For years we used LaGuardia as our main airport when traveling to New York. It had plenty of flights from Orlando. It’s also a short taxi ride to Manhattan, and we were familiar with it.
Eventually, fares for flights to LGA got more expensive and we started flying to JFK instead. We liked that it was easier to get to Manhattan by using public transportation.
I’ve been following the massive renovations at LaGuardia but have avoided flying there because I didn’t want to try getting to or from the airport while it was a construction zone. NYC traffic is bad enough without added hassles.
While the construction isn’t finished, it’s gotten to the point where I wasn’t avoiding LGA anymore. When I found a good price for a quick weekend trip on Delta, I booked it. I’d get a chance to check out the new Terminal C building and hopefully check out the brand new Delta SkyClub that everyone has raved about.
But could it really be as good as everyone says?
The Terminal C Delta SkyClub at LaGuardia will be the largest SkyClub in the world when it’s finished. It will need to be because it will be the only club for Delta’s 32 gates at LaGuardia. You can’t miss the club, as it’s just past the security checkpoint. The lounge is located one level up. The large windows of the club look at the floor-to-ceiling terminal windows with a view of the tarmac.
When I arrived on a Saturday morning around 10 AM, only a few people were in line to check-in. There are several podiums where you scan your boarding pass. Since my AMEX Platinum card is linked to my Delta account, I was granted immediate access. There’s an agent to point people to the scanners and another at a podium off to the side to assist with any more complex inquiries.
To get to the 2nd floor most visitors will take the escalators. This is the first glimpse of how stylish the club is. There’s local art all around and it’s just a visually interesting series of spaces.
Once upstairs, you enter a lobby-styled area that looks very snazzy, but I never saw anyone using the space.
The lounge is massive. Unlike the SkyClub in Atlanta which is one big room, this one has many distinct areas.
There’s a bar with additional tables and high-top seating.
Not to miss a chance to upsell customers, there’s a wall of wine and champagne that you can purchase with cash or your SkyMiles.
The food is served buffet style. It appears that local NY chefs create the menus. I’m not sure if they rotate menus with various chefs.
There’s a second buffet station at the end of the club. While I don’t know if this was the original intent, it was also serving as the doughnut station during my visit.
Seating was plentiful in the SkyClub.
Almost all of the seats had available power outlets and USB charging ports. What impressed me the most was the different styles of spaces offered. They had a place for sports fans, one for people needing to get work done (including several work pods that resemble phone booths), several large conference-style desks, quieter rooms, and others near the food which were more bustling with activity. It seemed like Delta wanted to create spaces that fit the demographic of each of its SkyClub visitors and they did a fantastic job.
The most impressive thing is that the club isn’t finished. As Delta finishes the improvements to the terminal, they’ll be adding another 100 seats to the club, a second bar, and an outdoor, all-weather season Sky Deck.
I only made a quick stop in the club to take a look because we were tight on time to get to Manhattan and see a show that afternoon. I’ve seen pictures of the bathrooms that look amazing, including the lights to tell you if a stall is occupied or empty. The one thing missing are shower rooms. Delta’s explanation is that LaGuardia does not host long-haul flights so they chose to forgo the showers in favor of additional seating space.
I must admit; this was definitely the nicest Delta SkyClub I’ve ever seen. It’s much better than the club it replaced at LaGuardia.
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