Latest news with #DeltaOneLounge
The Guardian
29-07-2025
- The Guardian
Airport lounges cement the class system. And the food's not even that good
Summer, I've been told, is travel season. From about May to August, we're all meant to be flinging cash at airlines, hotels, overpriced restaurants with watered-down Aperol spritzes, and whatever new wonder drug is supposed to make our bodies moderately palatable for display at the beach. The social pressure to go somewhere (anywhere) during summer has only gotten more pervasive since social media began its clumsy, knifepoint home invasion into our brains. Our Instagram and TikTok accounts are just free advertising for the travel industry. 'Gosh, Spain looks nice. But maybe Mexico City is more chic these days?' It doesn't matter where you go, as long as you go. Travel seems more socially necessary than ever, even while the toll it takes on the environment gets heavier and the prospects of being allowed back home get grimmer. Travel is not healthy for the planet, and it's not healthy for your mental state. But, according to the New York Times, it is delicious. Airport lounges across the world are investing in better food, fancier accommodations and other perks like 'being left alone' and 'a functional shower'. You can have access to posh hideaways like the Delta One Lounge or the American Express Centurion Lounge for a price (either credit card fees or a long, expensive flight to a place you don't necessarily want to go). Awaiting you are opulent buffets with food from celebrity chefs such as José Andres and Kwame Onwuachi, and open bars with elaborate cocktails on offer. Most things in these lounges are free, but there are always extras for those who are truly irresponsible with their money. The Delta One Lounge at New York's John F Kennedy airport offers dollops of caviar for $85. At most of these places, you can get actual champagne, rather than the bathtub-flavored grape water they have on tap for losers like me. They should give you a free button to wear with every purchase that says 'I can afford the good stuff' – so everyone knows you have no student loan debt. All of this is meant to help airlines and credit-card companies maximize profits for their avaricious stockholders. They will charge an exorbitant amount of money for well-heeled passengers to, say, get their feet rubbed by a nude stranger, but if you can't afford such a luxury at the airport, you can get naked and rub a guy's feet for free. An airport is now like the condo building from JG Ballard's novel High-Rise, where our ossified class system manifests itself in a massive concrete structure that divides us based on income and accident of birth. The lower floors are occupied by tradespeople, the middle floors by artists and educated strivers. The top floor is reserved for the truly wealthy and the landed gentry, who sneer at the lower floors and expect fealty. The airport is similarly stratified. It's not just one lounge per airline. Now, the mind-bogglingly decadent Delta One Lounge sits near the decidedly middle-class Delta SkyClub, where the food consists not of caviar or succulent roast pork, but a melange of vaguely local fare (at Detroit's SkyClub, I recently turned my nose up at the wettest casserole I've ever seen, paired with a white dinner roll smothered in glistening butter, which I assume is a midwestern delicacy with a funny name like 'Gristlepassage'). The SkyClub is an attainable simulacrum of luxury, with free magazines and a hot chocolate bar. These middlebrow lounges are routinely overcrowded, because the barrier to entry is lower. In the Delta One Lounge, which I cannot afford, I assume the exclusivity means that more often than not, it's just you and a manservant named Longbottom whose only job is to carry your bags to and from the lavatory. The Delta One lounge is like a beacon of contentment (or an obnoxious tease, depending on how jet-lagged I am) when I walk past. I turn into Oliver Twist at the sight of a Delta One Lounge, begging for a crumb of lobster before my connection to Salt Lake City. I know envy in a way that makes me feel like a child deprived of screen time on a long drive to Yosemite national park. Surely this sort of class cold war can't sustain itself forever. In High-Rise, conditions in the building deteriorate – elevators stop working, trash chutes clog, and electricity fails regularly. As the physical structure falls into disarray, so does the citizen population. There are riots, assaults, murders and the eating of a dog. I could see this happening at Los Angeles international airport (LAX) if the Buffalo Wild Wings runs out of honey mustard – throngs of unwashed masses re-enacting January 6 on the unsuspecting patrons of the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse. All for a spot of caviar. You might be wondering, though: is the food as good as the New York Times claims? Is it actually worth setting fire to a public place for a taste? In short, yes. Also, no. You see, the airport lounge is only as good as the food outside it is bad. It's a microcosm of how our class system perpetuates itself. As things grow more dire for the lower class, the middle class is driven to consume even more, as a signal to the world that they are, in fact, better. The deeper the hole gets