DeltaOne Transcontinental: SFO-JFK

Just a couple weeks after my short trip to LA, I had my next (actually planned) trip!  I had found the tickets for this journey several months in advance.  My favorite time to travel is late January/February because the flights are usually cheaper, less full, and more upgrades are available. 

For those keeping track, as part of my Delta Platinum status match, they gave me 4 regional upgrade certificates that can be used to upgrade any domestic (or short haul international) flight on Delta.  Pending availability of course.  I needed a flight to DC (as I often do), and I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw that I could snag a confirmed upgrade to DeltaOne from SFO to JFK to DCA.  So, I immediately booked it.  The only downside was that the flight left at 7 am. 

I was particularly interested in taking this flight because I had never flown DeltaOne previously, and it was the only one of the big 3 legacy transcontinental business classes I hadn’t flown yet. I last flew United’s transcontinental service in 2023, and I’ve flown transcontinental in American’s Flagship First numerous times (but it’s been a long time since I flew Flagship Business transcontinental).

So behold, SFO at 6 am:

Really looks the same as any other time.

DeltaOne is Delta’s premium business class offering.  It’s offered primarily on long-haul international flights and also transcontinental domestic flights (like this one) that operate with lie-flat seats.  Flights between SFO/LAX and JFK are consistently on 767 or 757s with lie-flat seats and so their business class cabin is marketed as DeltaOne.  A similar situation happens with the LAX-DCA service that AA operates on internationally-equipped 757s.  Flights with the DeltaOne branding offer an “elevated onboard service” and lounge access (both the SkyClub and a DeltaOne lounge)

However, Delta also sometimes flies 767s between SFO and ATL, but these flights are not marketed as DeltaOne and so don’t come with lounge access or the “elevated” service.

But as my flight was a DeltaOne service, I was able to use the dedicated check-in lane.  Not that there was really a line in any other lane.

Check-in was a breeze, but security was a bit busier than I had been expecting.  Luckily SFO is very efficient, and soon I was in the SkyClub.  A public service announcement for anyone with a SkyClub membership: Delta no longer allows you to use the SkyClub if you’re flying on a Basic Economy ticket.  I saw someone get turned away.

The SFO SkyClub continues to be a solid offering for not being a Delta hub airport.  As we know, my expectations are level-set by the SFO Admirals Club (which I still have not properly reviewed…).  The SkyClub definitely has a wider selection of food and a nicer design. 

The overall energy in the lounge was low, probably because everyone had just woken up.  There’s no reason to expect anyone in the club had arrived off a connecting flight, since this isn’t a Delta hub.

I put together an American-style breakfast for myself.  I knew that I’d be getting a meal of “breakfast pizza” on my flight, but I really didn’t have enough knowledge of the domestic DeltaOne offering to know what I’d be getting. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the bar was not busy at this hour.

Because I was running a bit late and wanted breakfast, I decided to board the flight toward the end of boarding.  When I had booked the flight, I was unable to get either 1A or 1D.

Look how crowded business class felt:

I settled for seat 3D.  On the 767 (and many other aircraft) Delta offers a staggered layout, so seats alternate between being closer to the window and closer to the aisle. 

Waiting at my seat were the blanket and pillow, an amenity kit, headphones, and a water bottle.

I was pretty close to the window in this layout.

I had brought my own slippers for this flight, but Delta also offers slippers in DeltaOne, so I took them home.

I got slightly unlucky with this seat because I was seated right in front of a kid who was across the aisle from his mom who had some trouble managing him.

Reading about this seat before my flight, I had seen that the IFE screen was tiny.  And, you know, it was really small. It felt like I’d been thrown back to like 2008.  At the time, I’m sure it was good.

The main thing that really struck me was just how open this cabin is.  For some people, I’m sure that’s great, but it really made me feel like I was actively sitting with other people, rather than in my own pod.

I will note that after taking this flight, I separately took a night-time flight to SFO on this aircraft type and got seat 1A.  Seat 1A was actually a huge improvement because you had a slightly larger foot cubby, and you didn’t have tons of other people in your line of sight.  And I also just slept the entire time so the bad IFE screen didn’t affect me at all (and there also won’t be a review of that flight as a result).

Our flight pushed back and took off on-time (for an even slightly early arrival).  Service was slow to begin and was did not feel particularly premium.  Delta is supposed to have a reputation for better service than other US carriers, but I didn’t feel that from the person working my aisle. 

I started with a mimosa and some mixed nuts.  I wasn’t particularly excited for mixed nuts to start my breakfast, but it took them a very long time to get entrees out, so I guess the nuts were meant to distract us.

When the entree finally arrived, the pizza was practically boiling.  It was served with a bowl of fruit, a sad roll, and some oatmeal.

Before I continue, let’s zoom out and appreciate how nice a breakfast in the sky is.  Even if I hadn’t bothered trying the IFE yet.

The oatmeal and fruit were typical for an airplane breakfast, which is to say a bit on the mushy side and a bit on the crunchy side, respectively.  I did not particularly like the oatmeal, but that’s not because it was specifically bad.  The breakfast pizza, on the other hand, was great.  I really liked the idea of serving breakfast pizza on a morning flight.  It aligns in many ways with Delta’s push to have ShakeShack burgers on its flights, which is to say, American comfort food for American travelers in America.  Once it finally cooled down enough, I really enjoyed the pizza.

After finishing breakfast, I put the seat in lie-flat mode to take a nap.  I did sleep for about 60-90 minutes, but I found it very hard to get comfortable and my knees kept hitting the sides.  I will note, however, that I did not have this problem when sitting in seat 1A, possibly due to the additional footwell space.

After a poor-quality nap, I gave up and just tried to get some work done on my laptop.

And finally after about 5 hours of flying, New York City came into view!

My next stop: the JFK DeltaOne lounge.

In summary, the DeltaOne product departing San Francisco is truly nothing special.  The ground experience is perfectly decent, but DeltaOne doesn’t really offer much beyond a normal priority ticket and SkyClub access (3/5).  However, access to the DeltaOne lounge on arrival could make the difference if you’re connecting like I was.  The seat on the 767-300 is woefully outdated with a small screen and aging upholstery (3/5).  The service was similarly just ok; I’ve had better service on narrow-body Delta flights (3/5), but the special pre-order food was fun and above average for a breakfast flight (4/5). The IFE screen on this flight was a joke, but the free WiFi was good (2/5).  Overall, this flight gets a below average 15/25.

I paid cash for an economy ticket from SFO-JFK-DCA and applied a regional upgrade certificate to clear this upgrade into DeltaOne.  The miles earned were based on a prorating of this cost across the two flights, so this flight cost about $216 and earned me 1 620 Delta miles in addition to about 1 000 Amex points, for a total return of around 15%.  $216 for 5 hours in a lie-flat seat is awesome and about $1 000 cheaper than having bought the ticket outright.