Delta’s new Delta One business class lounge at New York JFK opens on Wednesday, and overall looks to be fantastic. But there’s a lot of hype surrounding the product. Some of it, like what I read at The Points Guy, strains credulity.
Speaking of raising the bar, the Delta One Lounge debuts a dining experience that’s unrivaled in any U.S. airport lounge. With a brasserie featuring 140 seats, as well as a Market and Bakery buffet area and a signature bar, this space might offer the top food and drink experiences among U.S. airports.
Unrivaled in any U.S. airport lounge, the top food and drink offerings in a U.S. airport?
The author also calls it “likely one of the best in the entire world.” The Air France La Premiere lounge in Paris and Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal in Frankfurt would like a word! Let’s dive into what they’re actually offering.
How Do Delta One Lounge Beverage Offerings Compare?
Here’s the beer, cocktail, wine and spirit list:
I find it interesting that they have a paid spirits program, where they’ll sell you premium drinks like they do in their Sky Clubs. I like that program in the Sky Clubs, though note here that you only get 1 cent per mile if redeeming SkyMiles to cover the cost. I don’t love a paid program in such an ostensibly premium lounge in much the same way I find that paid spa treatments in Qatar’s al Safwa lounge take away from the experience.
Here’s their list of paid upcharge wines by the bottle:
The complimentary wines here aren’t going to rival what Air France does in business class lounges on occasion, let alone what they offer in their La Premiere lounge in Paris.
Charles De Cazanove Champagne is a perfectly decent business class bottle. They offer a Williamette Pinot that’s under $20 retail, but again very business class. In fact, it’s mostly $18 – $24 retail bottles but not entirely:
This isn’t as bad as when I caught Delta serving $4 Walmart sparkling in business class or serving the same white in business class and coach but given the narrative around this lounge I expected more of an investment in their wine program.
But this also certainly isn’t nearly as premium as what you’ll be served in the British Airways-American Airlines Chelsea lounge at New York JFK, or in American Airlines Flagship First Dining at Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami. And while a considered list for the cost, isn’t as thoughtful as what I found on my last visit to Air Canada’s Signature Suite in Vancouver.
Since the Chelsea lounge is at the same airport it seems worth considering that, while they’ve had sourcing issues over time, they rotate champagnes like Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame, Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle, Dom Perignon and Krug.
Isn’t it interesting that Delta will sell you a bottle of Laurent Perrier for $280, while American and BA will give you glasses of it for free in the same airport? Two different customer segments, business class versus first class. But clearly the beverage progam here isn’t ‘the best of any lounge in the United States.’ Similarly, you have to pay for Cakebread chardonnay? For Ridge Zin?
On my last visit to American’s Flagship First Dining at DFW, I enjoyed glasses of both Trefethen Dragon’s Tooth Red Blend and Paul Hobbs Russian River Valley Chardonnay. Both retail for at least twice what Delta One lounge wine goes for.
That too is a more exclusive lounge! But that’s not the point. Saying that the beverage experience in the Delta One lounge at New York JFK exceeds what you’ll find in any other U.S. airport lounge is just wrong.
What About The Food?
Since we’re comparing the best the lounge has to offer, we should focus on their sit down dining offerings. For completeness, this is a copy of their Market menu. But here’s the dining room offering:
This seems like a very nice menu, and I look forward to trying it at some point. I understand the brasserie approach – an informal French cafe featuring classic and hearty fare. I feel like they could be a bit more adventurously French if they’re going to do this… Dover sole Meunière, escargot, pâté of some kind, fois gras, sweetbreads maybe?
It’s going to be a really nice, albeit narrowly focused menu, and I’d personally prefer options that reflect more broadly the scope of Delta’s network and that of its long haul joint venture partners (whose premium cabin customers receive access).
But is it going to be the best food offering at a U.S. airport, “unrivaled” even? At least the claim was limited to United States, because I doubt it’s going to come close to what Air Canada is delivering on in their (even more exclusive) Signature Suites. I still cannot believe that my wife and I shared this tomahawk steak in an airport:
It won’t surprise me if the lounge rivals food at the Qantas first class lounge in Los Angeles and I don’t think the overall food execution in American’s Flagship First Dining at Dallas and Miami are as good as it used to be at New York JFK – nor is the Chelsea lounge food nearly as good as the Flagship First Dining in New York that it replaced.
Once we’ve had a chance to try the food under real passenger conditions we’ll see whether it’s quite as good, and how it compares also to dining at the ps terminals in Los Angeles and Atlanta and to Air France’s new first class French brasserie at LAX.
Are The F&B Offerings Here Truly “Unrivaled”?
