So I just completed a set of two flights on dramatically different 767's.

The first flight, from SFO to JFK, was on a 767 with the lie-flat seats (1-2-1 configuration in front). Oh my, that was an incredibly comfortable flight. The lavatory was spacious and even felt somewhat modern. The AVOD was on large screens with an amazing collection of movies & shows on demand.

The second flight was from JFK to ZRH, another 767, departing out of Terminal 2. But the amenities and comfort were dramatically different, for the worse. The older seats in BizElite were 2-2-2. The AVOD screens were dinky, with a much more severe selection. The lavs seemed about as small as the ones in a CRJ. And the snooty purser (who appeared to be of European origin) only seemed to be genuinely happy once we landed in Zurich where she was about to see no more of those disgusting American passengers.

The Zurich flight departed from Terminal 2 (which was a complete and utter chaotic cluster____, both in the terminal area and up in the SkyClub). I wonder why this International flight wasn't departing from the "showpiece" Terminal 4 (I haven't yet seen first hand what that apparently amazing T4 SkyClub looks like, yet).

As an aside, the water bottles that were catered on this flight were named "Special Ice" (both the individual ones and the 2L bottles they served the pax in cattle class). This bottled water came from Accra, Ghana. No Dasani to be found, anywhere.

So I guess my question here is: how does Delta decide which routes are considered premium? I know JFK<->SFO is considered one, with Biz Elite service, but JFK<->ZRH certainly isn't.