beneath you, the more desperate you are to climb out. I am so eager to avoid having to swallow a limp hoagie at the LAX Jersey Mike's that I will spend money I shouldn't for the privilege of a slightly firmer sandwich in an airport lounge. Is the food demonstrably better at the Centurion Lounge at Heathrow than it is in the main concourse? No – it all probably gets squirted out at the same sludge factory. But it makes me feel special, because someone is being paid minimum wage to take my plate when I'm done eating. While half-asleep, dehydrated and full of flight-related anxiety, I can't even tell the difference between good and bad, right or wrong, fabulous or fetid. I am a yawning cavern of need, hoping to be filled up with whatever greasy carbs I can find. I had a perfectly adequate chicken tinga at the LAX SkyClub recently, which satisfied me until I woke up in a cold sweat over the Atlantic Ocean nine hours later. I likely would have responded to it more negatively if I had eaten it out of a paper cup next to a Hudson News while a dog in a gym bag silently farted a few feet away. Airlines, like every other big business, have figured out that the packaging is more important than the product. It's about the emotional response people have to what you're selling. The lords and ladies on the top floor of the metaphorical high-rise of our society have deigned to offer up a Disneyland re-creation of civilization, where we are treated with dignity rather than herded like lemmings over a cliff made of rubbery chicken. As was once said: 'Let them eat cake (as long as they have a Chase Sapphire Rewards card).'
The Guardian
29-07-2025
- The Guardian
Airport lounges cement the class system. And the food's not even that good
Summer, I've been told, is travel season. From about May to August, we're all meant to be flinging cash at airlines, hotels, overpriced restaurants with watered-down Aperol spritzes, and whatever new wonder drug is supposed to make our bodies moderately palatable for display at the beach. The social pressure to go somewhere (anywhere) during summer has only gotten more pervasive since social media began its clumsy, knifepoint home invasion into our brains. Our Instagram and TikTok accounts are just free advertising for the travel industry. 'Gosh, Spain looks nice. But maybe Mexico City is more chic these days?' It doesn't matter where you go, as long as you go. Travel seems more socially necessary than ever, even while the toll it takes on the environment gets heavier and the prospects of being allowed back home get grimmer. Travel is not healthy for the planet, and it's not healthy for your mental state. But, according to the New York Times, it is delicious. Airport lounges across the world are investing in better food, fancier accommodations and other perks like 'being left alone' and 'a functional shower'. You can have access to posh hideaways like the Delta One Lounge or the American Express Centurion Lounge for a price (either credit card fees or a long, expensive flight to a place you don't necessarily want to go). Awaiting you are opulent buffets with food from celebrity chefs such as José Andres and Kwame Onwuachi, and open bars with elaborate cocktails on offer. Most things in these lounges are free, but there are always extras for those who are truly irresponsible with their money. The Delta One Lounge at New York's John F Kennedy airport offers dollops of caviar for $85. At most of these places, you can get actual champagne, rather than the bathtub-flavored grape water they have on tap for losers like me. They should give you a free button to wear with every purchase that says 'I can afford the good stuff' – so everyone knows you have no student loan debt. All of this is meant to help airlines and credit-card companies maximize profits for their avaricious stockholders. They will charge an exorbitant amount of money for well-heeled passengers to, say, get their feet rubbed by a nude stranger, but if you can't afford such a luxury at the airport, you can get naked and rub a guy's feet for free. An airport is now like the condo building from JG Ballard's novel High-Rise, where our ossified class system manifests itself in a massive concrete structure that divides us based on income and accident of birth. The lower floors are occupied by tradespeople, the middle floors by artists and educated strivers. The top floor is reserved for the truly wealthy and the landed gentry, who sneer at the lower floors and expect fealty. The airport is similarly stratified. It's not just one lounge per airline. Now, the mind-bogglingly decadent Delta One Lounge sits near the decidedly middle-class Delta SkyClub, where the food consists not of caviar or succulent roast pork, but a melange of vaguely local fare (at Detroit's SkyClub, I recently turned my nose up at the wettest casserole I've ever seen, paired with a white dinner roll smothered in glistening butter, which I assume is a midwestern delicacy with a funny name like 'Gristlepassage'). The SkyClub is an attainable simulacrum of luxury, with free magazines and a hot chocolate bar. These middlebrow lounges are routinely overcrowded, because the barrier to entry is lower. In the Delta One Lounge, which I cannot afford, I assume the exclusivity means that more often than not, it's