Months after opening its very first, exclusive business class lounge in New York City (JFK), Delta is getting ready to throw open the doors to its second Delta One lounge – this time on the West Coast.
The Delta One Lounge in Los Angeles (LAX) is set to open this Thursday, Oct. 10, and Delta is giving travelers a sneak peek at what's inside. At just over 10,000 square feet, it's a fraction the size of the mammoth New York City business class lounge or even the usual Delta Sky Club next door in LAX's Terminal 3.
But once again, Delta has apparently amplified everything customers love about their newest Sky Clubs with another jaw-dropping space. And it's reserved exclusively for its business class passengers who forked over a pile of cash (or a mountain of SkyMiles) to fly Delta One … and almost no one else.
There's a sit-down restaurant – a hallmark of these new Delta One Lounges – serving a la carte dishes like pan-roasted salmon or crispy duck tacos. In a first for a U.S. airline, there's a made-to-order sushi bar open year-round. There's a dedicated wellness area, where you can unwind in one of eight relaxation pods equipped with zero-gravity chairs and full-body massagers. But the special treatment starts from the moment you step out of the car with a private entrance on the ground … leading to a private check-in area … with its own private security checkpoint … straight into a private elevator that brings you straight up to the Delta One Lounge doors.
“From JFK to LAX, the opening of this lounge allows us to offer our customers a premium experience from coast to coast,” Claude Roussel, Delta's vice president of Delta Sky Clubs and lounge experience, said in a statement.
Delta won't stop at two business class lounges. A third location is on tap in Boston (BOS) for later this year while a fourth is expected in Seattle (SEA) sometime in 2025. And Delta CEO Ed Bastian himself recently made clear that there's a shortlist of hubs for future Delta One Lounge locations, including Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP).
But for now, the spotlight is squarely on Los Angeles.
While it's on the small side, the lounge's 10,000-square-foot layout should hopefully be sufficient to serve business class passengers on Delta's long-haul departures from Los Angeles to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Tokyo-Haneda (HND), Seoul (ICN), Sydney (SYD), and others – plus some cross-country routes to the East Coast.
And by the looks of it, that small package packs a serious punch. While we haven't visited ourselves yet, the entire lounge is decked out with high-end decor: deep woodgrains, gold accents, leather loungers, and gorgeous light fixtures. Just as with the everyday Sky Club next door, the highlight might just be the outdoor terrace, with space for just two dozen guests to soak in the fresh air and Delta jets taxiing below.
For years, Delta took knocks for not offering exclusive lounges for its highest-paying passengers like United Polaris Lounges and American Flagship Lounges. Now, Delta's trying to outdo them both – and you can see that with the airline's emphasis on dining in this new Los Angeles lounge.
Rather than offering a buffet for guests to pick from, the Delta One Lounge at LAX offers only table service for meals. Delta says it'll offer a regularly rotating menu plus one surprising feature: A made-to-order sushi bar, from which guests can order three different kinds of sushi rolls.
Who Can Get Into Delta One Lounges?
This isn't your ordinary Delta Sky Club: Don't expect to walk in with *amex platinum* or a *delta reserve card* in hand.
Delta One Lounges are among the most restrictive in the country. Exactly who can get in is a short list:
- Travelers with a Delta One ticket, including long-haul international flights as well as transcontinental routes branded as Delta One
- A Delta One ticket departing from the airport or arriving earlier that day will qualify
- Flyers departing or arriving on a business or first class ticket with some (but not all) SkyTeam partner airlines, including:
- Air France business class or La Premiere first class
- LATAM business class
- KLM business class
- Korean Air business and first class
- Virgin Atlantic Upper Class
- Flyers with the airline's invite-only Delta 360 status can get in … but only with a departing (or arriving) first class ticket
That's it. Delta won't sell memberships nor day passes to the Delta One Lounge, nor will they offer ways for other passengers to upgrade their way into the exclusive lounge – at least not at launch. Bringing a guest is off-limits with the exception of Delta 360 flyers, who can bring up to two guests … for an extra $100 apiece.
One major bright spot for the few passengers who make the list? Unlike your everyday Sky Clubs, there's no three-hour limit on visiting the lounge before your business class flight.
Bottom Line
And then there were two.
The Delta One Lounge in Los Angeles (LAX) is ready to open later this week, marking the airline's second exclusive business class lounge. While it's by no means massive, this Los Angeles lounge should be a welcome addition for flyers before departing from Southern California in a lie-flat seat.
All photos courtesy of Delta
