• Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Home » Delta Air Lines » I Enjoyed My Flight on Delta, But…
767Delta Air LinesHawaii

I Enjoyed My Flight on Delta, But…

Matthew Klint Posted onNovember 10, 2017November 14, 2023 16 Comments

Yesterday I flew from Honolulu to Los Angeles in Delta First Class, the first time I have flown Delta in four years.

Overall, the flight was excellent. Service was particularly outstanding: both attentive and friendly. Although I was never addressed by name, the crew was very kind and definitely a high point on the flight.

My flight was operated by an internationally-configured 767-300 with lie-flat seating up front. While Delta’s premium seats are not my favorite lie-flat variant, it is a very comfortable ride to go from Honolulu to the Mainland.

an airplane with seats and monitors

a row of seats in an airplane

a seat in an airplane

Gogo Wi-Fi worked well throughout the flight, though the “loose” power outlet nearly drove me crazy. My laptop cable kept falling out and I ended up propping it up with my water bottle.

Delta uses Westin-branded bedding and the pillow and blanket were very plush.

a stack of pillows on a tray

Kudos to Delta for a great lavatory configuration. I loved having move to room around and brush my teeth without spitting on myself, like so many congested airline lavatories. Delta also uses Malin & Goetz soap, which smells great.

a sink with a sign on it

a group of soap dispensers on a counter

I enjoyed a great selection of in-flight movies, though selection was no better than what a typical United flight offers.

Meal Service

Meal service was a surprise, and not in a good way. I was expecting menus and a sundae cart, but service was actually much simpler than my usual trip on United (and I’m not comparing it the special final 747 flight). Meal orders were taken prior to pushback, with a choice between salmon with potatoes or beef hoison with rice.

No warmed nuts were served prior to the meal, just a snack basket with cookies, pretzels, or almonds.

a basket of food in a person's hands

The meal itself was served on a single tray and contained only a salad, main course, and small container of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream.

a tray with food on it

It was a perfectly fine meal, but I was surprised there was no appetizer and dessert was so economy-esque.

FAs roamed the cabin often over the next few hours offering drink refills and additional selections from the snack basket.

We landed about 30 minutes early in Los Angeles.

CONCLUSION

That’s the mini-report. I’ll have more details in the full trip report, but I 1.) enjoyed flying Delta very much but 2.) will stick to United.

Get Daily Updates

Join our mailing list for a daily summary of posts! We never sell your info.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Previous Article New Emirates 777 First Class Suite Looks Great!
Next Article The Nastiest Hotel Room in the World?

About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

Related Posts

  • Dog Diversion Delta

    Delta Flight Diverts To Care For Sick Dog. Justified?

    May 28, 2025
  • Delta Sky Club ATL F Review

    Review: Delta Sky Club Atlanta (ATL) – Concourse F

    May 23, 2025
  • Delta Sky Club ATL E Review

    Review: Delta Sky Club Atlanta (ATL) – Concourse E

    May 22, 2025

16 Comments

  1. Ls Reply
    November 10, 2017 at 12:56 pm

    Par for the course on delta. Their non tcon domestic F meals leave lots to be desired. No nuts, sometimes no apps, no separate fresh desserts – just packaged cookies or the packaged ice cream. The entrees are usually pretty good however. Both AA and ua do a better domestic F meal offering across the board

  2. john Reply
    November 10, 2017 at 1:17 pm

    This is considered a domestic first-class flight. If you were on a “premium” route such as ATL-HNL or MSP-HNL, you would’ve had an “upgraded” service. The fact that you got premium bedding for this flight is a pretty big deal because that’s not usually what’s offered on this route.

  3. Dominik Reply
    November 10, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    Regarding the loose power outlet – in my travel bag I always carry a small European outlet adapter (round prongs). Just attach it to your charger and plug in the outlet. Solves the issue every time.

    • Matthew Reply
      November 10, 2017 at 1:23 pm

      @Dominik: I finally ended up doing this (always carry one also), but very annoying anyway.

  4. Ryan Reply
    November 10, 2017 at 1:30 pm

    Delta has always had the worst catering of the US3. Here is why DL is beyond over-rated and is not at all the premium carrier in our country.

    1. Poor 1st class catering services as mentioned above
    2. On most domestic routes, DL 1st class has much tighter pitch and less recline than the other carriers
    3. Many flights that AA/Ua serve hot meals on , Delta just gives a snack basket. EX: LAX-DEN is one of MANY
    4. Your meal was HNL-LAX, you should see how poor the tray looks form FLL-LGA. Mostly cold food, poor looking sandwiches that are without explanation worse than 7-11 quality. There is a ham sandwhih going around that is just nasty
    5. Skyteam – enough said!
    6. No 1st class on themselves or any partner allowed (so much for being a premium carrier, will not allow redemption on partners 1st class)
    7. Poor catering in coach on BOB flights. Only cold options, not tasty
    8. NO PROPER INTERNATIONAL DEPARTURE LOUNGES! While AA/UA are finishing up some nice refurbs of their lounges, DL just has the synthetic chicken and pastas in their over-rated Skyclubs ( OK, SFO, SEA, ATL B may be nice but none of the others are up to standards for Intl” Oh, and of course you may have aDL salad in the skyclub with some Class Hidden valley dressing.

