SudOvest

I'm flying JFK-MXP in D1 in early July. Is the Skyclub better than the Centurion lounge?

Also, how is the service on Delta one? I've never flown it but after reading I'm thinking I should've flown EWR-MXP on United Polaris and gotten access to the Polaris lounge. Can anyone comment on differences in the lounges and the hard/soft products?

nrr

SC is at gate B32, CL is near TSA. So if your dep. gate is < B32 it is less walking for the CL.
The CL serves hot food, post COVID (at least for breakfast) no hot food at SC.
There are lots of CL lounge agents, so if it's not too crowded they can bring food to your seat.
[CL nearly abuts gate B24, but due to the way T4 was constructed, even if you were departing from gate B24 would require "a long and winding road" to get there from CL.]

KDCAflyer

I wouldn’t feel the need to spend a moment at SC. The Centurion Lounge is better in every way.

SudOvest

What gate do you think my Delta flight JFK-MXP will go out of?

cmd320

I just spend almost four hours at JFK on Wednesday and visited both. Some key points about each:

Centurion Lounge
+ quality of food is much higher with overall better options
+ quality of drinks is much higher with a far deeper selection of liquor, wines, and mixers
+ bartenders are more experienced in craft/higher end cocktails vs. the SC bartenders who are more used to slinging out vodka sodas
+ speakeasy is still excellent and at least during my visit remain very quiet throughout much of the early to mid afternoon
+ the lounge itself was overall quieter than the SC was on my most recent visit
- far from most of the Delta gates, I'd want at least 45-60 minutes of ground time before boarding my next flight for it to be worthwhile

SkyClub
+ the SkyDeck has no equivalent at the Centurion Lounge on a nice day
+ closer to Delta gates
- food selection, while better than most other SkyClubs, still falls behind the Centurion Lounge
- drink selection is leagues behind the Centurion Lounge
- surprisingly when I was there (mid afternoon), almost a normal level of busy which I didn't prefer personally
- much smaller bathroom, not as clean (lots of nice, large bathrooms in the Centurion Lounge, most of which were spotless)

Both Lounges
- showers are still closed

krazykanuck

Considering all of the Polaris Lounges remain closed with no announced reopening date, this decision shouldn't worry you too much. That said the Polaris lounges when they were open, were far and away better than anything Delta or Amex has available.

nrr

I think the winning numbers in the lottery will be 16 17 18 19 20 21, if you think I guessed right, I'm certain your flight will leave from gate 33.
Generally I don't think even DL is sure about departure gates days in advance, let alone even the same day.
But I read somewhere that DL has COVID testing done near gate B24, so if that info is correct B24 (or so).

DLATL777

The Skydumps are still Skydumps. Unfortunately ive noticed the CL getting back to being overcrowded as well, but I would take it over a SD anyday.

MSPeconomist

The CL is overall better, although it might make sense to start there and then move to the SC as departure approaches.

If you have any suspicion of IROPs or your flight potentially being overbooked, you want to be in the SC where DL agents can help you. Similarly, if the flight is delayed, you want to be in the SC (and closer to the gate). If you stay in the CL until boarding is announced, you could miss the flight, depending on the gate and your ability to do an OJ Simpson and run through the airport (but this requires that you're aware of the need to rush).

cmd320

This is exactly what I usually do (when flying Delta that is). I'll spend most of my time in the Centurion Lounge and then ~20-30 minutes before boarding head to the SC and just spend the rest of the time on the SkyDeck so I can time my arrival at the boarding gate more closely to when I actually want to be there. Also as mentioned in case boarding is delayed or something changes, it's helpful to have the SC agents' information.

arkangel

Great comparison. I'll be travelling in J in July, assuming I can get into France in the first place, NCE-JFK, with my wife. Thus, for the CL I'd have to pay a guest fee. Do you, or anyone, happen to know how the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse would rank in this mileu? It may be closet to our departure date.

cmd320

If the Clubhouse is open to its full potential, it would be my #1 choice but it’s also the farthest from the Delta gates as it’s on the A side. Centurion Lounge is in the center of the terminal closer to the A side, SC is midway down the B concourse closest to the Delta gates.

arkangel

Actually, at the moment, our flight to AUS is departing from the A concourse, so that would be perfect. But, by the time of departure in mid-July......?

MSPeconomist

If you're traveling ONLY FROM NCE TO JFK, note that the CL cannot be used as an arrivals lounge unless you have a Centurion card. It's fine if you have a connecting flight on any airline. [This rule was implemented to ease crowding in CLs.}

nrr

If you arrive in JFK from NCE you first have to clear CBP which puts you landside; unless you are connecting in JFK, you would have to go through TSA security before you could enter CL.