I like the west coast to Hawaii upgrades. Its kind of stupid to exclude the direct flights out of Atlanta, though. I just completed ATL-LAX-OGG last week and got upgraded on the ATL-LAX legs both ways. I noticed the $225 first class standby upgrades on LAX-OGG didn't get many takers. I deliberately chose that routing to give me a chance at the transcon upgrade.
Regarding the JFK upgrades: Delta adds some additional food and a better blanket and pillow to justify taking away upgrades? Not much of a deal, especially for day trips. Not that the Westin blanket and pillow are bad. I had the same service on CDG-ATL recently and thought it was better than AF on a 777. But how is that something special on a 5 hour transcon flight?