Adelphos

A few posters have mentioned issues at T2 at LAX recently. I have a flight from LAX to JFK booked on Delta in a few weeks, business class. Trying to make Platinum, so the paid business class plus the status accelerator is nice. However it seems painful to check in. Is it painful enough to book AA instead? I would be able to book AA business class, heck maybe I will upgrade to F with miles. I figure I should be able to get the MQM somewhere else to still make Platinum on Delta (rollover could be hurt though)…

mnflyer27

Check out United. They are back in JFK with 2x daily to LAX on nicely and newly refurbished 767s and don't seem to be suffering the operational mess that AA is.

cmd320

Honestly if you're planning to pay for J I'd do JetBlue Mint and just credit to AA. That will be the best product all around. If that isn't an option, then AA would definitely be a better experience than DL, especially if you're going to do F. I'd place DL next to last behind B6, AA, and UA, in that order. The only worse airline than DL is AS which doesn't even offer a lie-flat.

Kacee

Putting aside status considerations, I would go for AA, especially if you can upgrade to F. No T2 and better F&B.

ATOBTTR

Not sure how much worse it's gotten since I flew out of T2 about 1.5 months ago, but if you're in D1 on LAX-JFK, you'll be able to use the dedicated SkyPriority/Delta One check-in and of course you'll have SkyClub access. Do you even need to check a bag or will you be going all carryon?

That said, AA's Transcon J product on the A321T is not a bad way to cross the country either.

ClipperDelta

I've done LAX or SFO-JFK on all of them in Business recently - DL, AA, UA, B6 and AS, and my rankings are:
1. UA
2. DL
3. B6
4. AA
5. AS
The most important aspect to me is the seat since that is going to be the longest amount of time spent during the entire experience, and here, the single J seat wins hands down. UA uses a 46-seat 763ER on the route with plenty of single J seats to choose from and because of the huge inventory usually has reasonable J fares as well. DL is good with the single seat as well especially on the 764ER. Other things to consider, now that food is back on DL here, it's a wash between the two (DL 3 choices, UA had 2, not sure if they changed now), UA has a lounge only on one end while DL has both, UA terminals on both ends (LAX, JFK) are easier to navigate, etc.
B6 sounds good on paper but most of the time, unless you get the single throne seats (which are only 4 per A321 cabin), you're stuck with a seat mate (I cannot book significantly ahead of time so I have always been stuck with someone next to me, and those seats are a bit tight with little storage space. Lounges if you care, of course B6 has none on both ends.
AA of course is 2-2 in Business (and I normally save my EXP upgrade certs for international upgrades so I don't do a J to F upgrades here) so not so great since my #1 priority is the single seat.

xjaehyun

I did LAX-JFK in D1 redeye on June 12 and got to T2 terminal early evening. The security checkpoint line was indeed long. The line to even enter the area past the ticket checking person went towards ticketing (not the Delta side but to the other side). But go to the skypriority lane and show them your D1 boarding pass and you'll bypass all of that and go directly upstairs to security screening. It took me no longer than maybe 3 minutes with precheck.

Oakshadow

If you don't mind on missing out on some MQMs/MQD's for this trip, I'd say yes, using a different carrier to/from LAX.

Was on a recent JFK-LAX flight. Left an hour late (baggage issue, everyone boarded on time and it sat fully boarded at the gate), landed an hour and half late (avoided weather in middle of nation) and we sat on the tarmac for another hour due to our T2 gate being occupied.

There are simply not enough DL gates at LAX right now. If I flew enough to be able to retain at least Gold status while sometimes flying other carriers to/from LAX, I would.

truncated

Don't forget that 2 of the B6 LAX-JFK frequencies are on the A321neo with the new Mint suite — if those work for OP's schedule booking B6 and crediting AA is probably the best option as suggested above

VFR

The jetBlue flights leave from T5, so the Alaska lounge in T6 is an option if you have Priority Pass.

cmd320

Centurion Lounge too if they ever actually open the place.

Adam1222

I feared a recent LAX DL flight due to comments here, but with Skypriority, Precheck, and Skyclub access it was fine. There was no wait for sky priority check-in. Yes the terminal was crowded, but LAX is a mess generally. Not sure how you're getting to/from LAX, but T2 is an easy walk to LAXit which is nice.
For lounges, the Skyclub is far better than the AA or AS lounges. Centurion is not an option for your travel dates.

cmd320

Must have been there at a quiet time of the day. SkyPri is pretty much meaningless unless you have to check in at the airport or drop a bag, but even then you’re swimming through a sea of people to get there and then get back to the security queue. Even with precheck it took 10 minutes to get through to the other side where the SC is packed to the gills. Then there’s the possibility that you’ll be riding a bus to your plane. Overall, you may luck out, but unless you really have to fly Delta for some reason, I’d avoid it. It’s not as though things are any better once you get on the plane.

DLATL777

Id agree. However if AA F is an option do that over all of them in J.

Wasnt UA using a 787 with Polaris on the EWR route? Id honestly go to EWR instead of JFK on a 764 if they were. Havent checked that schedule in a while, it may only be SFO.

Brandinho1

Yes at one point some months ago they were using the 787-10 on LAX-EWR