After my surprisingly pleasant flight from Dublin to Minneapolis, and despite the short-term passport loss on-board, I still found myself with time for a quick visit to the Concourse F/G Delta Sky Club – having arrived at one end of Concourse F, and departing on to Chicago from the same concourse a little over an hour later.

I realize Minneapolis Airport has newer and presumably more salubrious Sky Club lounges, but with time being tight as it was, I dared not venture too far from Concourse F.

I quickly found the Sky Club, tucked slightly to the right of the terminal-end of Concourse F and well-signposted and after a brief, pleasant conversation with the reception staff, I was quickly admitted.

You hear the horror stories of US lounge overcrowding, seemingly because of the glut of various eligibility criteria; frequent flyers, credit card holders, day passes, etc. I’ve seen busy lounges – after all, I’d just come from 51st & Green – but this was something else. It reminded me of a worse version of the American Airlines Flagship First lounge from last year.

The Delta Sky Club is effectively one very large hall, fronted by floor-to-ceiling windows with no particularly outstanding view given how the space tucks into the building fold of the main terminal to one end, littered with countless rows of varying types of lounge, dining, and bench-style seating.

I initially paced to the end of the space, perusing what available seating there might be, not that there was much, before settling on a single lounge seat towards the end of the space.

A quick visit to the bar later, and I returned to my seat with a glass of white wine, still unsure what to do or make of this excessively busy lounge. The bar meanwhile was staffed, and there are complimentary drinks available, although confusingly for non-US first-timers, there were also paid drink menus on the counter – leading me to initially believe the unthinkable, that all alcoholic drinks had to be paid for.

After a few sips, and studying my surroundings a little more carefully, I returned to the long buffet counter set out to the left of the bar counter, running a significant portion of the remaining lounge length.

The food buffet contained a variety of prepared salads, cold items like grilled chicken, and then a selection of sliders and other hot food items. Thankfully, after my surprisingly filling cheeseburger on board the earlier flight, I needed for nothing.

Ultimately, I found the Concourse F Delta Sky Club so busy that I decided after about 20 minutes to just head to the gate, reasoning – correctly – that it’d be more tranquil, and with less people passing right by me every few seconds.

It’s extremely rare that I voluntarily leave a lounge, but this was one of the few examples. Thankfully, it was more than made up for a beautifully-appointed, very peaceful Sky Club in Chicago which I’ll review shortly – but just went to show how significant a Delta hub Minneapolis is, even in mid-afternoon.

Overall, with more time on my hands in future, I’d more likely venture to one of the other Sky Club locations at MSP, or with less time and knowing what Concourse F’s Sky Club was like, I’d probably remain within the concourse area. I know, I never thought I’d say that either.