Trip Report: Delta JFK to LHR Deltaone Business Class
With flights opening up again after the pandemic, we take the most classic of international routes from New York to London, on Delta Air Lines.
You probably can't get a market with more competition than the hop across the pond, from New York to London. Just about every carrier wants a crack at this market, and since the end of the Bermuda 2 agreement, pretty much every carrier than wants to, can.
The last time I took Delta over the pond, the carrier was restricted to just flying into Gatwick: no longer, it now has access to London Heathrow, and that's where I was heading, on an A330-200 series. Albeit, this aircraft had previously flown under Northwest Airlines colours in an earlier life.
The transatlantic market is of course rife now with competition. With plenty of airlines comes plenty of business class products. Delta offers a few different products on their aircraft ranging from Delta One Suites to herringbones to forward facing. However, Delta's reverse herringbone on the A330 is arguably one of the better ways to cross the Atlantic.
Delta One can be very pricey, and you'll likely spend well over $4,000 on a one-way flight. Thankfully, this hop cost me just $60AUD, plus 56,000 Virgin Australia miles.
I was on the very last flight of the day, leaving at 11pm at night, and as such JFK was starting to wind down it's operations for the night.
Delta Skyclub at New York JFK
I started my journey in the Delta Skyclub at New York JFK. This SkyClub is huge, and is very much Delta "flagship" SkyClub, with lots of space and uprated food.
I've reviewed this lounge in detail: Delta Sky Club JFK Terminal 4 New York Lounge review.
Visiting again, I was impressed by the main Delta SkyClub at Kennedy Airport, both in terms of its size and facilities. I turned right at the top of the escalator, and was right by the bar, with the dining area opposite.
However, the design is just a little bit bland, with only a few signature pieces, including some large red swivel chairs, and some strange four way seats beside the bar.
As it was late at night, the food was pretty plain too, with hot food is on the main refectory counter, with a basic meat and pasta dish in the evening. There were two soups on offer in the evening, as well as a curry, and the obligatory salad.
At the bar, basic beers are free, but you pay for anything else on the top shelf, which includes some of the more expensive beer, such as Stella or Blue Moon. Only the lager and the IPA are free.
However, I knew there was a little advertised trick, to get a full restaurant quality pre flight dining, since I was flying on Deltaone from Terminal 4, I knew this would also give me access to the amazing new New York JFK Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, which is well worth while checking out for the better food and top notch cocktail bar. It is a good 10 minutes, brisk, walk from the Delta Sky Club.
It has a novel design, great facilities, and is one of the most entertaining lounges at JFK. It is one of the few lounges where you genuinely won't want to get on the plane. It shows what can really be done with a brief that includes designing a completely new lounge from scratch. The new space is inspired by the theme 'Understatedly Uptown, Unmistakably New York'. The design is full of curved shimmering stainless steel rods and walnut fins hanging from the ceiling creating lots of much smaller spaces within the lounge, while at the same time allowing you to see the whole area.
The seats scream achingly trendy, and are woefully impractical. But never mind, because, you know, art.
The bar itself is in the middle of the lounge, but quite low down: there are some low seats here if you want to sit actually at the bar. The range of spirits has to be seen to be believed: not only with your usual premium brands, but also with some more obscure bottles, including a large range from Mexico. There is also sparkling wine, and some of New York's microbrewery ales.
However, I was just here for the food. There were menus on the tables of the brassiere area, where I ordered the cliche of the clubhouse burger and Brooklyn Ale pie.
Alas, soon it was time to board, and I had to almost run back to the other arm of the terminal, and head to the gate. Thankfully, Delta One passengers were invited onboard first.
Delta A330-200 Business Class
Delta's A330-200s feature 9 rows of 34 business class seats in a reverse herringbone configuration. This means that all passengers have direct aisle access.
There are two DeltaOne cabins, with 6 rows at the front, and then a further 3 rows, in a little mini cabin behind the galley. Note that is a little different to Delta's A330-300 which also operates this route, but which has just one large DeltaOne cabin: it pays to check when you book, although the seats are identical.
Alas, the carrier is not putting its Delta One Suites onboard the aircraft. The Airbus A330-900neos feature the lovely new cabins: the A330-200 and -300 do not. However, compared to Delta's older 767s, the seat is brilliant.
The classic DeltaOne seat should be fairly familiar to anyone who has flown on these reverse herringbone seats before: they point to the window, with a small raisable armrest in the triangle between you and the aisle.
The DeltaOne seat has an 80 inch pitch, and a 21 inch width. There are 34 seats in total, and they slide down to a fairly comfortable flat bed, even if your feet have to slide into the cubby hole underneath the seat infront.
Delta A330-200 Business Class IFE
Next to the seat is a reading light and panel with USB and a power socket, plus a headphone jack.
There is a large TV screen in front of the seat, which clips into the holder of the seat back. It is touch screen, however next to the seat is the remote with most of the functions duplicated. There is also a fine set of seat controls to get the seat to fold fully flat.
Although quite old, the TV screen is fairly responsive for a touchscreen.
The headphones are OK, but not the best out there. The audio quality is decent and the noise cancellation works, even if not brilliantly.
Alas, the whole IFE system is rather let down by the selection of films on what Delta call 'Delta Studio'. There's a lot there - and a lot of rubbish too. There were a few new releases, and a lot that sunk without trace.
Free wifi is available on the flight, but only for basic messaging, and only if you download the app before departure.
As a late night flight, all the seats have a blanket, pillow, headphones, and amenity kit at the seat, all wrapped in hygienic plastic.
Of note was the Westin Heavenly bedding: it was a proper duvet with fluffy pillows, along with a mattress topper.