just you and a manservant named Longbottom whose only job is to carry your bags to and from the lavatory. The Delta One lounge is like a beacon of contentment (or an obnoxious tease, depending on how jet-lagged I am) when I walk past. I turn into Oliver Twist at the sight of a Delta One Lounge, begging for a crumb of lobster before my connection to Salt Lake City. I know envy in a way that makes me feel like a child deprived of screen time on a long drive to Yosemite national park. Surely this sort of class cold war can't sustain itself forever. In High-Rise, conditions in the building deteriorate – elevators stop working, trash chutes clog, and electricity fails regularly. As the physical structure falls into disarray, so does the citizen population. There are riots, assaults, murders and the eating of a dog. I could see this happening at Los Angeles international airport (LAX) if the Buffalo Wild Wings runs out of honey mustard – throngs of unwashed masses re-enacting January 6 on the unsuspecting patrons of the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse. All for a spot of caviar. You might be wondering, though: is the food as good as the New York Times claims? Is it actually worth setting fire to a public place for a taste? In short, yes. Also, no. You see, the airport lounge is only as good as the food outside it is bad. It's a microcosm of how our class system perpetuates itself. As things grow more dire for the lower class, the middle class is driven to consume even more, as a signal to the world that they are, in fact, better. The deeper the hole gets beneath you, the more desperate you are to climb out. I am so eager to avoid having to swallow a limp hoagie at the LAX Jersey Mike's that I will spend money I shouldn't for the privilege of a slightly firmer sandwich in an airport lounge. Is the food demonstrably better at the Centurion Lounge at Heathrow than it is in the main concourse? No – it all probably gets squirted out at the same sludge factory. But it makes me feel special, because someone is being paid minimum wage to take my plate when I'm done eating. While half-asleep, dehydrated and full of flight-related anxiety, I can't even tell the difference between good and bad, right or wrong, fabulous or fetid. I am a yawning cavern of need, hoping to be filled up with whatever greasy carbs I can find. I had a perfectly adequate chicken tinga at the LAX SkyClub recently, which satisfied me until I woke up in a cold sweat over the Atlantic Ocean nine hours later. I likely would have responded to it more negatively if I had eaten it out of a paper cup next to a Hudson News while a dog in a gym bag silently farted a few feet away. Airlines, like every other big business, have figured out that the packaging is more important than the product. It's about the emotional response people have to what you're selling. The lords and ladies on the top floor of the metaphorical high-rise of our society have deigned to offer up a Disneyland re-creation of civilization, where we are treated with dignity rather than herded like lemmings over a cliff made of rubbery chicken. As was once said: 'Let them eat cake (as long as they have a Chase Sapphire Rewards card).'
Time Out
02-06-2025
- Time Out
These are the five most popular summer getaways from Boston, per Logan Airport
With beautiful coastal beaches, a top-rate food scene, plenty of historical curiosities and a constant rotation of cool cultural happenings, you don't really ever have to leave Greater Boston to enjoy a little escape from the rise-and-grind. However, if it's a real getaway you're after, having a major travel hub like Logan International Airport nearby is certainly convenient (and even better with fancy upgrades like the recently unveiled Delta One Lounge in Terminal E). And according to a Logan spokesperson, there are five destinations that Bostonians are booking more often than not. According to a recent report by The Patriot Ledger, Logal Airport reps have revealed the five most popular summer destinations flying out of the Boston airport, as judged by the busiest routes that Commonwealth flyers booked in summer 2024. And the locales are an interesting mix of sunny warm-weather destinations down South (not a shock, given that Bostonian weather is temperamental on a good day) and fellow big cities with their own food-world street cred and historical bonafides. Per Logan Airport, the five busiest routes for summer travel out of Boston (in no particular order) are: San Francisco, California Orlando, Florida Atlanta, Georgia Washington, D.C. Chicago, Illinois Yes, they're a metropolitan bunch, but we can certainly see why each destination would appeal to Bostonians. Local history heads would happily nerd out over the museums and monuments of our nation's capital, and Boston-based foodies can feast their way through both the high-brow and low-key deliciousness of the Chicagoland restaurant scene. San Francisco provides a similar dose of coastal cool, albeit with some much-welcome Californian ease, while both Atlanta and Orlando offer a warm-weather reprieve from the Massachusetts chill as well as big-ticket attractions, from the largest aquarium in the United States (the Georgia Aquarium) to the most magical place on Earth (Florida's Walt Disney World Resort).
