Delta Air Lines Premium Select Experience (Premium Economy) – What has Changed?

• Introduction: A 14 Day Atlantic Crossing on the Norwegian Escape
• Delta Air Lines Premium Select Experience (Premium Economy) – What has Changed?
• High Risk – I Flew to my 14 Day Cruise Departure City on Embarkation Day!
• Using Caesars Discount Plus Amex Offers and More to Lower the Cost of Cruising Norwegian
• Starlink Internet Performance on Norwegian Cruise Lines Escape Review
• Bidding for Haven and Suite Upgrades With Norwegian Cruise Lines is no Longer Cheap
• What is the Weather Like on Transatlantic Cruises. Will you get Seasick?
• Comparing the Norwegian NCL Vibe Beach Club to Spice H20 Experience
• The Impact of Time Change on Transatlantic Cruise Crossings – The good and the bad
• Family Balcony Cabin 15862 On Norwegian NCL Escape Review
• What to Expect from the free Main Dining on Norwegian Escape
• Comparing the old Norwegian NCL Cruise App to the New App – What has Changed
• Entertainment on the Norwegian NCL Escape – Choir of Man is a Must See
• Final Thoughts on another NCL Atlantic Crossing

Delta premium economy seats are nearly identical to a domestic first class seat on the A220. In other words, the product Delta calls Premium Select is for all practical purposes the same seat with the addition of a rather uncomfortable leg rest as well as a bit more recline. More on this in a bit.

I flew the very first ever Delta premium economy flight and chose it on purpose instead of Delta One with doors to see just how good this brand new seat would be. The Delta CEO has, in the past, called this seat a “business class” product. But is the seat and experience is the same as domestic first class? Back in 2017 I said this in a post regarding the first flight:

“Premium Select (PS). This product and offering will be tweaked. Let me again say they are a real game changer for Delta. I told the A350 support folks onboard it really is almost too good (I may live to regret this honest evaluation). I state this because on a 6-8 hour daytime flight from Europe really there is no need for anything better than PS. True, the seats are not as big as other airlines premium economy seats but compared to coach it is a night and day better travel experience.

In addition to the nice seat, the service from the PS dedicated FAs is also tremendous and worth it almost for this perk alone. If the Delta folks servicing PS keep the “1st class feel” in their approach to PS, rather than treating it as a coach experience, that also will drive folks to book this cabin.” 

My words turned out to be spot on because during the COVID pandemic Delta slashed their PE experience to the same thing the rest of coach passengers received. Other than the better seat the food, service and more was all coach taking any kind of “premium” out of the equation. I can tell you readers, for many years now, I have been brutal in my assessment of how bad PS on Delta was and not worth the price difference vs. just flying in coach or coach with a bit more space called Comfort Plus.

Now Delta has mostly returned to what premium economy was when it premiered and it is about time! [note – if you want to see a full review of the seats and IFE see this previous post]

I chose the front row of PS because this row, with lots of leg room, does not have a row of seats reclining into your personal space. This really does matter because with the additional recline the rest of the rows in PS can get rather tight.

We boarded after Delta One and top elites and since all of coach has to stream past us we had to get settled as soon as possible to not hold up the boarding process. We were not offered any kind of preflight beverage that is common on domestic Delta 1st class (and always happens in Delta One) but were instead rather rudely addressed by the head pursuer who is in charge of the flight (other than the captain).

She, the head purser, came to the front of the PS cabin and bellowed loudly a cold “welcome onboard” and proceeded to strongly warn us the lavatory just in front of us was NOT for us in PS but for Delta One passengers only and that we could walk way back in coach to use the toilets. What a “business class” welcome and I was desperately hoping this tone would not set the stage for a disappointing experience.

The amenity kit was the old, and really sad, Delta One “Someone Somewhere” previously provided during the pandemic days. It is interesting to me that Delta has chosen to down-cycle these old kits rather than providing a new one for PS or even the same ones as in Delta One. Then again, Delta has even down-cycled their old PS kits to AeroMexico to use in business class so…

Backing up a bit (as shown above) we were able one week out to select our meal choice. The options were identical to the food options offered to Delta One passengers other than missing the short rib choice – so simply chicken or pasta.

Once up in the air we were offered a starter box snack and choice of drinks. Don’t expect Delta One wine choices as the options in the wine area were white or red from Casa Saulita. If nice wine matters to you then Delta premium economy is really not for you. Oh and the snack was simply nasty. My wife tasted one and then made a face like she had just smelled something that had gone foul (yeah, I know that look after 30+ years). I tried a few but they got worse bite by bite and gave up too.

Our meal was presented, just like in domestic first class, all on one tray compared to the course by course service that is often offered in Delta One. The other things missing compared to Delta One is no soup or bread offered and dessert was on the tray vs. a separate ice cream or cheese and fruit plate offer. We both choose the red curry chicken and it was decent. There was good flavor and some heat that was enjoyable. I would have liked to have seen bread offered vs. the flatbread and that really would not be that difficult of an upgrade since they already provision that for Delta One.

Let me also state that the service by the dedicated PS flight attendant was impressive and as good as any Delta domestic 1st class flight I have taken in over 10 years. Delta has the service part of this semi-business class experience right once again and I hope it stays that way.

This was a very short flight as far as international flights go with only about 7 hours of flight time so after dinner my wife and I tried to get as much sleep as possible in these recliner seats. A respectable blanket and pillow was provided but my bride can not sleep well sitting up and I also struggled with the foot rest as it must be pressed to stay in place (with the foot rest flipped out) making sleeping less than perfect. With the foot rest flipped up the rest retracts up a bit and you get less leg support. This really is a failed design and the bottom line is this seat is fine for a daytime flight from Europe to the United States but I would never again book it for a night flight when sleep matters.

We skipped breakfast (I should have got one just for a photo so yes, bad blogger) as sleep mattered more to us on this rather short nighttime flight.

Overall it was a very pleasant Delta experience. At this point everyone knows that Delta Points aka SkyMiles or SkyPennies have VERY low value compared to almost all other airlines but in 2024/2025 getting some kind of reasonable value for a flight to Europe worked for us (i.e. 74,800 points each) and I am happy Delta has mostly returned to the premium economy experience they first rolled out so many years ago in 2017.

But the real question I will address in the next post is just when did we arrive? Did we make it to the ship? Were there any Delta delays with this flight so we had to fly to the next port to join the ship (since we were flying in the same day as the ship sailed)? Find out next! – René