I can’t say with certainty that the food here isn’t “unrivaled” until I’ve tried it, though it seems at least… rivaled. I can say that the beverage program is not unrivaled, because what the Delta One lounge at New York JFK is offering is fairly unimpressive, at least without paying a hefty upcharge.
These days , everything from any public relations department is always overhyped . The media portrays Brandon as an Olympic athlete with a genius brain .
That said , Delta has always been a good airline for me . I am disabled , and they have taken me to a car for a tarmac transfer to my connection . That’s one up on the others .
Its The Points Guy. If they aren’t being paid for it you won’t read about it.
Three thoughts:
1) Zach Griff at The Points Guy has zero creditability. I’ve love to comply a list of all the airline products and lounges that he’s called excellent, industry-leading, the best, whatever. He is just the mouthpiece of airline P.R. offices and contracted P.R. agencies. That’s why he keeps traveling in business-class and first-class for free. There’s no way those flights are paid for by him personally or even The Points Guy.
2) Delta has positioned Delta One as international first-class in all but name. CEO Ed Bastain has referred to premium-economy, what Delta calls Premium Select, as business-class.
3) Delta is paying for the slightly enhanced food offerings and the added costs of ala carte dining by charging for alcohol.
Read his narrative and thought the same – it’s one big PR piece. Does Griff work for DL PR? I can guarantee people will use that lounge and be disappointed.
TPG hyping Delta? Well I never …
TPG = corporate travel shills HARD PASS
When the even POSSIBLE comparison to the Delta One lounge at JFK is to a foreign carrier in a much smaller lounge, yes, DL has succeeded at leapfrogging past its competitors and esp. its primary U.S. competitors AA and UA – and THAT is why DL’s investment in DL One lounges at JFK, LAX and BOS this year WILL rearrange the US competitive market.
AA doesn’t make money flying the Atlantic or Pacific with its best performance to LHR where a premium cabin lounge matters because of the short flight.
UA made half the money flying the Atlantic and Pacific per seat mile despite being larger in both markets.
DL already has a yield premium to AA and UA in the marketplace including in international markets and that yield will grow.
It will be fashionable to nitpick about the various components of how DL puts its overall product together but the reality is that DL is investing millions in its premium cabin product – of which the 3 KNOWN DL One lounges are a part – to gain a much bigger part of the US international market – not just in routes which DL already serves but to expand DL’s international network.
Oh STFU Tim. One stupid lounge isn’t going to rearrange markets.
Gary,
Where did you get that steak?
Basically, this article can be summarised as: “The New Delta One Lounge JFK Hasn’t Even Opened Yet, And It’s Already Criticized”.
Obviously this blogger is paid by the competition, as he spends an inordinate amount of space criticizing what is the only decent US airline for quality.
@Jake: How can you say that?
United has Polaris lounges in 6 airports. American has Flagship lounges in 5 airports. By mid-2025, Delta will have just 3 or 4 Delta One lounges. There is no official announcement for Atlanta (their flagship hub), Detroit, Salt Lake City or Minneapolis. Delta also has significant Delta One departures from Tokyo-Haneda and Honolulu. Presumably, neither one of those airports will get a Delta One lounge.
United also has a newer and better hard product in business-class. While Delta has added doors, Delta’s Delta One product is horribly inconsistent across the aircraft. And some of the variations are just horrible. Especially the 767 and ex-LATAM A350s.
cairns,
The JFK D1 lounge is one of 3 opening this year and DL’s CEO just said that SEA will get one as well.
DL is adding D1 lounges in all of its 4 coastal hubs – where it has rapidly grown its presence and is indeed rearranging the competitive situation.
The D1 lounges are indeed part of the strategy that DL intends to use to grow its presence in highly competitive markets and at the expense of AA, UA and its non-JV partners.
and, for others, the lounge is open. The linked article is obviously from one of a handful of people that got pre-opening access.
Picking apart the pieces of what will be a huge competitive opportunity for DL ignores the fact that DL already has a yield advantage to AA and UA in the international marketplace which will not only grow but also be accompanied by an increased number of international flights and destination.
@FNT Delta Diamond surely your second point is criticism of Delta. Premium Select hasn’t been comparable to anything an airline could have called business class in over 20 years. Delta ONE is without question a business class offering. You can call it whatever you want, but throwing a door on a 1-2-1 config on an A350 in 2024 doesn’t elevate it above what every other carrier is doing. Lest we mention Delta’s 767s fleet.
I think a lot of Delta customers don’t even know what First Class means. That’s not an insult, it’s simply not a product that is marketed to them via Delta or SkyMiles. I see TikTok posts nearly daily of people in D1 talking about being in First Class. I don’t think that’s Ed Bastion performing brilliant marketing, I think it’s their passengers ignorance of industry standards.
