Navigating Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport with lounge access sounds simple until you realize Concourse A alone technically has four Delta Sky Clubs. We focused on the two right in the middle of the concourse: the one by Gate A43 on the left and the one by Gate A38 on the right.
Both are accessible with an Amex Platinum card. The real question is which one is actually worth your layover time. We checked them both back to back to find out.
How We Got In
Access to both of these lounges was through the Amex Platinum card's Delta Sky Club benefit. As of 2024, Amex Platinum holders get a set number of Sky Club visits per year (currently 10 visits) unless you hold the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Amex card, which gives you unlimited access. Both lounges use the same access rules, so whichever benefit you have, you can enter either one.
The process at each lounge is slightly different, which is worth knowing before you commit to walking across the concourse. We'll get to that below.
Gate A43: The Hot Food Option
We headed left toward A43 first. This lounge feels newer and more updated, even though it is noticeably smaller in square footage.
Food: If you want a warm meal, this is the lounge to be in. During our visit they were serving yellow rice, chicken, roasted vegetables, and a broccoli cheese soup that stood out. The soup was genuinely good, the kind of thing you would not expect to find at an airport lounge. The hot food station was well stocked and the quality felt consistent throughout our visit. For a lounge meal before a flight, this hits the right notes.
Bar: The bar area is more spacious than A38 and has actual seating at it, so you can post up with a drink comfortably. We appreciated this more than expected. Sitting at a bar with a cocktail while watching planes out the window is genuinely a better pre-flight experience than sitting in a lounge chair and craning your neck toward the bar.
Check-in: Self-service kiosks make entry quick and seamless. No waiting in line at a desk. You scan your boarding pass, verify your access credentials, and you are inside within about 30 seconds. For people connecting through DTW frequently, this alone saves meaningful time.
Crowd levels: Because A43 is the smaller lounge, it fills up faster. We arrived in mid-afternoon and found seats without trouble, but during peak morning and evening connection waves it gets noticeably tighter. If you are coming through during busy hours, get there earlier rather than later.
Summary: Smaller space, newer feel, hot food, bar seating, kiosk check-in.
Gate A38: The Spacious Option
Walking over to A38, the immediate difference is the size. This lounge is significantly larger, but because of that extra space, it also tends to be busier.
Food: The spread looks similar at first glance, but the food on our visit skewed heavily cold: wraps, sandwiches, salads, hummus, and cheese boards. A38 does serve hot food on other days (the menu rotates, so your visit may differ), but we found A43 to be the more reliable choice if a hot meal is the priority. The dessert section at A38 is a strong point regardless: brownies, cookies, and Rice Krispies treats. Vincent stocked up immediately.
The cold food selection is actually solid. The salad and wrap station looked fresh and was well maintained, and the hummus and cheese boards were more generous than what you typically find at comparable lounges. If you are not chasing a hot meal specifically, A38's cold offerings are perfectly satisfying.
Bar: Smaller bar, and there is no seating directly at it. You can grab a drink but you will need to find a seat elsewhere. For us this was a minor inconvenience, but if sitting at a bar is something you enjoy, it is a meaningful difference.
Seating: What the lounge lacks in bar space, it makes up for in overall seating. There are significantly more options to spread out, relax, or get some work done before your flight. The seating variety is also better: individual armchairs tucked away from the main traffic, communal tables with power outlets, and window-facing seats if you want to watch the tarmac. For a longer layover where you need to focus, A38 is the better environment.
Check-in: No kiosks here. You check in at the desk. During slower periods this is not an issue, but during busy waves there can be a short wait. Worth factoring in if you are tight on time.
Crowd levels: Despite being the larger lounge, A38 often has more people. It draws travelers from a wider section of the concourse because of its size and visibility. The extra square footage means you can almost always find a seat, but it rarely feels as calm or relaxed as A43 does.
Summary: Much larger space, menu varies by day, no bar seating, more overall seating, desk check-in only.
Which One Should You Choose?
| Gate A43 | Gate A38 | |
|---|---|---|
| Consistent hot food | Yes | Varies by day |
| Bar seating | Yes | No |
| Overall seating | Less | More |
| Size | Smaller | Much larger |
| Self-service kiosks | Yes | No |
Choose Gate A43 if: You want a warm meal, prefer sitting at the bar, and like a slightly newer aesthetic.
Choose Gate A38 if: Your priority is finding a comfortable seat to relax or get some work done. The food quality is fine but less predictably warm than A43.
For us, if we just need to sit down and decompress before boarding, A38 wins on sheer space and seating. If we want an actual meal, we go to A43 without hesitation.
Tips
- Go to A43 first. If the food situation looks good, stay. If A43 is packed and you can't find a seat, walk to A38 since you will almost always find space there.
- Check the dessert case at A38 even if you end up eating at A43. We made a dedicated trip back for the brownies and did not regret it.
- Peak connection times at DTW tend to be mid-morning and early evening. If you are connecting through during either of those windows, both lounges will be at their busiest. Aim to arrive at whichever you choose within the first 20 minutes of it opening during those periods.
- Use the kiosk at A43. It is genuinely faster and the desk line at A38 can back up during busy periods.
- Amex Platinum visit tracking: Each entry counts as one visit against your annual allotment. You can pop into A43, eat, then walk over to A38 for seating and dessert, but that second entry will use another visit. Plan accordingly.
- Both lounges have reliable Wi-Fi. We found the A38 connection slightly more stable on the day we visited, but this varies and is not a reliable differentiator.
