Before my business class flight from Los Angeles to London, I checked in at the posh Delta One premium check-in area at LAX terminal 3. This is a very nice facility and value-add for Delta’s premium guests.
Delta One Premium Check-In Facility At LAX Is Outstanding
Located on the lower (arrivals) level, this 4,200-square foot facility is reserved for Delta One business class passengers traveling on to New York JFK or on an intercontinental flight. It opened in June 2023 and offers not just a dedicated check-in area, but a lounge and private security screening (even reminding me of the Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt).
I arrived at 5:00 pm, about two hours before my flight, and was the only one there…six Elite Service agents and me. Outside, “gatekeeper” checked my name against the manifest found on their mobile phone. You might recall I booked my ticket via Air France-KLM Flying Blue, and my name oddly did not show up. But when I presented a copy of my itinerary, I was allowed inside.
Inside, an attendant welcomed me and escorted me to the front desk, where I was quickly checked in for my flight.
I returned to the lounge area, which offers a selection of snacks (apples, pears, oranges, Cliff bars, pretzels, M&Ms, lima beans) and drinks (beer, wine, cocktails, water, soft drinks, Nespresso coffee).
While I was not in the mood for anything, I certainly appreciated the selection and availability (the boxed Delta water was cool).
Next, I proceeded through security; a private checkpoint in which agents helped me place my belongings on the conveyor belt. There’s only a single line, but it is quiet enough that those with TSA PreCheck can enjoy those PreCheck benefits. My shoes stayed on and I did not remove anything from my bags.
After clearing security, I proceeded down the hall (loved the artwork!) and up an elevator to a long hallway.
At the end of the hallway is a door that swings out…directly into the Sky Club. No scanning your boarding pass or dealing with anyone at all. That was my favorite feature of the whole check-in experience. Once Delta opens its more premium Delta One Lounge, this check-in facility will feed directly into it.
CONCLUSION
Kudos to Delta for creating a seamless and posh check-in experience for its premium business class passengers at LAX. While United (via its Global Services lobby) and American (via its Flagship Check-In) also offer upgraded check-in experiences, this takes it to a whole different, and higher, level.
Fancy check-in areas just don’t make any sense to me. The only reason I need an agent to check me in is because the app isn’t working properly. But yeah, I guess it’s a pretty space. I just don’t understand the investment.
I guess you have never travelled to a country with strict entry requirements or tried to check luggage through flights under different PNRs and/or different carriers.
Even if one doesn’t need a visa to their destination country, it doesn’t seem too clever to rely on an app recognising onward flights on a low cost carrier (many Asian countries will not allow foreigners to enter without a return/onward reservation- so you can’t print your boarding passes), understanding the interline arrangements between KL and AM (single ticket but with two connections) or sending something from LHR via BRU to MAD with SN and on to the following morning’s Avianca flight to BOG- that one was booked on separate tickets in different classes of service and with different baggage allowances.
Even for a direct domestic flight, I have once or twice had to spend a quarter of an hour waiting for the agent to confirm/work out my frequent flyer status entitlement to additional luggage. Good luck leaving that to the app!
Did you know, that sometimes, passengers need to check bags?
And outside of that, I’ve had issues where my app just throws up an error during OLCI (not all the time, but happened a couple of times on outbound international) and directs me to get a boarding pass through an agent.
This is a response to @PM too…
I don’t check bags so I’ve never had to interline them, and the percentage of pax who do is small. Verifying visas is easy; timatic tells the agent what to do. This is easily done as you enter the lounge. The app “blowing up” or getting confused is something that could be fixed by investing in the app, not a redundant check-in area.
@Jerry , I agree that not everyone will have complex requirements all the time, but for me it’s vital to have some access to staff who know how to deal with complexity. I wouldn’t want to rely on a lounge receptionist to print my boarding passes, particularly if it’s an itinerary that includes more than one airline, there’s a reprotection following IROPS, there’s any doubt about visa/vaccination requirements etc.
The fact that this facility is reserved for intercontinental business class passengers means that there’s a higher than average level of complex itineraries involved, and that’s why it makes sense to have a higher staff/pax ratio than a run of the mill check in area.
To you since you don’t use them however people do.
Your comment about hardly anyone checking in bags is ridiculous. In fact most customers do and especially on longhaul flights. Why are all those carousels loaded with bags in arrivals ? Why do airlines continue to have claims for delayed, lost or missing bags.
I guess your American with a limited perspective of anything outside the USA.
I’ve used this entrance once and it was a lifesaver.
Had an evening LAX-BOS flight booked, but my earlier LAS-LAX flight was cancelled due to smoke from a nearby wildfire shutting down LAS for a few hours. Ended up driving with a friend on his way back to LA from the same event we attended and dropped me off here with about an hour till boarding time.
Got through in no time, even had a few minutes to spare for a quick snack and cappuccino before heading to my gate.
I understood it would be more or less a private entrance when I got there, but the dedicated agent and bag scanner really stood out.
A costly set up for a network (long haul) that is the leader in the LAX market when it comes to unprofitability.
It reminds me the Virgin premium check in in London. Sadly Delta does not have that at MSP.
Because Delta don’t have to work hard to rise above the competition at MSP. At LAX, they’re trying (and mostly failing) to compete against scores of other international airlines.