Have been flying out of SEA nearly every week for the past few months and realized I'd been wasting money at Salty's and the other very overpriced terminal restaurants, so finally bit the bullet and got an Amex Platinum.
Had my first SEA Centurion Lounge and Delta SkyClub experiences this past week. Went to the CL first, then bounced over to the Delta Lounge for a bit before boarding my plane. Initial thoughts:
Space:
- Checkin was easy enough. The CL was packed. I was a solo traveler, so just bounced around, but could be difficult if you needed to find a seat with family.
- DL Lounge was huge. And pretty lightly populated when I first arrived (6p). They scanned my ticket and just somehow knew it was OK to come in. By the time I left (6:30p) , some major connection must've come in because there was a line about 20 people deep queued up to get in.
- CL lounge had a pretty big hodgepodge of demographics and age groups. Louder, with kids and teenagers. DL seemed to have a bunch of solo travelers trying to focus on work or some other activity. It was very quiet. Which is good for me when I'm a solo traveler, but potentially a point of friction when I actually do travel with kids and let them ru around to declassé the place.
Bar:
- CL bar has pretty legit bartenders. They're constantly working hard -- their drinks are good, and tipping is encouraged and very well deserved.
- DL bar folks were super nice -- though I don't think are accustomed to pouring straight or well drinks. The premium-drinks-for-purchase thing in DL was a bit hard to navigate and generally off-putting.
Food:
- CL was decent -- make-your-own-salad-bar plus some hot dishes. But felt a bit like you were at a convention luncheon train.
- DL food options -- though not as fancy -- were more varied. Small composed items (sliders, wraps), in addition to a small number of hot dishes and charcuterie if you just wanted to snack.
- Overall, if you want a full meal, and if you luck into a good CL spread -- where you like the hot dish (I didn't that evening), it's a better choice. But if you're not too hungry and want to have access to a variety of food options (including just easy kid snacks), DL is better.