DeltaOne Transcontinental Part 2: DeltaOne Lounge (JFK-DCA)

After arriving at JFK off my DeltaOne flight, I made a beeline for the DeltaOne lounge.  For many years, Delta only offered SkyClubs as its lounge option, even for international Business Class.  However, this changed in 2024 with the opening of the first DeltaOne lounge at JFK.  Two more quickly followed in Boston and Los Angeles.  The locations of these new lounges seem to be pretty clearly aligned with where Delta feels the most competitive pressure to invest in its ground experience. 

For passengers originating at JFK, there is a full check-in experience including a dedicated security lane.  For those connecting, there is a lower level entry area, which is where I entered.

I saw multiple people be turned away and redirected to the SkyClubs instead.  Once scanned in, I headed upstairs to the actual lounge.  The lounge consists of several areas, including a formal dining area, a market-style dining area, a quiet area, a business area, a bar area, and a terrace.  I started on the terrace.

The best part of the terrace for me was, of course, the airplane views.

Although the seating in the terrace was very comfortable, I didn’t have time on this trip to just lounge around.  I had to go try out the dining room.  I crossed back into the bar area:

And then over to the formal dining room.  The menu on offer looked great:

I was very happy to check out that dining room, even if I didn’t get a good selfie:

I had seen pictures that described the dining area as feeling like a chic New York restaurant more than an airport, and that is very accurate in my experience.

The table was set very nicely, and I started with a glass of champagne.

I selected the tuna crudo as my appetizer.  It was simply amazing (assuming you like raw fish). The flavor combination was interesting, everything was very nicely plated, and clearly as much care had been put into the dish as at any upscale restaurant.

For my main course, I selected the duck à l’orange.  It was excellently cooked, the sauce was great, and the vegetable sides fit it well.  They also did a good job with the plating given that this isn’t an easy dish to make look exciting.

I then decided to have the baby gem salad in addition because (a) I wanted some green and (b) I wanted to try more dishes.  Due to how early my flight was and the time changes, all the food I ate this day is pictured between the previous post and this one, haha.

Having now been to the United Polaris lounges (a couple times) and the AA Chelsea lounge (many times), I feel confident rating them DeltaOne > Chelsea > Polaris.  The food on offer and service in the dining room is strictly better than in the Chelsea lounge, and the vibes are better than either of them.  I will note that the lounge was much busier than the Chelsea lounge ever gets, but that makes sense because this is a Business Class lounge and not a First Class lounge. 

It’s also worth noting, therefore, that Delta’s business class lounge is better than AA’s first class lounge and that United does not even give you Polaris Lounge access on a domestic transcontinental service only United Club access. 

After finishing eating, I decided to check out the rest of the lounge.  After the dining room comes the market area, which has a more traditional lounge dining setup.

The structure of the market was very similar to the structure of the Capital One Landing at DCA (whose review should come soon).  In the two times that I have visited this lounge, I have actually not used the market option because the sit-down dining option was much more appealing for me. 

Next up came the business area, which included standard tables for working and phone booths.

Finally came the quiet relaxation areas

Past the relaxation area is a shower area.  I was able to check out the shower rooms on a subsequent trip, and they are excellent.  They also come with another pair of disposal slippers, and apparently you can get your clothes pressed while you shower.

But alas, my time in the lounge soon came to a close, and I had to return to the realities of JFK.  I made my way down the A gates.

They’re not too far from the DeltaOne lounge, but the downgrade in aesthetics and vibe was quite stark.

I then got on my short connecting flight down to DC.  As much as an E175 flight in First Class is a massive downgrade from having a lie-flat seat, at least I had seat 1A, which is a seat that has never failed me on an E175.

On this short flight to DC, there was an abbreviated service that included a half-sized water bottle at my seat and then a drink and snack basket service.

In summary, the DeltaOne lounge at JFK was truly spectacular.  It almost seems unfair and disingenuous to not include it in the scoring for the SFO-JFK leg.  However, while you can use the lounge on arrival even if you’re not connecting, the point of a lounge is (usually) as a departure lounge.  Thus, its 5/5 score will go to this flight instead.  The single side of an E175 is always a great option for a short flight (4/5), but Delta’s regional aircraft still lack free WiFi and seatback entertainment (3/5).  The drinks service offered on this flight was standard (3/5), as was the crew’s service (4/5).  This flight comes out with a 19/25, which is noticeably higher than the SFO-JFK leg.  Even though a lie-flat seat is way better than a simple recliner, the scoring reflects the different standards expected for a premium 5-hour transcontinental route and a short 1-hour local hop.

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.