Austin Delta Sky Club Review: Small, But Good Texas Food

The giant main airport terminal in Austin, Texas, has a reward at one end, the Delta Sky Club. It's one of only three permanent airport lounges in the entire airport. The other two are also airline-branded lounges: a United Club and an American Airlines Admirals Club.

For travelers with access to Delta Sky Clubs, this location is big and has plenty of spaces for work, socializing and plane spotting.

Where is the Delta Sky Club at AUS?

To get to the Sky Club at AUS, hang a left once you exit security and walk all the way to the end of the main Barbara Jordan Terminal. It can be a hike, and there are no moving sidewalks to assist you.

The Sky Club is near gate 4, and you can take either a spiral staircase or an elevator up to the second floor to access the club.

The Austin Sky Club is open from 4:15 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Friday and from 4:15 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. Sunday.

Austin Delta Sky Club design

The Austin Delta Sky Club is 9,000 square feet, which is on the smaller side for Delta Sky Clubs.

One of the first things you notice about the space is the somewhat rugged and Texas-like interior of dark wood and metal along with art by Texas artists, including a sign by the bathrooms with the city’s unofficial motto, “Keep Austin Weird.”

The club is laid out in a circular pattern with a room off to the left of the entry that has huge windows for watching airplanes, plenty of tables and the food buffet.

Food and beverages

As is the case at other Delta Sky Clubs, the food options include a mix of cold and hot dishes that change throughout the day, first offering breakfast and then all-day selections.

When I visited around noon on a Monday, the buffet had several dishes that fit right into the Texas theme, including plantains, arroz verde, chicken tortilla soup and barbecue. I was very hungry and it was all very tasty, so I forgot to take a photo of it.

There was also a variety of cold salads, sandwiches and charcuterie on the buffet.

If you head out of the food room and continue past the entry, you walk into a large bar area with the bar itself in the middle, surrounded by several types of seating.

You can’t miss the glass wine tower, a visually pleasing and climate-controlled storage place for colorful bottles.

The bar also has cocktails and several local beers on tap.

Keep walking around the circle and you’ll run into the self-serve beverage station with coffee, a fountain with Coca-Cola drinks and an area with water, lemonade and iced tea.

The one annoying thing I find about this Sky Club location is that this is the only indoor self-service beverage station I have found, so if you’re back in the food area, you have to leave it to get something to drink.

Definitely a first world problem.

Phone booths and Sky Deck

Continuing past the bar, you walk into a room with several workstations and wood accents to help with sound control and privacy.

A highlight of the Austin Sky Club is the covered Sky Deck outdoor patio area. With fans and heaters, it’s a nice space that is available year-round.

How to get into the Delta Sky Club

Eligible passengers are allowed to enter the Austin Delta Sky Club three hours before their flight’s scheduled departure, unless connecting, and must have a same-day boarding pass for travel on a Delta flight or a partner airline.

Ways to access the lounge include having a Sky Club membership, flying on a Delta One ticket or carrying the right credit card.

Medallion members of the Delta SkyMiles program can buy an annual Sky Club membership for an individual for $695 or 69,500 miles. An executive membership is $1,495 or 149,500 miles for a member and two guests.

Credit cards like the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card as well as theAmerican Express Platinum Card® and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express include access to the lounges. Each card includes either 10 or 15 visits per year, and after that, access is $50 per visit. Terms apply.

Top photo courtesy of Tiffani Sherman.