Just as I suspected and commented in the previous article… For how long, Delta?
Chelsea lounge and their freely-flowing Krug and LPGS still the king of JFK…
@FNT: Zach the Griffter flies Spirit on his own time. A lot.
@FNT: That should be “dime” but same difference…
The Points Guy has no credibility. People should stop paying attention that that blog. Zach Griff wrote wrote another advertorial? No surprise there.
The “one of the best in the world” comment is relative to business-class-only lounges.
As I wrote, “though Delta may be late to the game, its first Delta One Lounge location quickly becomes not only the nicest business-class-only lounge in the country but also one of the very best in the entire world.”
In my mind, the Delta One Lounge is definitely in the top 5, behind QR, CX and maybe the AC Signature Suite.
@Jerry: Delta is clearly moving Delta One toward international first-class, even if it falls short of a real first-class product. Delta can’t call it first-class because there are enough business travelers whose employer or client will gladly pay for business-class but not first-class. 90% of Delta employees, management, flight attendants, and customers would call Delta One “first class.”
@Zach Griff – I think the F&B experience pretty clearly is not unrivaled given the weak beverage offerings, and that there are clearly other lounges with better F&B.
However, I can see the ambiguity in what you wrote, that you may have meant to restrict the comparison worldwide to other business class lounges. I was primarily writing about the first claim – in fact I wrote the entire post and then added the worldwide comparison as a sentence or two at the end. If you didn’t intend to make the comparison of the Delta One JFK lounge to being “one of the very best in the entire world” then that’s great!
@Chris – Air Canada Signature Suite Vancouver before flying business class Vancouver to Sydney
The food menu looks very “meh” to me. Rotisserie chicken? Pretty weak.
The upcharge for premium drinks is very disappointing. I have enjoyed a lot of Perrier Jouet and Moet in the AA Flagship lounges – at no charge. The complimentary wine list looks pretty cheap overall.
You nailed it with the Points Guy. He’ll shill for anything he’s getting paid for.
@FNT – it never fails to amuse me, how now Delta One is supposed to be a first class product. Because of the added lounge that others already had for years? Because of the doors? Maybe if you compare it to a domestic first class. And that’s where the confusion probably comes from: Domestic first class is worse – so this international product must be a first class as well. But even Qatar QR Suites are not considered first class. So no….DL doesn’t even have a unified product and there are lots of flyers preferring the UA Polaris or AA flagship seat over DL One.
But maybe it’s because of the perceived DL advantage? I don’t think it’s ther anymore. But people pay more for a perceived advantage… Let’s see how long.
Bill,
feel free to provide data to back up your statement
“there are lots of flyers preferring the UA Polaris or AA flagship seat over DL One.”
Don’t bother because we know you don’t have it.
DL gives away and upgrades fewer passengers to business class than AA or UA so your statement is hypocritically backwards.
And the reason DL gets a higher average fare than AA and UA on both its domestic and international networks is because more people pay more for DL services than for AA and UA.
There will be people that will pick apart DL’s success but they can’t argue with their financial success.
DL isn’t investing in DL 1 lounges to get the same amount of revenue as they get now. DL intends to take revenue and share from its competitors and to grow its network with new flights.
THAT is what a lot of internet fans of other airlines are afraid of.
This list isn’t accurate, I have seen their proposed list and this is not what it is. Due to an NDA I will not share it but it’s not going to look like this.
Why are always bashing Delta in favor of AA?
I moved from platinum Elite at AA because of the unreliable and poor service at all points. I’ve now earned Diamond on Delta and it’s significantly better on all points of service – reservations agents, technology, at the airport and friendly flight crews.
The Delta Sky Clubs are way superior to AA! LAX, LGA, JFK, BOS, AUS, HND – the new ones – are incredible,
The Delta One Club from what I heard from a friend that was there at JFK yesterday is that it blew away any AA flagship clubs.
I think you’re getting paid by AA or you wouldn’t be writing this. What happened to ethics in journalism.
Delta is a mediocre airline that has screwed its frequent fliers royally and now masquerades as a luxury airline.
Unfortunately people are not gullible enough to fall for it.
Tim…. Take a quick search and look at Reddit or Flyertalk. People like the Polaris seat vs Delta One ‘kiddie slide’. I personally like the AA seat, but that wasn’t the question.
@Manny: Mostly because there are enough business travelers or people traveling on other people’s money in first or business classes that they don’t care about the loyalty program. If you can buy a forward-cabin product 95% of the time, who cares about upgrades, etc.? My friend, a C-suite executive, has about 3 million Delta miles and 7 million Marriott points. He never uses them and couldn’t care less about program devaluations.