  5. Jane Reply
    November 10, 2017 at 4:30 pm

    Omg, really!? Be happy you have the financial ability to travel at all, let alone your 1st class accommodations. Oh…there’s no appetizer, cry me a river! Im happy to be able to afford to keep the heat on in the winter!

    • Cory Reply
      November 10, 2017 at 4:50 pm

      But why are you reading a frequent flyer blog with an emphasis on premium travel?

    • Alien Europa Reply
      November 11, 2017 at 4:33 am

      It’s about being worth the price point or not. Haven’t you seen the BuzzFeed show ‘Worth It’ where they take 3 of something at different prices and decide what was best at the different price points? If you’re paying $1.5K round-trip for a flight, then you better get damn good service.

      If you can’t afford hot water, then this blog isn’t for you.

  6. YYZFlyer Reply
    November 10, 2017 at 5:48 pm

    The main meal itself looks rather disappointing for business class and is probably something I would expect in economy class. I think the ice cream is fine for domestic business class. The best dessert I get in economy class when flying internationally is perhaps a packaged brownie or cookie, I would be happy with the ice cream. Did you use miles or cash for this flight?

    • Matthew Reply
      November 10, 2017 at 5:51 pm

      Miles, though there is a story behind it that I’ll share next week.

  7. UA-NYC Reply
    November 10, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    Anyone who says “Delta has always had the worst catering of the US3”, has seriously never flown United. Wasn’t even close for a long time – maybe equivalent now.

  8. Sexy_kitten7 Reply
    November 10, 2017 at 8:48 pm

    I agree with the other posters: lower your expectations! Hawaii to mainland is considered domestic for every carrier (and also in reality for that matter). Most airlines have no meals in coach (even UA’s 11 hr HNL-EWR flight) so just be lucky you got a “snack” in UA parlance. Well actually, you got a snack + “snack.” I think the snack basket in lieu of warm nuts is nicer in a way (larger portion and variety). It stinks you didn’t get a separate dessert but even UA discontinued the ice cream/sorbet course domestically IIRC.

  9. Kacee Reply
    November 11, 2017 at 11:33 am

    But DL’s 1-2-1 is much better than UA’s awful 772 HD configuration.

    • Matthew Reply
      November 11, 2017 at 1:18 pm

      Agree.

  10. dotti m cahill Reply
    November 11, 2017 at 8:39 pm

    I did LAX to HNL last nite first class had a chicken ok meal but no snacks passed..As we were deplaning the FA took out the snack basket for the family in front of us!!!!!

  11. Edna Bell Reply
    October 24, 2021 at 1:21 am

    Riding first class on delta to hawaii, I expect 3 meal

    A lie flat bed, and I hope I’m not disappointed

    This will be my first trip to honolulu Hawai’i

    I dont know if iOS felt or delta one plane. They just wo

    Won’t let me know

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Search

Hot Deals for May

Note: Please see my Advertiser Disclosure

Capital One Venture X Business Card
Earn 150,000 Miles Sign Up Bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earn 100,000 Points
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles!
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles
Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Earn $750 Cash Back
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Earn 120,000 Membership Reward® Points

Recent Posts

  • a person holding a dish of ice cream
    United Airlines Adds Aperol Spritz, Caramel Sundaes, And New First Class Meals May 30, 2025
  • American Airlines Pinky Lawsuit
    Midair Meltdown: American Airlines Passenger Grabs Flight Attendant, Drags Her Down Aisle May 30, 2025
  • United JetBlue Strategy
    Analysis: United Hopes To Contain Delta, Suppress American With JetBlue Partnership May 29, 2025
  • JetBlue United Blue Sky
    Details: New JetBlue – United “Blue Sky” Partnership Includes JFK Slots, Reciprocal Loyatly Perks May 29, 2025

Categories

Popular Posts

  • United Airlines Polaris Lounge Chicago Review
    Review: United Polaris Lounge Chicago (ORD) May 1, 2025
  • a hand holding a blue card
    Chase Sapphire Preferred 100K Bonus Offer Ending Soon May 2, 2025
  • Aegean Airlines Feast
    A Feast Fit For A King On Aegean Airlines May 23, 2025
  • United American O’Hare gate dispute
    United Airlines To American Airlines: Fly More, Sue Less May 6, 2025

Archives

May 2025
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  
« Apr    

As seen on:

facebook twitter instagram rss
Privacy Policy © Live and Let's Fly All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Live and Let's Fly with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.