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Since most of us eat every day and have three meals a day, talking about food, and food when traveling, is on topic to me. Delta sure cares about food and has a ton of rules and regulation of when you get food (domestically).
This includes a somewhat wacky system that if you depart during a certain block of hours you get no food even if, due to distance, you will get food other times. Oh and one last one, after 8 PM you don’t get “dinner” but until 9 PM you get a meal if the distance is long enough. Talk about confusing? All these rules make SkyMiles hidden award charts almost look simple by comparison.
But on to today’s topic that bugs me about the many “kinds” of snack baskets there are now.
During that “dead time” of meals on long flights in 1st class you get an “enhanced” snack basket if you will with more than just peanuts, pretzels and Biscoff cookies. You also get a special snack basked on flights longer that 900 miles in Comfort Plus or C+ as well call it (and we call the rest of coach C- btw).
However, if you have not noticed, on flights where Delta does feed you a meal in 1st class the snack basket is different. Delta apparently has decided this is an area where they can get cheap and save a few bucks. The result is on those flights, even if many hours long, you only get a basket of – you guessed it – peanuts, pretzels and Biscoff cookies. Welcome to coach snacks. Sigh.
Now I get this is #FirstWorldProblems, over the top worthy bits of Delta travel to complain about. I am also sure someone in accounting said if they got a meal they don’t need an “enhanced” snack basket as well, but that is missing the point. Delta is doing all it can to brand itself as special and above the rest. To yell to the world that they are worth it even if other airlines are cheaper for the same route with similar product. All that Delta does makes it better. Well, ending a 1st class experience with coach snacks is not the way to do this.
All Delta needs to do is ask any 50 FA’s who have worked 1st class to the reaction by passengers when they pass this basket. I know the answer as I have asked. Folks are disappointed and the result is normally something like this:
“Let me go back and get the C+ snack basket and bring it up if there is anything left over” – Something an FA would say
And this is what happens again and again because, as I talked about the other day, those in charge of the C+ section only ever come by ONCE to offer snacks or drink refills. Good for those in 1st who want more but bad for those in C+ who expect more because they maybe even paid more than C-.
So you tell me. Is this much to do about nothing or is it an area where going cheap lessens the Delta experience. You tell me and vote in the poll below! – René
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Flying out 1st class next month leaving SAN 11PM PST (Red eye) to ATL with Flight Time as 4hr 10m. Still kills me DL does not consider that a “transcontinental” flight. Anyway, Meal Service Shows Refreshments. What does DL consider as “Refreshments” for a 4HR flight? Is that a preflight “snack 1st class basket” or pre arrival breakfast in ATL?
I agree 1st world problems but when you pay to sit up front on a redeye it’s nice to know.
@Scott – Yep just an “enhanced” snack basket is all you get – period.
Agreed! This is especially bad if one couldn’t eat the meal due to a seafood allergy and they were only serving salmon…pretzels don’t cut it when one paid for first
@Shana – You make a very good point. Now some would say you can pre-order special meals for 1st but what if you got an upgrade. Sure others again may say if it was a “free” upgrade you can not gripe but your “free” upgrade came because of loyalty to Delta an a TON of flying and spending so it was not really “free” IMO!
Flying Bus. Class to Rome next month from Atlanta and sure hope they do better than this. I just burned most of my Delta miles on this trip for my wife and I and will be pretty much done doing miles/trips on Delta. I am 45k miles short of million mile level and really don’t care if I ever get those.
@John – International is very different experience than domestic service and food etc. Hope you paid LEVEL 1 or 2 points for the trip 😉
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If not, should have looked at: http://www.RenesPoints.com/ADAM
When I first noticed the difference in snack baskets I assumed that the catering crew had placed the FC basket in the back of the plane. When I inquired about this on my next flight I was told that FC gets a “new healthier choice” in baskets … say what?
Now before the hating flamers start in I do not think that there should be a difference in baskets. All should be the same – or at least that is how the idea was presented in the beginning.
Many times I am able to “enjoy” the breakfast choices which basically are horrid which causes me to request one of the breakfast blueberry cookies from the C+ basket because one can only eat so many Bischoffs in a lifetime …
And no this is not a whining session for someone who should be happy with anything served. Delta makes promises and then continually reverses them on a daily basis.
I truly hope kharma is real and affects those making all of these moronic retroactive decisions.
@John you may wish to find an inexpensive way to get the 45k miles (see Rene’s Amex ideas) to reach MM because the Hartmann bag is nice (and can be sold on Ebay) as well as you get lifetime silver status which is not that great but if in the future you have to fly Delta the MM and Silver may give you an advantage in customer service issues.
Peanuts, sir?
I agree with you Rene, first class snack basket should be better than coach.
I don’t fly that often and more coach than anything else, so I haven’t encountered your problem yet. But what I have noticed once was that improved snack basket in C+ is only served when you don’t get something else.
Transcontinental flights between JFK and LAX/SFO are considered somewhat special and premium. So as a C+ passenger one gets a Luvo wrap and some frozen yogurt. Hence, you only get peanuts, pretzels, or cookies when snacks are served. Some enhanced snack basket? No, of course not …
So I experienced something ‘compatible’ what you’re talking about, even if it is something (slightly) different.
What I really care about in the BC or CPlus snack basket is some decent fruit, like the bananas they usually have. My beloved loves those cookies. Has anyone noticed that the peanuts are in a smaller package when in plain old coach, vs. larger packages in CPlus?
On my last round trip ATL-PNS-ATL, both flights had the same exact snacks from coach. Absolutely NOTHING was different. When I asked about it the FA said it was catering that messed up. Yup, catering just happened to mess up on the same route 3 days later… AGAIN???
Cmon DL, you can do better!
How about serving Biscoffs on all flights instead of morning only on CRJ200s? No first class and no options. 🙁
I agree entirely with the frustration. They have really, really cut back. But I will share that my wife and I were on the ATL-LAX non-stop last Tuesday in FC and we were served a great lunch (we had the Asian beef salad) and had a full basket (the way it used to be) later in the flight (no offer before the meal). It was a five hour flight so that may have made the difference as they don’t do that on a couple of hour flight any longer. It will be interesting to see if they do the same on the way back home (ATL) this coming Tuesday.
Delta’s answer, no doubt, will be to delete a few items from the C+ basket.