Disappointing Delta

Decided to give the Alliance a try out and fly Delta Business NYC to SFO. Pretty disappointing.

Firstly the JFK lounge, whilst big and contemporary in look, has a very poor food service compared to anything you are used to with VS or BA or Air France or Lufthansa, etc. You pay thousands $ for a business flight, and they want you to pay for even a light bite: $11 for a breakfast omelet, $10 for a waffle, etc. Wow, I was shocked. This really should be complimentary to Business PAX.

Then once you are onboard, the Business class cabin is not flat beds, but those old style wide recliners, that seemed to be built in the 1980's. Not acceptable in 2014 for the long haul business traveler. IFE was an armrest fold out tv, that was the size a small paperback. with picture to match. I was on Air Berlin Business transatlantic flight the day before with a 20" screen, and this was obviously a big letdown after that.

And... my seat was broken & would not recline at all. It is pretty poor form to be selling broken seats to anyone on long flights, let alone premium revenue Business PAX. They knew about it beforehand, but could not fix it, and didn't tell me, till I was sitting in it, for a 6.5hr flight.

Better points were the meal and cabin crew, both of which were very good.

I doubt I'll fly Delta again. at this price point they need more modern planes with flat beds, quality IFE screens, and a better policy on problems like broken seats. Not sure which carriers operate flat beds coast to coast, but will research this before my next trip, and give them my companies business.

I think they are still upgrading. The website says flatbeds are currently available on select aircraft and select routes but they are working hard to add more flatbeds to more aircraft

Pretty much all of them have a varying state of in flight layout and pretty much all are renewing. The one I'd like to try next is Jet Blue (see here for news) but American seem to be upgrading their fleet to a pretty decent offering too. However, as you discovered, none of them offer much in the way of lounge service - perhaps the best for that is still VX and purchasing Clubhouse access where you can.

I feel VX are going to be left behind in the premium transcon market, with competitors adding fully flat Business and First class, that include (rubbish) lounge access.

Hopefully they will catch up and launch a new seat for these routes, and include lounge access

For sure need to try out JetBlue Mint. And at that price how can you say no!!

Sorry to read about your disappointing experience - I'm surprised that they would give you a broken seat. Just a thought - can you write to delta to complain in case there's anything that they can offer you? Maybe it's possible that they would credit you with some FC points...

Like you, I also think rather highly of the delta cc - have found them very attentive and helpful even in y.

I flew delta business manchester to NYC several times and thought it was good until I tried other airlines business class products, such as Aer Lingus, Emirates, Virgin Upper.....it doesnt compare in any way.

I flew delta business manchester to NYC several times and thought it was good until I tried other airlines business class products, such as Aer Lingus, Emirates, Virgin Upper.....it doesnt compare in any way.

And that's what's kept the big US airlines so complacent for so long (although to be fair most of them are slowly improving).

They've gambled, probably correctly, that most Americans when flying long-haul prefer to fly on a US airline, probably the one they have status with and use domestically - and won't even contemplate using a different airline even if it's significantly better.

It amazes me that DL, AA & UA are in many cases still flying shabby old 757s and 767s on their flagship transcontinental and transatlantic routes - but they can and because most of their customers don't seem to know any better, they get away with it.

Agreed. I would simply rather fly economy now than pay £3000 for a business class seat on Delta. Or fly via London for a better product.

I think you have to draw a distinction between domestic traffic (i.e within the USA) and intercontinental traffic. I'd expect (despite the long duration of some routes) domestic to be - well, I suppose like first class rail travel; more comfortable, more "freebies" but not really in a different league vs. economy. And that intercontinental business class offerings would be somewhat better, with a good recline and huge legroom at the very least.

I agree that the difference may be magnified by the fact that its a long domestic flight in Business class rather than an international flight in business class. I would say that there service on international business class is more extensive/better than on biz transcontinental, which is better than biz domestic. Also I think that like in many things the US airlines have more of a mass market feel and so IMO will never be comparable to UK carriers let alone ME or Asian carriers. Unfortunately when travelling within the US its a bullet you have to bite.

None-the-less I still prefer VX to DL and whilst I won't earn as many miles on VX as DL I would still choose them every time

I flew VX same route NYC to SFO, business, only 6 weeks ago, and their seat offerings are the same big-ass recliners rather than flat bed. It really is not acceptable nowadays for Bus flights over 4hrs.

Agree that most US based PAX simply don't know any better, plus are locked into an inferior product by their FF membership/ status, and desire to earn miles on a 'known' airline. Mea Culpa: I tried Delta Biz because of miles and tier points plus I had heard decent things, but not again! I always earn enough TP to renew my AU status, so Jet Blue will be next.

Got a return flight on Delta today. Let's see if that's a flat bed or any better. I'm not hopeful.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinth ... /10724447/

Bit of info, Delta will be 100% lie flat on LAX/SFO/SEA flights from JFK before long.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2014/06/18/delta-lie-flat-seats-now-on-all-lax-jfk-flights/10724447/

Bit of info, Delta will be 100% lie flat on LAX/SFO/SEA flights from JFK before long.

Well my return flight was on the same noisy old generation aircraft with recliners on it and tiny 1990's IFE screens. I'll not be on Delta again till I'm 100% positive its a flat bed. Jet Blue for me.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2014/06/18/delta-lie-flat-seats-now-on-all-lax-jfk-flights/10724447/

Bit of info, Delta will be 100% lie flat on LAX/SFO/SEA flights from JFK before long.

"Before Long" according to that link seems to be Summer 2015 for the JFK to SFO route - that's over a year away. Hardly urgent to them, then!

[Scrooge]

I can understand your disappointment with the whole thing, but I do have to ask, did you research the flights before the trip ?

The US domestic flights are a joke, with the exception of JFK-LAX/SFO

Throw in the fact that the majority of the people sitting up front are upgrades/miles redemption you will quickly see that there has been no incentive for any of the domestic carriers to upgrade the front of the plane.

At least DL is now attempting to change this on routes outside the ones above, but the reality is that with the majority of the flights in the US being under 4 hours, there really isn't a need for a flat bed.