Anyone who flies United has dozens if not hundreds of horror stories to tell you and that is just flying on normal days. American, while a good airline, I think will be run figuratively into the ground by Doug Parker – it is not an if it is just a matter of time. Southwest is a bus; if you like cattle travel you are fine. Alaska is great if you live in the west where they fly.
So we have Delta. Since the disaster announcement about #Skymiles2015 came out I have been a bit hard on the mothership and rightfully so. IMO, by Q3 of 2015 Delta will see what an utterly bad move it was to change what was a working system (hard to redeem but working). However, that is about 12 months from today.
Each time I can I commend the Delta people. They understand flying. The ex-NWA folks are great and they miss the days gone by and it is interesting to see they share with the new folks all the “new ideas” that were around in the old days! The Delta people make you feel special and make you want, next time, to again buy a ticket on Delta as you want to be appreciated like last time.
Even the regional partners work REALLY HARD to show they are part of team Delta even though they do not get all the perks a fully vested Delta employee gets.
But on to the reason for today’s praise of my beloved airline. As most loyal readers know I am not one to spend $300 on my noise canceling headphones thus my iGo’s. Why? I tend to break them. I sorta trash them now and then and like my 2nd flight yesterday I forget them on the jet. When you are not spending much on them it is not the end of the world and as my Lisa says anything you can fix on a trip for $25 or less is nothing to be upset about (they cost a little more but the principle still applies).
I landed on my connecting flight from Detroit in Minneapolis in the F concourse where the grown up jets live 🙂 . I had to go from F all the way to the end of C to get my little CRJ900. For those who know, this is a bit of a walk (I try to always walk rather than tram as I need / like walking). Just about as soon as I got to the gate I heard my name called by the gate agent. Ruh-Roh, whats up? I had no need to be concerned.
The kind gate agent, Doug had my headphones that I had yet to even realize were missing at the desk. Uh, WOW?!? He said he had been tasked with making sure they were returned to me. He thanked me for my loyalty to Delta. UH WOW, WOW! (I think I need to write a new loyalty post). I felt, well, shocked. I have never had the Porsche ride from Delta but you know what, this was better.
So while I am still truly upset and not just for personal reasons but because I love my Delta, about Skymiles2015 that it think will have a negative impact the company, the Delta people are, as always, one of the main reasons to purchase a Delta ticket over any other airline! – René
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great service by Delta… but lets be real the Porsche shuttle is better 🙂 Though the Delta agents cant drive it especially fast on the tarmac, one agent told me Delta give them a day when they get to take the Porsches out to the track and let loose
No, I’m with René on this. The human aspect of DL’s service is what keeps me medallion-ing over and over. I’m much more appreciative even of non-tangibles like an FA pulling me aside and saying “I’m so sorry that guy next to you is such a loudmouth jerk” than getting a Porsche pick-up.
Rene’, I agree! I like being made to feel important and thanked at almost every location (check-in, Gate, in-flight, etc.) for being a Diamond! I’ve never had the Porsche although I’ve had several close connections in LA. The ride lasts a few seconds, but the interaction with DL employees lasts a lot longer.
I just got my first Delta Porsche ride and I have no idea why. I just arrived in LA from Seattle and saw the Porsche as we were pulling up to the gate. I was looking around trying to figure out who the VIP was and as I walked off the plane a very nice lady was standing there with my name on a sign. I asked her why but all she said was “this is how we treat or special guests here” or something like that. Thing is there were plenty of other Diamonds on that flight and since a few of them are sitting in the same Sky Club that I am right now it wasn’t that it was such a long walk to my gate and since I have a 2 1/2 layover I wasn’t rushed to make my connection. I’m still trying to figure out why I was so lucky but I would be happy to take another ride if they offer!
Rene, it was nice to meet you on the fight the other day and I was happy to walk your headphones down to your outbound to DFW. Hope to see you on another flight of mine soon!
@Brian – my huge thanks! – Rene
So this seems like a good opportunity to ask if others are enamored with their $300 Bose noise cancelling headphones or not. I have a pair of the QC-15s and love the sound, but I’m not thrilled with the bulk. I decided to leave them behind on one trip and took a pair of $20 ear buds – the type that block the ears. I found the sound to be as good and the little buds allow you to rest on the ear more than the Bose do. Plus they take up way less room in the carry-on.