Delta is touting that their Seattle Sky Club was ‘awarded “North America’s Leading Airport Lounge 2017” by the World Travel Awards this weekend.’
Credit: Delta Air Lines
I don’t even know where to begin with this. The Seattle Sky Club is a very nice US airline domestic lounge. It’s not as nice as the United Polaris lounge in Chicago. I’d still take most of the Centurion lounges over it, though admittedly they do get crowded. It doesn’t compare to Lufthansa’s or Virgin Atlantic’s offerings at New York JFK let alone Qantas’ first class lounge at LAX (or the Star Alliance business class lounge at LAX).
Delta uses the release as an opportunity to mislead again with the claim that SkyMiles was named “a Best Travel Rewards program by U.S. News & World Report” when in fact US News named Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan as best frequent flyer program.
Just like they earlier created their own category which didn’t exist in US News rankings — “the top U.S. global airline* loyalty program” — to give themselves an award last month, their press release declares themselves “the largest global carrier at Sea-Tac” when they’re smaller than Alaska Airlines at the airport.
And the World Travel Awards claims that New York JFK is “North America’s Leading Airport” and that the “United States’ Leading Car Rental Company 2017” is Sixt while “North America’s Leading Car Rental Company 2017” is Enterprise (huh?). They give out so many awards everyone can win one. Reunion Island’s Leading Car Rental Company for 2017 is Hertz. But sure these awards carry significance.
Credit: Delta Air Lines
Still, congratulations are in order for the Delta SkyClub in Seattle which is very nice. The median SkyClub is better than the median United Club or American Airlines Admirals Club, though Delta isn’t competing in the premium business class lounge space and doesn’t have anything to match Polaris or Flagship lounges. More competition and better lounges are good for customers.
If you add enough qualifiers you can win anything!
These awards are like the gourmet modifier in gourmet cookies, or the Comfort modifier in Comfort Inn. The airline doth protest too much, methinks.
Yeah, right. Delta’s lounge’s are no comparison to just a handful in JFK, Virgin, Emirates, BA first class. Forget comparing them to the rest of the country…
Snooze. Even the pants-less hotel guest post was better than this one…
Do the people that hand out these useless travel category awards even travel?
I’m probably in the extreme minority here, but I preferred it to the Polaris lounge. If your only criteria are quality of free booze and having a sit-down meal, then sure the Polaris lounge is better. I found it surprisingly small, with low ceilings, awkward lines around the bathrooms, lack of available seating, and overall kind of dark and claustrophobic. Delta’s SEA Sky Club is the opposite of all those descriptors. Probably not the best lounge in the US, as you noted, but maybe best lounge operated by a US airline?
I find the Delta Sky Club at SEA to be excellent in many respects. It is open, airy, bright, and visually refreshing. The food and drinks are very good. The staff are friendly and helpful. What more do you want?
The Centurion Lounge at SEA is okay but small and crowded. Food is mediocre but it has a great bar though. I just passed through SFO and thought the Centurion Lounge there was okay but not amazing.
I just routed through LAX a few weeks ago expressly to check out the Star Alliance business class lounge and I was underwhelmed. It was very nice and the food was decent but I think the Sky Club at SEA to be much, much nicer. Plus, the morons at LAX decide that cleaning the outside patio should be done during business hours and they close it off. The view was nowhere near as nice as I thought it would be. I suppose it would be nice on a cool summer evening after dark. Then we might have something special.
Gary Leff name Greatest Airline Blogger Ever* in prestigious M&W Awards!!
*M (mother) & W (wife) Awards looked solely at bloggers with the initials GL when determining the winner.
The Club at MCO is the best US lounge I’ve seen that’s not restricted to premium class passengers. A Priority Pass card gets you in.
The Delta Sky Lounge system is perfect for me. Especially at Hartsfield (B-terminal).
But, unexpectedly, the Lounge in Washington-Reagan is poor. I’m not a ‘drinker’. Their no. Alcohol (food) amenities suck. A vegetable wrap I. Plastic, soggy? I get a better sandwich at 7-11 for goodness sakes. Clean up your act in DC. I fly there wY to often and literally hate it when I show up at 7pm hungry as hell and I need to go to the terminal cafes to get a decent sandwich. This is not indicative of Delta’s standards they showcase in Atlanta. FIX IT PLEASE.