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I think it is worth a bit of a disclaimer as we dive into this post about my feelings on what happened. As a former forever-year Diamond Medallion, Delta still is an airline I prefer to fly even as a free agent flyer. On top of this my many recent flights on other domestic airlines have been far from stunning even in first class. With this in mind let’s check out what happened on my final flights back from my last vacation cruise trip.
As a travel blogger who has been covering Delta for, like, forever, I hardly ever gripe to Delta via the consumer channels because I can simply e-mail the PR department and get (no matter what time day or night) an official response to whatever mess that has befallen me. The perk of this is that I can help other readers, who are likely also top elites, to not have to continue to put up with whatever yuck has crept its way into daily Delta life. But I am no longer “that” blogger as all my front-line contacts have left the mothership for other jobs, and I no longer fly Delta on a weekly basis (but thankfully, the EyeoftheFlyer run by Chris now still generates millions of views a year, and is still Delta-focused so there is that).
Now that I have no less than two paragraphs of disclaimer let me at last get to the meat of what recently happened to me as a “normal” Delta elite flyer coming home from my latest cruise (that started really bad and ended really bad) from Orlando.
My wife and I, due to 16 year old aspiring Mario Andretti (I kid, a bit) got us waaaaaayyy early to the Orlando airport. We checked our bags curbside with prompting from Delta (and the rep seemed really annoyed I did not tip him) and made our way to the CLEAR checkpoint.
While CLEAR took forever (more on that later) we arrived at the updated MCO Delta Skyclub more than three hours before our flight but no challenge was presented (unlike the dragons in Ft. Lauderdale club south of us a few months back) and we were able to relax and have lunch before our flights home to South Bend. The food in the club was good, wifi was fast and the bartender (as well as clean up crew in the club) were all just stunning and displayed the “Delta difference“. As the company says, “Strive for Five” worthy and even more! Next up was boarding.
Time for another ride on an old 757. Delta has for a long time, taken very old airframes and installed modern interiors — but as I have shown before they are showing their age.
For our flight, things were looking good with PFB (preflight beverage) service as well as the flight attendants confirming our dinner orders before departure. Even the IFE was up and running right away for all of first class but… it seems, however, some of those behind us did not have working IFE. The captain made an announcement and said we would be delayed as Delta tech folks worked on the IFE resetting and trying to fix it. After a wait, we were told it was fixed and IFE would be up and running by the time we were up in the air. This turned out really not to be the case.
Service onboard really was good and our meal, the chicken pasta ravioli, was just so-so. But we did not get to enjoy a movie with our meal as the IFE did not come back to life. The crew chose to reset the system over and over but it never worked during the flight. On top of that, my tray table tilted so bad I had to use my headphone case and more to be able to dine. This is not what I have come to expect from Delta – AA sure all the time – but not Delta (not that AA has IFE but I mean just in general).
The crew, while understanding our disappointment, was mostly indifferent about both the IFE issue as well as the poor condition of my tray in Delta First Class. The flight crew then, halfway through clearing dinner service, had to pause so the flight crew could use the lavatories (kind of quick to come out, but when you gotta go, you gotta go). This did not sit well with the folks behind us and they were a bit critical of the crew that it took over 20 minutes to clear their dinner bits and the lead flight attendant was not pleased and said their attitude was disrespectful and not OK. The rest of the flight was a bit tense, shall we say.
A few days after we returned home, I decided I needed to send off a complaint about both the IFE and the tray table, not demanding anything in return, but just telling Delta that as a premium airline (that they say they are all the time) they can do better than this kind of experience for paying First Class passengers.
Here is where Delta just floored me. Within just a few hours, my phone rings with Delta as the ID. A very nice rep who says he represents Delta Corporate was responding to my complaint and agreed this is not what to expect from Delta first class and he appreciated me as a Delta Million Miler Platinum Medallion and that this would be noted.
I was pleased.
Then he surprised me by stating he would be awarding 15,000 Skymiles to both Lisa and I for our sub par experience.
Well, hello, free points!
Now, to be clear, before I get roasted in the comments section, I did not complain to get free points, nor did I request anything as compensation in my complaint – I just stated Delta can do better, so this was a nice surprise, including the quick call from the mothership! With my bags also taking more that 20 minutes to arrive in South Bend I got a nice total refund of 32,500 points just about covering the cost of one of my two first class tickets one way home from my last cruise adventure! – René
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
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Delta’s planes have been bad for a while. They clearly stopping maintenance around the midpoint of last year. Broken outlets, broken wifi, broken or damaged tray tables, etc. Things you never used to see, at least in domestic first-class on Delta, are now common.
By the way, Delta seems to have reduced staffing on flights. The 757, 737 and A321 used to have two flight attendants assigned to first-class on meal flights. One to cook and plate the meals in the galley and another to serve drinks and run the meals. Since Delta fully restored meals after the pandemic there is generally only one flight attendant handling first-class, even on the 757 and A321 with their bigger first-class cabins. Occasionally, a flight attendant from economy will help but that’s not always the case. On a relatively short Orlando-Detroit flight, it’s very annoying when comfort-plus is served before first. The best lead flight attendants will take food and drink orders on the ground but that’s not required and doesn’t seem to be trained as a best practice.
I complain whenever I feel I’m not getting my monies worth. It’s always a bonus when miles are given for the inconvenience. I definitely use them for award flash sales. Comes in handy when I see flights to costa rica for 17k rt.
Customer service can be easy when you know how to do it (note: I’ve been in the industry for 30 years).
In London last month, Delta cancelled our flight to JFK. Crew issue. They rebooked us out the next morning. Upgraded my wife and myself to Delta One. Paid for the extra night in our hotel and meals. Finally, deposited 12K miles in each of our accounts.
