Air France – KLM Flying Blue Clarifies Lounge Access Rules

SkyTeam made changes to the lounge access rules from April 1, 2025 (read more here) that were announced in early January.

The main change was that SkyTeam Elite Plus members would be eligible for lounge access on entirely domestic itineraries for the first time (this was not previously the case). There was one negative change: You wouldn’t get lounge access earlier than 3 hours before departure (not the case in transit itineraries).

You can access Flying Blue here.

Air France – KLM has now clarified the lounge access rules for Flying Blue members:

• SkyTeam Elite Plus customers (including Flying Blue Gold, Platinum, and Ultimate members) have access to select domestic lounges. [See participating lounges]
• SkyTeam Elite Plus customers (including Flying Blue Gold, Platinum, and Ultimate members) may invite one guest when traveling on the same SkyTeam-operated flight.
• A 3-hour pre-flight lounge access limit applies to SkyTeam lounges. Flying Blue Gold, Platinum, and Ultimate members (and their guests) can continue to access Air France and KLM lounges earlier than 3 hours before departure.

Air France and KLM lounges welcome Flying Blue Gold, Platinum, and Ultimate members without departure time limits.

SkyTeam Domestic Lounges Included in the Alliance-wide Access:

Conclusion

I don’t think anyone would willingly and without a reason get to the airport more than three hours before their flight to merely access a lounge.

There are only a handful of lounges at airports where I wish to spend some time eating before an overnight flight (lights out—nothing during the flight), but I have never shown up so early that access would have been denied.

I have had longer transits a few times, and then I either work in the lounge or book a day room at a hotel (if the transit time is 5+ hours).

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