Review: Delta Sky Club New York JFK Airport

After spending a night at the Sheraton JFK, I got up early the next morning to catch my flight to Los Angeles. My flight was at 7AM, though the Delta Sky Club® opens at 5AM, and I wanted to get pictures of it, so I took the 4AM shuttle to the airport.

More from OMAAT Delta Emails Diamond Medallion, Forgets To Delete AI Prompt About Being Warm & Empathetic Read more

Delta has SkyPriority check-in at JFK at the very right of the terminal, which I was curious to check out, though it was still closed.

Delta SkyPriority check-in JFK

Delta SkyPriority check-in JFK

The security line was absolutely awful. Keep in mind that this was the day before Thanksgiving, which is one of the busiest travel days of the year. I recognize I was there early, but there was a single lane open. Like, not just one checkpoint area, but one lane. One. Insane. It took me over 30 minutes to get through and that’s despite being towards the front of the line to begin with. When I got through the line was out of the actual queuing system, and there was still only one lane open, with no Pre-Check option. Unbelievable.

JFK Terminal 4 security lines

Once through security I followed the signage towards Delta’s SkyClub. Delta’s JFK SkyClub is located near gate B31, which is quite a hike from the security checkpoint. I walk really fast, and it must have taken me almost 10 minutes to get there.

JFK Terminal 4

JFK Terminal 4

The entrance to the SkyClub is located near gate B31. The lounge is open daily from 5AM until 12AM, and sure enough the doors were opened right on time.

Delta Sky Club JFK exterior

The lounge is one level up from the main concourse, so I took the escalator up.

Delta Sky Club JFK entrance

They had a couple of different lines at the front desk, depending on whether you wanted to check in, or whether you needed help with a reservation. Since I was traveling in Delta One to LAX I had access to the lounge on account of my ticket.  I was able to access the Sky Club free of charge since I was traveling in Delta One to LAX. However, there are several credit cards that offer complimentary access to airport lounges, including Sky Clubs, provided you are flying on a Delta itinerary.

Delta Sky Club JFK reception

This SkyClub is about 25,000 square feet and is considered to be one of Delta’s “flagship” SkyClubs, so I was curious to check it out. For what it’s worth, Nick reviewed this back in 2015, and I wanted to see how my experience compared. The lounge is basically in a rectangular shape, though consists of several different rooms. This lounge really excels when it comes to the quantity and variety of comfortable seating they have, and also how readily available power ports are. Other than that, I found the lounge to be pretty “meh.”

To the left of the entrance was a long room consisting of rows of leather seats facing one another, some communal high-top seating, etc.

Delta Sky Club JFK seating

Delta Sky Club New York seating

There was a similar seating design to the right of the entrance, except the seating arrangement was varied a little to mix things up.

Delta Sky Club New York seating

Delta Sky Club New York seating

Also near the entrance was an area with a bunch of comfortable office chairs and some workstations. American has been renovating their Admirals Clubs, and in the process has mostly been eliminating these types of workstations, which I find annoying, since they’re a convenient place from which to work. So I’m happy to see that Delta still has these in their SkyClubs.

Delta Sky Club New York business center

Along the interior of the lounge connecting the two large rooms shown above is a space with more seating, including some of the semi-private seats that I love.

Delta Sky Club New York seating

Delta Sky Club New York seating

There are more of these in the very back of the lounge.

Delta Sky Club New York seating

Delta Sky Club New York seating

Delta Sky Club New York seating

Then the largest room of the lounge is the dining and bar area.

Delta Sky Club JFK seating

Delta Sky Club New York seating

Delta Sky Club New York seating

Delta Sky Club JFK seating

Delta Sky Club JFK seating

Delta Sky Club JFK seating

This is also where the buffet was, which I found to be pretty underwhelming for a SkyClub.

Delta Sky Club JFK breakfast buffet

There was whole fruit, bagels, muffins, pastries, a few types of yogurt, hardboiled eggs, a few types of cream cheese, oatmeal, and coconut cornmeal.

Delta Sky Club JFK breakfast buffet

Delta Sky Club JFK breakfast buffet

Delta Sky Club JFK breakfast buffet

Delta Sky Club JFK breakfast buffet

Delta Sky Club JFK breakfast buffet

Delta Sky Club JFK breakfast buffet

Delta Sky Club JFK breakfast buffet

Delta Sky Club JFK breakfast buffet

Delta Sky Club JFK breakfast buffet

Delta Sky Club JFK breakfast buffet

What I found a bit odd is that there wasn’t a drink station anywhere near the buffet, but rather they had drink stations on the sides of the lounge. I get their desire to probably avoid overcrowding in one area, but the location of these drink stations wasn’t obvious. On the plus side, Delta has the best coffee setup of any US airline membership lounge, in my opinion. They have the fancy Starbucks machines, have syrup, and also have several types of milk, including soy.

Delta Sky Club New York coffee station

In terms of other drinks, there was another refreshment station near the bar.

Delta Sky Club refreshment station

One of the cool things about Delta Sky Club is that you can redeem miles for premium drinks at an attractive rate.

Delta Sky Club bar

While I didn’t take advantage of that, given that it was 5AM, I couldn’t help but check to make sure that they hadn’t raised the cost of my beloved champagne, which really is a great value. I shared my experience redeeming SkyMiles for Krug in a previous post.

Delta Sky Club champagne pricing

In terms of the other amenities in the lounge, the SkyClub also has a SkyDeck, which is a really cool terrace. However, it was closed, which I guess shouldn’t come as much of a surprise on a cold late-November morning.

Delta Sky Club SkyDeck

Delta Sky Club SkyDeck

The lounge also had nice bathrooms and showers.

Delta Sky Club New York bathroom

My flight was departing from gate B32, located right next to the lounge, so that was convenient. Boarding was scheduled for 6:20AM, and sure enough that’s exactly when boarding started.

Delta departure gate JFK

Delta Sky Club JFK bottom line

A lot of people have SkyClub access at JFK, and I’ve heard that this lounge gets really crowded over peak hours. Given that, I think the lounge is functionally designed, with outlets everywhere, and seating arranged in such a way that makes you feel like you’re in somewhat of a private space. Delta Sky Club typically have an above average food selection, though that wasn’t really the case for breakfast in this lounge.

Overall this is a perfectly nice lounge, though in my opinion doesn’t in any way compare to the Delta Sky Club Seattle, which I think is the nicest airline membership lounge in the US.