here is what I found....

https://www.delta.com/skyclub/purchasemembership_performRequest.action

But it looks like it costs nearly 55,000 miles for the year, plus an initiation fee.

If you need a credit card, or have a Delta AMEX, you could also upgrade to a Delta AMEX Reserve card. The annual fee is steep ($450?) but it gets you free club entry, a few guest passes, a guest on the same itinerary is free for International flights, plus you have access to partner lounges and AMEX Centurion lounges. Plus there are other benefits in earning MQMs and a spending waiver for MQDs, making it easier to get medallion status, or keep it. There are also other benefits.

Your can use the Delta sky miles for purchasing a sky club membership. You should download the sky club app for your phone so you can use it for tickets and showing your sky club membership. Go to the Delta website and click on "travel info" and go to the sky club section on membership and there it will show you two different memberships, one is for an Individual and the other is the Executive level. The first one costs $545 or 54,500 miles and is for one person, the Executive is $845 or 84,500 miles and allows you to take someone in with you.

I have found the ability to go into airport lounges to be critical to a trip being pleasant vs the worst experience ever! The ability to get away from the crowded and loud terminals, get a drink and sit back and plug in your electronics and rest during your layover is priceless. Many have showers to clean up in and some even have sleep rooms where you can grab 2-3 hours of rest.

Before you consider to purchase Delta club membership you might want to be sure you understand the limits. They have recently become more restrictive at Delta. https://thriftytraveler.com/news/airport-lounges/delta-sky-club-access-rules/

I have found the ability to go into airport lounges to be critical to a trip being pleasant vs the worst experience ever! The ability to get away from the crowded and loud terminals, get a drink and sit back and plug in your electronics and rest during your layover is priceless.

Precisely. It is my sanity at stake. I'll be waking up at 2 a.m. Wednesday morning to get to Sea-Tac. I have the Delta app on my I-pad--is the same as the Skymiles app?

Interesting, Delta doesn't have a lounge in Paris (I usually fly direct to CDG from Seattle)! Seattle, Boston, Athens, yes but no Paris.

I had a 7+ hour wait in CDG in March when flying to Rome, as Delta cancelled the previous connecting flight (4 hour in-between wait).

A friend mentioned that sometimes you can pay $50 out of pocket to use an airport lounge.

Plus there are other benefits in earning MQMs and a spending waiver for MQDs, making it easier to get medallion status, or keep it. There are also other benefits.

Maybe I don't have the patience to wade through the rules. What is an MQM? I'm still trying to get my TSA precheck onto my Delta ticket (when I check-in in a few days). My mind starts to spin just thinking about skymiles, which is why I've never bothered to even try to understand despite a dozen or so international flights on Delta.

A good lounge can indeed be a real treat, and a little "me time" in one is a wonderful way to begin a long trip (personally, my favorite way to initiate a trip is to get a 20 minute deep-tissue massage first, then hit the lounge for a snack and a drink...). Delta's lounge in SEA is very nice (arguably the best lounge in the airport, though the competition is a little thin), with good food and sweeping views of the planes on the ramp. And conveniently, it's also just a short walk from the massage place.

Alas, I find Delta points are really not worth collecting these days. They have devalued their program so deeply that (IMHO) it takes an astronomical number of points for a good flight redemption, so it's just not worth it to me. IME other programs are more rewarding and worthwhile, but others may disagree: a lot may depend on your location (if you live near Minneapolis, Detroit or Atlanta, you are kind of Delta-captive, for better or for worse).

Here's the info I found that covers all methods of accessing the lounges: https://www.delta.com/us/en/delta-sky-club/access. Note that the $59/5000 mile one time access pass was discontinued in 2018.

Getting your precheck number onto your existing and future Delta airline reservations:

1. Log into your Delta airlines account
2. Select “profile”
3. Under “Secure Flight info” select the edit button
4. Enter your “known traveler number” or “redress number” or whatever applies
5. Click “save”

This action will automatically populate necessary TSA precheck information to existing and future reservations with Delta airlines.

We have flown across the pond many times using American Airlines miles earned via our Citibank card(s). When we fly business/first using miles, we automatically have lounge access.
If you want to see what sort of flights your miles can get you, on American, I click on "book with miles"; I'm sure it's similar on Delta. I snag flights as soon as I can (11 months out) and book with the least miles required for business/first. Many of us "play the game" to earn miles. For example, we just got MilesUp cards - no annual fee and 10,000 miles earned if spend a mere $500 in the first 3 months. Often the award trips have undesirable itineraries but often you can snag a decent routing if you book as soon as those seats come available.
We are flying to Copenhagen next August. I got flights from the US to Madrid where we will spend the night then take an Iberia flight the next day to Copenhagen. By doing this, I avoid the steep fees that we would incur if we took flights from the US to Copenhagen. AA would put us on British Airways for that, connecting in London Heathrow, with fees for the business/first tickets of $750 each! And that's using miles! A night in Madrid and 2 tickets from Madrid to Copenhagen is a whole lot less than $1500. If you aren't planning to use your miles, I'll take them. (there are fees to gift/transfer miles)

Getting your precheck number onto your existing and future Delta airline reservations:

Log into your Delta airlines account
Select “profile”
Under “Secure Flight info” select the edit button
Enter your “known traveler number” or “redress number” or whatever applies
Click “save”

Thanks. I may have already done this (several times), but the proof of the pudding, I guess, is when I go to download my boarding pass 24 hours before take-off (online check-in). I'm never quite sure of what I'm doing, as what I think I'm doing sometimes doesn't pan out.

(I get lost in all the prompts as well as the clutter you have to navigate to accomplish something. Maybe it's just me, though).

