Friendly service, a lie-flat bed, and even a tasty snack. My first domestic transcontinental flight on Delta was just fine.
Earlier this week I flew “Delta One” business class from Los Angeles (LAX) to New York (JFK). Why Delta this time over United? Just to try something different.
There’s an assumption held by many in the airline industry that Delta provides better service than its legacy competitors. I’m generally skeptical of such blanket statements, but wanted to give Delta another try…it has been nearly two years since I last stepped onto a Delta flight.
I greatly would have preferred a 777 or a 757, but Delta runs 767-300 exclusively between Los Angeles and New York.
My business partner and I booked late and found ourselves with only row one available if we wanted window seats. My partner took 1A and I took 1K.
Even though foot room is very constrained, I had no trouble quickly falling asleep and sleeping until the final double chime before landing. The Westin bedding made sleep much more comfortable, though I thought the comforter was a bit thin.
I wasn’t the only one who thought so. In fact, my business partner woke up cold in the middle of the flight, got up, walked to the forward galley, and asked a flight attendant if he could have another blanket.
She responded, “You don’t need another one.”
Really? My partner asked why not and she said, “If you are cold, I can get your your jacket.”
What a condescending and rude answer. I get that only one blanket may be provisioned for each passenger. But just say that instead of dismissing the request. He would not have gotten up if he wasn’t cold…
Meanwhile, the service on my side of the aisle was lovely. Flight attendants were gregarious and also prompt to serve a light snack very quickly after takeoff.
Although I had pre-ordered fish, it was not loaded. Instead, I opted to try meatballs. The snack was quite hearty (and heavy). I would have preferred the meatballs to be a bit warmer, but they were tasty.
And that twas the flight. Since it left late and arrived early, I did not bother to connect to wi-fi or watch any movies or TV shows beyond briefly watching a documentary on Mikhael Gorbechav while I was eating.
Finally, I must commend Delta for a very practical Tumi amenity kit.
CONCLUSION
Three hours of sleep, a decent snack, and friendly service…at least on my side of the plane. There is no way I’d say that Delta is better than United and American on a transcon route. In fact, I find the seats on American and United in business class to be better for sleeping, even though window seats do not have direct aisle access. But the flight was pleasant for me and my only real complaint was that it was not twice as long.
How was your transcon flight in Delta One?
Reminds my of when I flew business class on Qantas to Australia on a late night departure flight. During the drink service I had asked for a double vodka and soda (I’m not the greatest flier). The flight attendant responded with “lets start with a single. If you really need another I”ll get you one”.
Uh, “really need”? So insulting…The beginning of the flight really sucked. It was so apparent that all the crew wanted was for everyone to quickly fall asleep.
I just don’t understand responses like the one your partner got on his blanket or Dublin his drink. Both eminently reasonable requests that only the slightest modicum of courtesy could have easily handled. “May I have another blanket?” “I’m sorry sir we don’t have any more can I get you your coat?” I’d like a double vodka and soda.” “I’m sorry sir I can’t pour you a double but after you finish that one I’ll be very happy to get you another.”
How hard is that? Instead you have two people who instead having flights that encouraged them to return instead leave feeling like they would rather not set foot on that airline again.
Yep, exactly. Well said. Five by five, sir.
Is this considered Delta Comfort seats ..similar to the International?
It sounds like the same old “that’s not my job” mentality. Although Amtrak has some fine employees, I experience it with them all the time, such as “no, where do you think you are…” Yes there are rules, but diplomacy goes a long way.
“You don’t need another blanket.”
Unacceptable. That is a complete lack of understanding how to be of service.
I have flown all 3 this year in J. Delta 757s, 767 and A330, United 757, and American A321T.
The Delta A330 reverse herringbone is the best seat in J across these carriers (too bad they pulled the 757s and A330s from the schedule). The Delta 767 seat is awful but getting 1A or 1K is best option, prefer those seats though on the 767-400 since the lavs are in the back of the J cabin.
The 757s and the A321T all have the same seat. So it comes down to the service.
Observations:
-Even on redeyes on Delta, you still can get a meal. That’s a game changer. IFE is tiny and old.
-United did not offer pre-departure drinks and their cowshed amenity kit is a garbage vs. a Delta Tumi kit.
-AA is great because the plane only has ~100 people on it. Service was fine
I wouldn’t be so charitable about the treatment your partner received; that’s just unacceptable, especially since DL goes out of their way to brag about how great their employees are. I’d highly encourage him to file a complaint. Small sample size but I have found that DL takes that kind of feedback seriously.
Matthew – premium routes like JFK to LAX are the routes that Delta has the least advantage, because AA, UA, JetBlue all have invested in the experience. Where Delta has a big advantage is stuff like LGA to AUS, ATL or JFK to PHX, SEA to LAX, your basic domestic routes
Accurate reviews like this are why I always struggle to understand the cult of DL. They are constantly lauded as utterly infallible and the best flying experience next to private when in reality they’re just normal. It’s an on-time (or 18hour delay instead of cancel) departure, an ok seat, an ok meal, decent IFE, a surly flight attendant, and an on time arrival. Roughly the same domestic experience as any other carrier. Other than the admittedly very nice Sky Clubs (and Biscoffs), I just don’t see where the obsession comes from and this average review solidifies that.
