I’m live-blogging my SAS EuroBonus SkyTeam Milion Mile challenge this week. Click here for background and route information.
We visited both Delta Sky Clubs in JFK Terminal 4 and while both were fine, one was far better than the other…and far less crowded.
The new Delta SkyClub near Gate A8 is beautifully done with a bar and dining area in the center and then seating around it.
There’s a nice terrace in this lounge, although glass floor-to-ceiling windows mean no fresh air (though I guess it would be the smell of fresh jet fumes…). It was empty, so we sat there.
Although the lounge had plenty of travelers, there was no trouble finding a seat anywhere.
Augustine prefers buffets to a la carte and was excited to see a nice evening spread that included soups, salads, sandwiches, and hot dishes. He had a bowl of chicken noodle soup.
While there are no showers in this lounge, there were clean restroom facilities.
We then moved on to the B31 Lounge, just so we could compare it…and my what a difference. Delta’s older lounge in JFK Terminal 4 was nice enough, but clearly more dated than the A8 and a whole lot more crowded.
While there was no line to get in (so I guess I was fortunate…), it just felt crowded. The buffet had the same food items as the other lounge and I did not notice anything unique about this lounge except for the shower facilities.
The two lounges are over 10 minutes apart by foot, so I understand that you may want to target the Delta SkyClub closest to your departure gate, but I found the A8 lounge far superior to the A32 lounge in virtually every way.
From a quiet terrace all to myself:
To this…
The old Sky Club is crowded because it’s closer to most of the gates that Delta uses. The new one is at the far, far end of the terminal, if I recall correctly. So it just doesn’t get the random foot traffic from people who say, “Hey, let’s spend 25 minutes in the lounge and have a drink or two.” The old Sky Club was one of the nicest in the system when it debuted like 8 or 10 years ago but the layout has always been weird. It really needs two bars and two buffets. The one bar and the one buffet are far too small for the number of customers who frequent this lounge. Especially before the Delta One lounge opened. This lounge was a zoo between 4 and 9 pm with all the transatlantic flights.
Another feature at the old Sky Club at JFK that would help is a grab-and-go at the lower level entrance. Delta was supposed to roll this out but so far it’s just Atlanta and even then it isn’t the same quality food as upstairs in the lounge. A small grab-and-go would keep a lot of people out of the lounge as they would grab something and keep walking another 10 minutes to the gates used for Delta Connection regional flights.