Delta's Sky Club at New York JFK Terminal 4 opened in 2013, and is one of the better U.S. domestic airline lounges at JFK, even though it's not as good as newer Delta Sky Club lounges such as the Delta Sky Club Seattle. I recently visited the lounge prior to a Delta flight in December 2018.
Delta Sky Club JFK Terminal 4 Lounge Location, Hours and Access
Delta's SkyClub at JFK Terminal 4 is located after security, in the B Concourse, near Gate B32. It's quite a long walk after security, so unless you have a long wait before your flight, it's mostly useful to those departing from B gates. The lounge is open daily from 5am-midnight, and the following passengers have access:
- AMEX Platinum card members, when traveling on a same day Delta operated flight. Complimentary access is for AMEX Platinum member only, may pay for up to two guests, at $29 per guest
- Delta Reserve card members traveling on a Delta operated flight
- Virgin Australia/Velocity VIP Platinum card, Platinum card or Gold card members traveling on a flight operated by Delta or Virgin Australia.
- Delta One or SkyTeam Premium Cabin Passengers traveling in Delta One on an international Delta flight or a domestic Delta flight connecting to/from a same-day international Delta flight in Delta One or travel in international First/Business Class on a SkyTeam-operated flight (must be confirmed in first/business class for the international flight segment)
- SkyTeam Elite Plus (including Delta Diamond, Platinum or Gold Medallion Members) traveling in any cabin on a SkyTeam international flight or a SkyTeam domestic flight connecting to or from a same-day international flight (includes same-day travel on a Delta domestic flight connecting to an international Delta—or any other SkyTeam partner—flight).
- Diamond Medallion members receive complimentary individual membership and access.
If you don't have complimentary access through one of the above memberships/status, you can pay $59 for a day pass.
Delta Sky Club New York JFK Terminal 4 Amenities
You check in downstairs, and since there were two agents, I didn't have to wait; I showed my mobile boarding pass on my phone and my AMEX Business Platinum card. As it's the holiday season, the poinsettia plants were a festive touch.
Once upstairs, there's a second reception if you have any questions, although the staffer I interacted with was pretty grumpy.
You can turn left for some seating with great tarmac views:
Here's another section of the seating with tarmac views:
Alternatively, bear to the right of the reception desk if you want to take a shower. At the time of my morning visit, around 10:45am, there was no wait for the 5 shower rooms (there are 6, but one was out of order). While I didn't have any need of a shower, I assume the shower rooms are similar to the ones in Seattle:
The bathroom has individual stalls that are more private than typical public restrooms in the U.S., as the wall and door extend all the way to the floor, so that was nice. Around the sink area was a bit messy however, with paper towels scattered about and a full bin of used paper towels.
There are several other seating areas around the lounge. The ones in the middle area, without views, were nevertheless well-equipped with power outlets by each seat.
There was plenty of seating near the buffet and bar as well:
Delta Sky Club JFK Terminal 4 Food and Drink
As you come up the escalator, on the left you'll notice a Pierre Herme stand. If you or any of your loved ones has a sweet tooth, these are the best macarons in the U.S., because Pierre Herme unfortunately hasn't opened any boutiques in the U.S. (unlike in Hong Kong and Japan, where he does have boutiques). At time of writing, a box of 18 macarons is $45 and a box of 24 macarons is $60. Flavors include Mogador (passion fruit and chocolate), Isaphan (rose, litchi and raspberry), Infiniment Vanille, Infiniment Caramel, Infiniment Chocolat, Infiniment Praline Noisette, as well as lemon and coffee macarons.
Otherwise, I was rather disappointed by the morning offerings at the Delta Sky Club in JFK Terminal 4, although it's true that my visits to the Seattle and SFO Sky Clubs were near lunch time, so perhaps those lounges also have very limited morning offerings. The scrambled eggs weren't bad, but one container of them was entirely depleted, and the other didn't have much, so I took only a modest amount. There was cheese, a couple kinds of salsa, jalapeno peppers and green onions to put on top, but I would have liked some fresh avocado or guacamole.
There was also a big pot of chili, but I didn't see anyone have any; a bit too early in the morning for it.
There was plain yogurt, but the serving dish for the strawberry yogurt remained empty for the duration of my stay in the lounge. There was some granola and dried cranberries, and I used a bit of the strawberry jam to make my own fruit yogurt, since the strawberry yogurt wasn't being replenished.
There were also bread slices for toasting, and bagels and pastries:
There's a full bar, although I just wanted some water, which was self serve, to the right of the bar.
There were also apples and bananas.
The Verdict
The highlight by far during my visit to the Delta Sky Club JFK Terminal 4 were the Pierre Herme macarons. Not only were the macarons the tastiest thing in the Sky Club (although of course these are for purchase, not complimentary), the person staffing it was the friendliest person I encountered in the Sky Club lounge, as others I asked questions of were either terse and grumpy, or if friendly, didn't speak English well.
Overall, it's still a great lounge to visit if you have complimentary access and are departing from JFK Terminal 4, from one of the B gates near the Delta Sky Club, but I wouldn't pay for the $59 day pass or even the $29 guest pass (for guests of those with an AMEX Platinum) unless I had a very long layover, as the food offerings are meager and poor compared to the Delta Sky Club Seattle and Delta Sky Club SFO.
If you've been to the Delta Sky Club at JFK Terminal 4 recently, what was your experience?
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