That being said, glad you got out of the UA bubble, Matt. Would love to hear your thoughts on Alaskan/JetBlue/Silver 😉 or one of the other guys.
For a lot of us Delta loyalists, the service Matthew’s biz partner received is par for the course on UA and AA but very much an outlier on Delta. In fact, any negative experiences I’ve had on DL were from FAs being overly friendly or chatty. Sometimes I don’t want to engage in witty banter or repartee; I just want my PDB and to get situated without the down-home, good-natured joshing they think I need. On AA and UA I’ve admittedly never had overtly bad service, but it’s generally more indifferent and/or lazy. To me, that makes all the difference. Matthew is a UA loyalist so I take his critique with a grain of salt. To each their own.
When you talk about “overtly bad service” on UA or AA would you call what happened to my business partner “overtly bad service” or something else?
Yeah I think the issue is not every Delta flight is perfect or that you’ll never have a good flight on UA or AA…just that these days, the ratio of good to bad flights in highest for Delta and lowest for AA, with UA somewhere inbetween,
This exactly! Thank you. Law of averages is that you’re more likely to have a good/great flight on DL than UA or AA.
I’ve had three “recent” Delta flights (last couple years) and all were just okay. Not trying to criticize Delta, but I won’t parrot the line that their onboard customer service is somehow better until I actually experience it myself.
That was overtly bad, yes. But it’s all a sliding, relative scale. For me, one rude skyhag but hundreds of wonderfully pleasant interactions is worth way more than hundreds of mediocre FAs with no outliers in either direction.
I find DL to offer the most variable onboard experience. AA service is, in my experience, universally apathetic. UA service is almost universally hostile. DL ranges from genuinely welcoming to hostile. Anecdotally, the worst DL crew are the ex-NW folks. They’re better than they were on Air Battle-axe, but they’re about on par with UA.
As someone who tries to fly Delta when I can, it’s not so much that the experience is radically better, especially in terms of what they promise, it’s more in little things. The standard lounges are much better than UA/AA, the customer service tends to be more responsive, the planes are generally nicer (they aren’t trying to take away IFE and/or cram in an extra row of seats at the expense of a humane bathroom size) and just generally things go better when I fly Delta, even when there are irrops issues.
I recently moved to Philly and have been flying a lot more on AA, but when I recently flew on DL, it was hard to describe why, but it was definitely a more pleasant experience (and I am at the same tier on both).
I gave up on Delta after they screwed up a VS mileage redemption (only discovered on the return trip at Heathrow) and after the FAs on a flight from Tokyo to Atlanta refused to clean one of the business class toilets after someone had quite dramatically missed the toilet while urinating. I’m not made of money, so it was only two strikes you’re out.
“He would not have gotten up if he wasn’t cold…”
He got this remark possibly because there are some in the world who think stealing blankets from airlines is acceptable, and it is well known that people steal these.
Look at Ebay, type Westin Heavenly Bed, you’ll see brand new blankets touted as new, from Delta Airlines being offered.
Are you defending the flight attendant? I can assure you, he has far better things to do with his time than pilfer thin airline blankets.
I’m not defending anyone. The way the FA responded was poor, to say the least, and it should be reported.
All I was doing was giving a possible reason why she responded the way she did.
I have been a Delta360 member for the last 3 years and Diamond for more time and flew over 250k miles every year in the last couple years. I can tell you that the experience your partner experienced is extremely rare. She was probably having a bad day or she is one of the bad apples sometimes you get in a box. I find Delta FA to be fantastic and they do their job really well and are much more polite and helpful than FAs from UA or AA. I would definitely right a complain to Delta and I can guarantee she will get back on track or she will have to find another job.
One reason to avoid Delta — as much as is possible in a country with only three major airlines — is that it engages in truly horrific anti-union tactics. Sorry, but I want my country to treat workers more like Denmark or France, not more like Malaysia or Zimbabwe. Delta’s awful labor practices — reflective of the backwards politics of Georgia — are reason enough to avoid the airline.
And, if the union-busting isn’t enough, that meal is disgusting. Meatballs, fake ricotta cheese, and some stale bread. No, thank you!
I really don’t understand those who say Delta’s product is better than the other legacy carriers. Do they actually fly Delta on domestic flights? Do they not have any social ethos or concern for the company’s awful anti-union tactics? Have they ever endured the chaos that is ATL?
The way those flight attendants spoke to your colleague was absurd, but I guess I’d be cranky, too, if I worked for a company like Delta.
Can you give specific examples of this awful work conditions?
As a 3 million miller and Having a son who is a FA at DL. I can say not all of them are in the same page of having a union. My son has stated that he loves the company and would not want a union, considering I was a union president.
There is a mix of both sides of the union debate, based on that the company is not the one holding back a union but majority of folks are happy with the company. Ever thought on how out of the 3 majors DL has the best customer service ? All the other are unionized with bad service reputations.
Wow, I’m surprised that 1A and 1K were the only window seats left. Those are the best Delta One seats on that plane, due to the extra legroom.