I have been extremely critical of all the changes (Sky Club 15 visits w/the Reserve Card, etc.). But, with one great exhibition of Customer Service…maybe I’m changing my mind about them? And that’s…how you do Customer Service!
Guess I would just be wondering if they would do any of this for a regular passenger in the back (poor service, equipment, whatever). Status is great, but do they respond equally….
Why did you not tip in the curbside baggage check in? Those are usually contractors not airline employees and the rely on tips as a major source of their income.
@World Traveler – US tipping culture has gotten out of hand. Plus, if Delta is pushing and providing this service (see screen shot) it should be part of the ticket price IMO.
US tipping culture is not out of hand as far as tipping the skycap at the airport. Tipping them has been around for YEARS….probably longer than you have been alive. It is no surprise that they understandably gave you a snarl as I would have said something to you if I had been a fellow passenger watching. Also, keep in mind that in Europe, employees such as waitstaff in restaurants are very well paid with a high base salary so don’t rely on tips. As a result, from my experience, the wait staff in European restaurants is far lower on the attentiveness scale than their US counterparts. You are more than welcome to be one of those passengers that checks their bags inside and stands on long lines as opposed to using a crowbar to open your wallet and spend $5 to check a bag.
@Brian – If Delta is going to push the service there should not be an upcharge. It seems to me they need to be paid more by Delta not demand a tip for a service Delta tells me to use.
I’m glad Delta responds to some complaints quickly. They haven’t responded to mine and I used the app before push back to register my complaint and followed up by registering my complaint in the survey. Crickets.
I agree that tipping culture is so out of hand, but the curbside baggage handlers have relied on tips for a long time. Plus, they actually perform a service that saves time. Now I wouldn’t tip if I’m getting a donut at the donut shop or for something that just cropped up in the past few years.
@BKAloha – I have not used curbside for maybe 10 years because I don’t want to tip for a service I already paid for i.e. my ticket but with Delta pushing it in the app – IMO – it is now part of the experience. If they are underpaid then Delta should pay them more.
If Delta is pushing it on the app, then they should put an * and note that an additional fee (gratuity is strongly encouraged). Or note that the wonderful skycaps rely on tips…
@Rene, despite the subpar condition of the 757 aircraft and the prickly attendant, I’m pleased to see that Delta promptly addressed your complaint in a seemingly professional manner. As you call out, this stands in stark contrast to my recent experience with American Airlines on a MEM-DFW flight, where the lead flight attendant exhibited erratic behavior throughout the flight and even shouted at passengers over the PA system. Unfortunately, my complaint received only a standard form letter, then a ‘How’d we do?’ survey.
@Cory – Yeah AA really is so bad. They have been so bad to me that I recently canceled an AA 1st class ticket for a Delta coach for the same amount of points as I just can not stomach another AA experience for a while (including the credit card never ending pitches)!
It’s good that they responded so quickly. For me no IFE would be a bonus but I understand about the tray.
On a recent MSP to FLL flight, Delta switched my seat from 4C to 5C after I had checked in. I arrived at 4C to find the tray table sealed in a red tape saying “out of service.” Without a table, I wasn’t able to have meal service at all. Delta compensated me with 10,000 skymiles. On another recent flight, the IFE wasn’t working for a few people and we were each given 2,000 skymiles. Your 15,000 skymiles gift was generous.
I am a diamond and a million miler and have been so for some time. I recently took a trip to Japan and was booked by Delta on Korean, a partner airline, for part of the trip. I cannot get my miles or dollar credit from this partner, and Delta keeps giving me the runaround. Any suggestions?
You might try emailing the people on this page.
I’m a Delta Million Miler who only travels for leisure now. My husband and I flew Delta One to Nice France last October paying over $4K per ticket each for the one way flight to France. Our flight out of JFK had to return to the gate b/c a flight attendant was ill. We had a Purser in first and a relatively new crew manning first class. Boarding, we got water and a glass of champagne at around 5:30 pm. The purser did nothing to assist the crew. During our delay of several hours, I asked for bottled water several times and she said they were a new crew and would get it soon. The entire time the crew sat in front laughing and carrying on, ignoring all first class passengers. Our next beverage offer didn’t come until around 9:30 PM, dinner was served at 10:15, (appetizer) Entree at 10:45 needless to say- I didn’t want dessert. I proceeded to get food poisoning, vomiting the next morning at the airport from the plane food. I’m guessing they didn’t handle it properly with the delay. I was sick all day in Nice, missed it and contacted Delta via email and phone. They told me I had to call when I got home. I gave them all of the details, they only offered us $400 per ticket as compensation saying it was the highest they were allowed to go. Obviously after reading this article, I know it’s not true. I was always a staunch Delta proponent, we only fly first class abroad and our daughter is now a Diamond Delta member. I’m so disappointed in Delta and felt our compensation was nothing where it should have been. $800 total for over $8000 in 1 way tickets. Not including our return from Spain ticket prices.
I NEVER fly Delta Internationally. The cost, service, and earnings is much better and pleasant flight attendants. Sitting 200k short of 2 million mile flier, I have NO desire to seek out Delta. Being a “Free Agent” has been surprisingly good, especially, when I can get better prices and multiple segments cheaper than Delta. The ONLY offset is each trip may take an additional 4-5 hours.
Wow… sounds like a nightmare. IFE didn’t work and you had to hold your headline case a certain way as you fly 600 mph across the sky in a big comfy seat.
@SMR (Or Ryan or Mathew or whatever names you use) – I expect to get working bits in Delta 1st class when I pay for them – yes!
My Hubby was stuck from Sunday am till Tuesday night trying to get back from a conference last week.. He lived in the airport all day and then got to a hotel nightly….He got 10,000 miles for his trip disruption aka 4 cancellations…..Not good Delta…