Bill,
whether you understand the concept or not, AA, DL and UA and nearly all global airlines are for-profit enterprises.
For-profit enterprises do not invest in products just because customers like them. They do so to make money.
Delta simply makes more money on its domestic and international networks than AA or UA.
The seat is only part of the equation but AA and UA cannot figure out how to monetize the investments in its business near as well.
and, if you really want to see objective data, JD Powers HAS surveyed passengers objectively based on business/first class preference and Delta is at the top of the list for US airlines.
@Billi Reim. I seem to have the bad luck of only having a J seat on a Delta A330. But, “DL doesn’t even have a unified product and there are lots of flyers preferring the UA Polaris or AA flagship seat over DL One” doesn’t work for me. I think UA’s 787 and 777 product in better, but only by a hair. Maybe one day DL will stop wasting their A339s and (non LATAM) A350s on routes I don’t want.
Tim… And that’s what was mentioned in another post. This is a frequent flyer blog and not a financial blog. DL through Tech Ops, (at the moment) refinery and the ‘perceived’ greatness can demand a revenue premium. Maybe DL is worth more in it’s different parts than as a stand alone entity, if you want to look into the financials.
However, I just don’t think that DL is better anymore to demand this premium for a long time. Talking about DL reliability: Ed Bastian mentioned that it took about 5 years before people noticed improvements. That should be true for other airlines, too. United seems to be on the way.
The comments are always a strange place. A lot of hyperbole, a lack of nuance, a lot of if I’ve never experienced it, it certainly is not valid kind of back and forth, and a lack of accepting that contradictory statements can also be true.
As for my (and only my) experiences as a frequent traveller, non managed business travel, US3 agnostic, Star Alliance Gold and OneWorld Sapphire (Emerald next week :-)) and a lot of leisure, both often in domestic first, international premium economy, and business class:
1) AA passenger facing tech, and overall operations are not nearly as good or consistent as UA or DL. Additionally UA (and to a lesser extend DL) is much more flexible on routing for changes. The self service tools are so much stronger at other airlines. This impacts my buyers journey as I don’t look favorably at some AA connections/connecting airports, or want to jump through hoops to get home early or easily change plans.
2) DL prices for comparable cabins are often too expensive for me, but based on their results, not for many. Sometimes convenience or direct routing is more important than price, but just as often I’m comparing a slew of other factors when buying a ticket and can be flexible.
3) DL has better food in the air. AA/UA are fairly even, with maybe a slight nod to AA (when they actually cater properly. The lack of ability to consistently deliver a product does annoy me – and DL excels at consistency, and I think about that when I book).
4) Of the airports I frequent, Polaris lounges are better than Flagship, and DL doesn’t have a business class only lounge network to compare. I like the DL SkyClubs better than the United Clubs broadly, and the Admirals Clubs are a distant third. Waiting in line to access any club tarnishes the benefit. Be that AC’s in CLT or SC’s in JFK. I don’t always have a layover, but when it’s required I do incorporate layover logistics into my decisions. For example, if my only AA option is to fly via CLT, I just choose another airline.
5) Aircraft matters. I will make my schedule work to fly a wide body or lie flat seat if it is somehow available as an option. I highly prefer in-seat AVOD and it can be a tiebreaker for DL vs UA/AA. I will be more likely to consider UA over AA when the AVOD installs are farther along.
6) Elite status matters. Most things being equal, I might choose to fly AA domestically on a particular itinerary because I have access to FL’s, and no access to UC’s.
7) I’ve had UA agents yell at me, AA agents yell at me (and each other), and not any DL agents that I can recall. I have been the receiver of indifference and poor performance from all of the US3. Far, far, far, far more though, in my millions of miles flown, I’ve had airline employees across the airlines go out of their way to help me and do so with a can do service attitude. I figure it’s part of the human experience. I would love to have consistent SQ style service, but I can’t expect that from US culture or corporate businesses. We are not set up to invest, or frankly are interested in what it takes to live in that kind of culture.
8) Finally, the DL D1 JFK lounge looks better than their SkyClub, and I hope it will be a nicer layover experience. If it is, than it will increase DL’s chances of my business ex JFK.
All these things matter to me (and more!), but they are all on a sliding scale depending on what is most important at the micro level for that particular itinerary, and at the macro level when determining how it will fit into broader travel goals. This is a travel blog website, with folks who are far more tuned in to the nuance of travel and airlines. Let’s embrace that a little more, and a little less on the name calling and absolutes above all else.