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Max's 'Duster,' named for the 1970s muscle car, features a young actress from the Motor City
Sometimes the universe gives you a sign that you're on the right path. In Sydney Elisabeth's case, that sign was Diana Ross. The young actress from Detroit, who is part of the cast of the new Max series "Duster," was getting ready to fly from New York to Los Angeles for the show's red-carpet premiere when she spotted the Motown legend in the Delta One Lounge. Fate — and the plane's seating chart — took care of the rest. 'She was one seat ahead of me on the plane. It was insane!' says Elisabeth, who asked a flight attendant to slip Ross a note explaining how she had gone to Cass Technical High School just like Ross and how the glamorous look she was planning for the "Duster" event was inspired directly by Ross. After about 20 minutes, Ross turned around and said, 'You're from Detroit?' A full conversation ensued that Elisabeth was still processing as she arrived at her hotel. Then, when she opened the balcony door in her room, she saw a huge 'Duster' poster on the side of a building. After some initial "freaking out," she says, another feeling took over. 'I felt so peaceful and like I was in alignment. I felt like it was such a sign. I felt I am exactly where I'm meant to be.' 'Duster,' which premieres May 15 at 9 p.m. on Max, is easily one of the most stylish vehicles of the current TV season. With its 1972 setting, retro fashions, cool automobiles and impressive stunt driving, it has a vintage feel crossed with the fast pace and complex plotting of a contemporary show. The series is the creation of filmmaker and TV producer J.J. Abrams, who has gone from making small-screen hits like 'Felicity' and 'Alias' to directing 2009's 'Star Trek' and 2015's 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens,' and LaToya Morgan, whose credits range from AMC's history drama "Turn: Washington's Spies" to Showtime's family saga "Shameless." Abrams told the Hollywood Reporter that the idea for 'Duster' came from an image in his head "of a phone in the middle of the desert and a car driving up, and a guy getting on the phone to find out where he was meant to go next. It implied some kind of crazy intrigue, and I didn't know what the answer was, but I knew it was compelling.' "Duster" stars Josh Holloway and Rachel Hilson as two characters from opposite sides of the law who become enmeshed in that intrigue. Holloway plays Jim, a driver for an Arizona crime boss, Ezra (Keith David), who is known as 'the Southwest Al Capone.' Jim is so loyal that he is trusted with delivering a new heart for Ezra's ailing son in the first episode. Hilson portrays Nina, a brand-new FBI agent who faces racism and sexism, but is determined to bring down Ezra's syndicate. Nina enlists Jim's help in the mission and, as a result, Jim's life 'goes from dangerous to wildly, stupidly dangerous,' as the Max description teases. More: New Max series 'Duster,' set in the 1970s, puts a vintage muscle car in the title role Elisabeth has a supporting role as Ezra's daughter, Genesis, who defies the stay-at-home stereotypes of the era by owning a bar and who has the cool charisma of a '70s-era action star like Pam Grier. Plenty of screen time goes to the 1970 red Duster two-door coupe that is Jim's sweet ride and the reason for the title of the series. But it's not the only set of wheels on screen. 'I also have my own car in the show that I learned how to drive, a Firebird,' says Elisabeth, referring to Pontiac's '70s-era competitor to the Ford Mustang. ln fact, part of Elisabeth's job on the set was learning how to drive a car with manual transmission. She practiced a few hours before having to go in front of the cameras and seamlessly drive the stick-shift Firebird. 'It was only a take or two and not really driving. You know how Josh is driving! I'm literally pulling into a parking lot and then driving off," she says. "But the stunt coordinator did have me drive across the city to have a feel for it. So I can drive stick, technically.' Elisabeth has been acting since she was a teen in Detroit. She honed her skills at the Mosaic Youth Theatre and in the performing arts program at Cass Tech, where she found a mentor in Marilyn McCormick, the now-retired high school teacher who was honored in 2016 with an excellence in theater education award from the Tony Awards in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University. At Cass Tech, McCormick guided future success stories like playwright Dominique Morisseau and actress Chante Adams, among many others. Elisabeth credits "MC," as McCormick's students affectionately call her, with helping her understand the depth and artistry involved in acting. Elisabeth earned her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey and spent time in college studying abroad at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. She was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts' prestigious