The TUMI amenity kit was good for an American carried, but poor by international standards, with just basic toothpaste and hand sanitiser; essentials for this short hop over the pond, but a bit lacking in style or quality.
Delta A330-200 economy class
I had a look around the rest of the aircraft.
There are four rows of Delta Comfort+, which offers a little extra legroom, but certainly aren't up to the standards of international Premium Economy. Delta does have what it calls Delta Premium Select on its Airbus A330-900neo, with the normal of 38 inches of pitch and 18 inches wide, but it's playing 30 years of catchup with British Airways on this one, and still hasn't got there. Delta Comfort+ however is all that's on offer on the -300 and -200 models.
Way at the back there is standard economy (or what some call 'coach'), which in turn comes in variants such as 'Main Cabin' by Delta. With 31 inches of pitch, it's OK and holds its own, but it's certainly not the best carrier in economy even over the Atlantic.
DeltaOne meal service
Soon after sitting down, I was offered a pre-departure beverage of choice. The options were Heineken, sparkling wine or orange juice.
I opted for the wine: I was also presented with a bottle of water at boarding.
There was also a large menu, well presented, which went on for several pages.
As soon as we were in the cruise, the meal service began: quite literally as soon as the seatbelt signs were off: this was a late night flight, and with only about 7 hours in the air, most people were keen to eat and sleep as soon as possible.
Cocktails were quickly served, and I went for a Gin Fizz.
I then moved onto the Chardonnay, with warm nuts.
The cabin crew asked me if I wanted to move straight onto the entree so I could maximise sleep. Indeed they almost seemed to be willing me to say yes, I guess because they wanted to shut the cabin down quickly. This caused a little confusion, as the entree means something very different on each side of the Atlantic. I took it to mean the hors d'oeuvre or appetizer, and it was pleasing to note the menus avoided confusion between British and American definitions of the terms by calling it a starter.
So that's what my entree was: there were three to choose from, and all three came loaded on the tray: Mushroom soup, Harissan Shrimp, and Caesar salad.
The soup was the standout with lots of added flavour, indeed with avec, however the salad was rather bland, and shrimp not really worth it.
The main course or the entre as Americans call it - had on offer beef, Chicken breast, Sea Bass, or Ricotta Ravioli. I went for the good solid Beef short rib, potatoes carrots and tomatoes. It was really rather good, with plenty of gravy and more than filling enough considering I'd already had two dinners at the airport, and I was staring down two more breakfasts in just three hours.
The beef was perhaps overcooked, but only slightly, and the sauce and potatoes paired well.
Next up were the desert courses. Pear Tart and Vanilla Sundae were on offer, and would probably have kept me full for this life, and quite probably the next, however it was the small light delicate cheese plate that caught my eye. I went for the cheeses with Cypress grove midnight moon, Gruyere and Blue Affinee with fig and fruit compote.
The Cypress grove midnight moon had a wonderful flavour; nutty with a hint of burnt butter & prominent caramel notes.
DeltaOne breakfast
The cabin crew made up my bed for me, and I managed nearly two solid hours sleep before the lights slammed on. No subtle mood lighting on the A330! A full 45 minutes after lights on, table cloths were laid for breakfast, which did rather provoke the question as to why we missed out on that near hour of extra sleep that could have come from being a tad more tardy with the light switch.
Coffee and Orange Juice eventually came around, and indeed were welcomed by daylight over the Atlantic, it being 9am already.
For breakfast every tray was load with fresh fruit and jam, then there was a bread basket with croissants.
The hot option was a French onion quiche, which was a little unusual, however the crew were able to spice it up with a little meat, but offering some well done crispy bacon.
The Breakfast service was completed about 20 minutes before landing, and unusually for Heathrow, we came straight in from the West without holding and onto the runway: one of the advantages of a comparatively late 11am arrival, compared to the 6am landing times I have suffered oh so often.
Delta London LHR Arrivals Lounge
There used to be a wonderful Delta London LHR Arrivals Lounge. It was opened with much fanfare, and closed 3 months later when Delta started using the much larger Virgin Atlantic arrivals lounge.
Virgin's The Arrivals is great, having lots of hot showers. It is another lounge we've extensively reviewed The Virgin Arrivals Lounge at London Heathrow
At the front desk they warned they'd be closing in an hour, so I asked to head straight to a shower. They have amenities, and indeed also a nifty feature with a radio playing Radio 2 or 4 - set by a silver panel on the wall.
The main room of the Virgin Revivals looks a little like a rather tired but trendy coffee shop, with a small bar at the end, scattered dining tables and a few sofas in the middle of the room. However, you certainly don't come here for the view.
There is a la carte dining, with menus at every table. I could have had a full English breakfast, but instead settle for the Eggs Benedict before heading out onto the tube.
Delta JFK to LHR Deltaone Business Class
So, was this one of the better ways to cross the Atlantic? Most definitely, although also somewhat underwhelming. However, it must be said that although Delta are one of the best US based carriers, its only mid range compared to international carriers.
Never the less, it was a good flight, comfortable, I managed to get some sleep, and the food was most decent.
See the full Trip Report: Delta JFK to LHR Deltaone Business Class video:
Lux-traveller paid its own way for this Trip Report: Delta JFK to LHR Deltaone Business Class, and travelled incognito.
| Trip Report: Delta JFK to LHR Deltaone Business Class | |
|---|---|
Lux-traveller.com rating:7 out of10  | |
| Seats: | 8 - Good life flat business class seat |
| Food: | 7 - Good, decent flavour |
| Service: | 6 - Decent, not exceptional |
| IFE: | 5 - OK, limited selection |
Recommended
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