I don’t fly Delta all that often, but before my recent flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles I had a chance to visit the Sky Club there.
The Sky Club used to be a Continental President’s Club, but was sold after the merger with United. It is open daily from 7am to 10:30p. I arrived about 11am.
Inside, a kind agent welcomed me in and noted that boarding for my flight would begin shortly. The lounge does not have any natural light, but the bright-colored furniture helps to lighten it up.
I’d say the lounge was about half full, with seats available here and there, but people everywhere. Interestingly, by the time just five minutes later the lounge had cleared up. The lounge includes a seating area, work area, and dining area.
Food selection was decent for late-morning, great actually for U.S. standards, with many cold items (salads, breads, cereals, vegetables) and even a few hot items (rice, noodles, soup) available.
A full-service bar, Thermoplan coffee machine (coffee was horrible, though), and Coca-Cola fountain were also available. Adding a Hawaiian touch, the bar had mai tais and guava juice was also available.
This lounge does not have showers.
Just as I was on my way out, a lounge attendant wheeled in an ice cream sundae course. Nice touch!
CONCLUSION
I only stayed for a few minutes because my American Express Platinum card does not give me complimentary guest access. It would have only cost $29 to bring in my uncle, but since we only had 15 minutes prior to boarding, it simply was not worthwhile. But had the layover been longer, I would have gladly paid.
But Delta offers a competitive lounge experience in the USA and a far better selection of food than than the United Club or Hawaiian Plumeria Lounge.
Very interesting that Delta has a club in HNL but neither AA nor AS have a club.
Even more interesting that CO had a club when they have very few flights at the time.
@Marshall, AA operates a joint club with JAL at HNL. As Matthew indicated the Delta Skyclub is the niceest US club in HNL, especially when considering the food (it would better if they had more daylight and windows but the physical location doesn’t permit such a design).
I was surprised how underwhelmed I was with the AA lounge. I have a review of it on my blog is you’re so inclined. – Jimmy
About 1000x nicer than the United Club.
Thanks for the review!
Last year when I was in the SkyClub the club was full of pax departing on a fellow SkyTeam partner to somewhere in Asia. I don’t remember which carrier. After all those pax left, I had the entire lounge to myself. I was actually on a UA flight that was departing at a gate near the DL lounge. I couldn’t be arsed to go all the way to the UA lounge (for scraps), so I hung out in the DL SkyClub which was much better food-wise.
Try breakfast in one of their hub airports. It is fantastic by US lounge standards.
Wow. The DL lounge used to be downstairs in that garden triangle and it was pathetic. It sounds like they have significantly improved it.
we were there for 8 pm dinner food..it was just OK!!
People forget that there are several Delta flights to/from Japan at Honolulu, which explains why it is nicer. I actually think is one of my favorite Delta lounges for 4 reasons: (1) it’s never overcrowded, especially if you’re on the last two flights of the night (Seattle being the last flight), (2) the ladies who work the front desk are absolutely wonderful — I’ve seen them 2-3 times a year for 3 years now, (3) there are some food and beverage improvements over a standard Delta lounge, and (4) the decor is very island-style.
Also, Honolulu has always had a strong United presence. Don’t forget Guam was a major Continental hub and remains technically a hub for United albeit with decreased service. United has a pretty strong network between San Francisco, Honolulu, Guam, the independent Pacific islands, and Japan.