graduate-level acting program, which takes only 16 students each year. While getting her master's degree, she also studied abroad, this time at the British American Drama Academy in London. As a grad student, Elisabeth regularly put in nearly 12-hour days six days a week, taking classes during the day and doing rehearsals at night. When she completed the program in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, she had to try out for roles through online auditions, sometimes completing as many as 10 a day. She landed her part in 'Duster' in 2021 and was busy with filming in 2023 when production was temporarily shut down by the Hollywood writers strike. Filming on the first season's eight episodes finally was finished last year. The May 15 debut represents a four-year journey for Elisabeth, whose previous TV experience was appearing on a 2021 episode of Tracy Morgan's TBS comedy, "The Last O.G." Although trained in theater, Elisabeth says she likes the process of doing a TV series. 'I really think that there is something beautiful about being able to get deeper into a character and learn more about a character over years. Hopefully with another season with ("Duster"), I'll see how Genesis continues to evolve.' She says she learned a lot from working with industry veterans like Holloway ('When I first saw him, I was shook,' says the 'Lost' fan) and David, a character actor known for hundreds of movies and TV shows, from the 1982 film horror classic 'The Thing' to 2023's 'Justified: City Primeval' limited series, where he played a Detroit judge. David and his wife have become her good friends, says Elisabeth, who admires his approach to his craft. 'He really (became) a true father figure in the industry for me now and I'm so grateful I got to learn from him on set.' Now based in New York City, Elisabeth says she goes home to Detroit often. Her family was just in California with her to attend the 'Duster' premiere. 'I had to bring them to my first one,' she says, noting that her 17-year-old sister, who attends Cass Tech, probably enjoyed the experience the most. Elisabeth says she hopes to build a versatile career in acting. 'I would love to be on another TV show. … I would love to do movies. I would love to be on Broadway. That's something that's a huge goal for me. I'm also a singer, so I would love to do some music on the side, not necessarily be a pop star,' she says with a laugh. Whatever is next, she is clear about the big picture. Elisabeth says she wants to 'just continue to do art that makes me happy and makes people feel seen and loved and heard.' Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@ Debuts at 9 p.m. May 15 on Max. Additional episodes arrive every Thursday through July 3. Rated TV-MA This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit actress is part of the stylish 'Duster' series on Max
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Delta One's New Lounge Delivers an Even More VIP Experience
Delta's premium-class flyers in Los Angeles can now have an even more exclusive travel experience thanks to the brand-new lounge that opened at LAX in a separate Delta One check-in area — with refreshments and its own private security —enables passengers to completely bypass the main airport. From there, they can directly proceed via an elevator to the 10,000-square-foot Delta One Lounge, which offers a wellness area, a sushi bar (an LAX exclusive) and seating for nearly 200 guests to order complimentary food and will feel more like they're in a trendy restaurant than at the airport upon entering the stunning space, which nods to Los Angeles with its décor. Sunset hues inspired the Icon Bar — which features Verde Emerald quartzite evoking the coast. Old Hollywood is conjured with dramatic lighting in the library lounge and dining room, while details like fluted walnut paneling reference L.A.'s architectural history. The lounge also includes a terrace, with seating for 26. Items from Delta's partner Missoni, from pillows to coffee table books, add style throughout the space. Take a seat and order from a server off a curated menu — which includes rotating items like fresh salads, ceviche, fish tacos, roasted chicken, salmon and the popular steak frites. Or, order sushi bar items such as hand rolls or the yellowfin can also opt for the rotating location-themed Bento boxes, with menus inspired by cities like Paris, Tokyo and Boston. Destinations also inspired a list of cocktails, and a list of premium spirits is also offered. Finish your meal with a trip to the multi-tiered dessert station, displaying various cakes — and you can even opt to take some sweets to go.A wellness area features zero-gravity chairs, full-body massage chairs and Hyperice products. While there, sip wellness-themed drinks, and a rolling wellness cart offers spa water, towels and product samples from Grown Alchemist. Delta One customers can also access nap pods to rest, or shower suites to freshen up, before heading out.
