Duke787

Here for the first time in about a month -- new food bar is nicely designed (though it's completely empty mid-day not sure how well it will fare during peak TATL hours).

Seems like the espresso machines are no longer Starbucks but are now "Eversys" -- though the straight coffee is still Starbucks branded as are the cups. They also now have a soda machine.

All positives -- the weird thing is they seem to have completely eliminated the big Dasani water bottles (at least right now), and the only place I can find with a water tap is up by the bar with the new soda machine. If that's really the case that's a big miss, it's a big PITA to keep getting up and walking up to the bar area just to refill my water (vs. just snagging one of the big Dasani bottles and putting it near me) and it's not like the plastic cups they are providing are substantial in size. If they are permanently eliminating the Dasani bottles, at the very least they need to add a water tap to every coffee station in the club so you can refill your water easily.

AANYC1981

I was at JFK T4 during peak transatlantic hours recently and the line for the new food area snaked almost out to the Skydeck and there was actually someone there actively separately the line so people could walk between the area by the windows to the bar. Also it was almost impossible to find a seat when I first arrived......had to settle for a seat in the work stations and the WiFi doesn't work over there

jdrtravel

Offering filtered water taps with real glasses instead of plastic bottles is standard in all the new club designs. Personally I like it as it's much less wasteful (we really, really need to stop it with single use plastics) and I also really like that the taps offer sparkling water as an option. I can see your point about having more than one filtered water station in a club like JFK T4.

zitsky

Here now. Line to get in pretty fast though. Ended up sitting at the desks.

I was told because of renovation no premium drinks, no premium champagne for sale. Really disappointed. I was looking forward to it.

Time is 6.16pm Friday. Waiting for a flight that boards in 2 hours.

Not sure I'll bother waiting for food.

Did have some food. Ok but not impressive. Overcooked pasta.

Cheap wines at the bar.

B&G Chardonnay and Rose
Fetzer Pinot Grigio
Excelsior cabernet sauvignon
Frontera red blend? After midnight
Veuve du vernay sparkling

cmd320

What are they renovating here now? The bar?

zitsky

I don't know. The whole club? The bar?

Waiting to take off. Sorry Woodford fans. I'll be drinking Macallan Double Cask tonight.

Edit: I had a double Double Cask. Not my favorite but good. I would buy it if I could. I'm still happy with Macallan 12.

pfreet

Flying MCO-JFK-LHR and have a 5-hour connection in JFK coming up on Wednesday. Flying in through T2 arriving at 2:30pm. Am I better off riding out the wait in the T2 sky club? Or is the T4 club quiet enough then to find a spot and get a drink or two? I've never been in either club.

cmd320

I'd personally probably make the trek over to T4 with that amount of time. It has better food and drink options than T2, you have the SkyDeck, and the showers are worlds better than the T2 ones which are pretty awful IMO.

Duke787

+1. Would head to T4 and take advantage of the long layover / early arrival to claim a spot in T4 before the evening TATL crowd descends

zitsky

2 days ago the bar was limited it was crowded and food was mediocre.

ijgordon

Was there Thurs evening - club was *very* crowded but we found 2 seats together without too much problem. I think because of the crowds *most* people were not hogging the adjacent seats with their bags like usually the case.

Buffet line went back to the window where the hallway to the sky deck is, but not more than a few people more.

Didn't use the bar as I wasn't feeling so well, but seems the bar is a temporary setup in front of where the new bar is being constructed. The buffet area had already been reconstructed. Quite the staff behind the buffet - they would keep multiple dishes of each item in warmers back there so they could swap in a new dish when the food emptied out. For the most part that worked well.

I think they need more bathroom capacity though - in men’s it’s 3 stalls + 3 urinals + 1 “changing room” which isn’t enough at peak hours.

steveholt

All (or at least the vast majority) of the Skyclubs have small bathrooms relative to the size of the club. In JFK's case, the showers at least have toilets.

ekozie

This is what the club looks like for now, though the people did have faces. Temporary wall with temporary bar is built in right front of where the bar used to be (and likely will be post-construction). Bartender said that this part of construction is scheduled through December, but seemed skeptical that it would be ready in time. No premium anything available that I saw, but all of the mixers were from cans (huge plus over soda fountains/guns).

cmd320

Interesting. I wonder what they’re doing with the bar. The kitchen area was a needed change but the bar was already pretty large and seemed pretty standard for a modern Delta club. Will be interested to see what the change is.

bgriff

I was at the T4 club for the first time in a while today and I have to say I was impressed. Yes it’s still ridiculously overcrowded, perhaps even more now that a lot of the seats are benches and more communal things rather than individual seats, so feels even more awkward to share with strangers. But the food is much better than it was — excellent pulled chicken thigh entree, pretty high quality mushroom ravioli dish, and some creative offerings at the salad bar.

I’m guessing that when the new bar area opens they’ll have added more dishwashing capacity, in line with the other new clubs, and will be able to go to proper dishes and glasses rather than disposable paper/plastic stuff. Which would befit the higher quality of food on offer. Unfortunately with the volumes of people at this lounge they’re going to need a substantial staff doing nothing but constantly going around picking up dirty dishes and replenishing the clean item stations.

It doesn’t appear Delta really has a plan for the overcrowding though; they need more square footage and not just more seats. But maybe they’re counting on the new Centurion lounge in the terminal to draw away a significant portion of their customers, which is probably a likely outcome.