For instance, I'm sure there's a way to change the day one returns, on Delta, but I've never been able to figure out how to do it.

A good lounge can indeed be a real treat, and a little "me time" in one is a wonderful way to begin a long trip (personally, my favorite way to initiate a trip is to get a 20 minute deep-tissue massage first, then hit the lounge for a snack and a drink...). Delta's lounge in SEA is very nice (arguably the best lounge in the airport, though the competition is a little thin), with good food and sweeping views of the planes on the ramp.

I'd really love to, the rules seem complicated, and I'm never really sure what I'm getting myself into. The one lounge I stayed in for a couple of hours, I think was in Dubai, was VERY restful, not crowded. I don't remember who the airline was.

Airports are very stressful places these days.

If you have a boarding pass you printed at home, it should say "TSA PRECHECK" prominently somewhere on it. If not, when you show up at the airport, just give them (a customer service agent) the boarding pass, and your TSA ("Known Traveler") number; they'll enter the number manually into the system and re-print you a new boarding pass (do this at the check-in counter, not at the gate - that way, you can use the TSA Precheck line at security). It's a pretty trivial task for them to do this. Once they enter your number, it should "stick" in their system and automatically appear on future boarding passes (for Delta -- each airline manages this separately -- at those airports where TSA Precheck is available).

For instance, I'm sure there's a way to change the day one returns, on Delta, but I've never been able to figure out how to do it.

Um...you can't just change the date of your return flight (if that's what you are hoping to do). Changing flight dates may trigger a change fee or increase the price of your ticket dramatically (depends on many factors). It may indeed be possible to change your flight date but but be careful if you try!

your TSA ("Known Traveler") number; they'll enter the number manually into the system and re-print you a new boarding pass (do this at the check-in counter, not at the gate - that way, you can use the TSA Precheck line at security).

The odd thing about after having been interviewed for the TSA Precheck is that I never received word of whether I had been approved. I had to go to the website to find out. I've got the TSA number somewhere; I'll just have to dig it out.

That is also a bit worrisome. I did the interview perhaps 3 weeks ago. In some cases, they say it might take 6 weeks.

I recall having found I had been given a TSA number. Does this mean I approved? I tried calling several times the company involved in the evaluation/issuance of TSA Precheck but never was able to get through to ask them the status of my application.

It's the federal government. They're not big on answering phone calls.

Go log in to the Department of Homeland Security's website; your status should be displayed there. (Actually logging in is a bit involved; good luck). Once you log in, it'll show your "Program Memberships". Look for a box with a green banner/box at the top that says "APPROVED." That's what I see. Don't see that? Your approval may still be pending.

They'll give you al kinds of "numbers" - an application number, for example, isn't what you are hoping for. You want a "Trusted Traveler" number or a "Membership/PASSID" number. That's the number that lets you keep your shoes on (usually).

It's a secure website for a major federal agency whose mission is national security, so they tend to be a bit (OK, very) formal and stiff. It is what it is.

Three weeks for approval sounds pretty quick to me. I recall the last time my spouse went through the process for renewal, it took months. That was during the height of the pandemic, and under a different, um, administration, so things might be different now. In any case, if you can get through the log-in process (not simple and friendly), you should be able to see your status pretty easily. Good luck.

This is what it says:

ELIGIBILITY DETERMINED
TSA has completed your eligibility determination. If you do not receive notification on your status within 3-5 days, please contact the UES Call Center for assistance.

I do have a Known Traveler Number (KTN),
as well as a
TSA PreCheck® Expiration Date:9/2/2027

Does this mean I've been approved?

In regards to TSA Precheck: You have the known traveler number, that is all you need for precheck, if nothing else, call and have them add that to your profile. The fact that you were interviewed though, means you likely signed up for Global Entry, which includes Pre-Check. Your ID for Global entry likely takes a while to get to you. Pre-check requires no interview and can be processed in a couple weeks.

What is an MQM?

For Delta, MQMs are Medallion Qualification Miles, the miles you earn when you actually fly. You need 25,000 MQMs to get Silver. Miles earned with credit card spend do not go toward Medallion Status...except for deals. With the Reserve card if you spend $30,000 in a year, you get 15,000 MQMs, which means you only need a trip to Europe and a couple other domestic flights to earn Silver. Status has benefits, mostly free upgrades. Spending $25,000 on the card also waives the Qualification Dollars needed for Medallion Status.

In regards to TSA Precheck: You have the known traveler number, that is all you need for precheck, if nothing else, call and have them add that to your profile.

Call whom? Delta? The TSA Precheck company, whom I've never been able to get on the line?

At least I have the KTN known traveler number. I'll take it to the Delta check-in counter & see if they can't add it there.

Thanks!

if nothing else, call and have them add that to your profile

Sorry, I was referring to Delta, customer service can add it ahead of time, or as you mentioned, at the counter, at check-in.

Also, regarding an earlier comment on Paris CDG and no Delta Lounge, if you have access to Delta lounges, you then also have access to partner lounges, like the Air France one at CDG, or KLM at Schiphol, as well as other lounges specified by Delta. However, it may be subject to qualifying flights, an International flight or in transit. I do think they no longer allow use of a lounge at your destination city.

Also, regarding an earlier comment on Paris CDG and no Delta Lounge, if you have access to Delta lounges, you then also have access to partner lounges, like the Air France one at CDG, or KLM at Schiphol, as well as other lounges specified by Delta.

I checked online (sorry, I don't have link) which stated that Delta passengers might be able to use those of the partner airline, i.e., Air France, but that it was at the discretion or whatever of Air France. Maybe the trip advisor forum (France) might have someone who has tried to use the Air France lounges.