Delta Airlines. Anyone fly with them recently?

[HandFellow]

Delta has been ranked near the top of domestic airline rankings for a number of years now. There are a few things that I like. They tend to have a pretty consistent product. They have IFEs on pretty much every aircraft instead of just wifi to your own device. The flight attendants are pleasant, generally speaking. Delta also tends to cancel fewer flights than pretty much any other airline.

But I agree with above. I tend to value direct flights over a specific airline, so you are kind of trapped by which hub you fly out of.

there are a few things that all airlines have in common right now in the race toward the bottom of flying experience. Carry on space is always limited due to checked bag fees (true on delta). Bathrooms are getting ridiculously small (delta as well). It isn't a given that you can choose seats without having to pay (basic economy). And legroom is a thing of the past, but I think delta bottoms out at 31 inches of pitch where some go as low as 28 inches.

[G]

I can't emphasize enough how little difference your experience will be between airlines with this incremental info. The big difference maker for a flyer like you is what airports you go through (feel free to look up the usual suspects for highest percentage of delays), layovers (none preferably even if you need to drive 3 hrs to an airport with that option) and time of day for your flight (earlier the better for obvious reasons). If you are choosing based on which airline will treat u better for a given situation u are guaranteed to be sorely disappointed w.o status.

This. Status is the best way of dealing with issues that arise.

[wideopenspaces]

We only fly delta ( slc is a delta hub) and have status since my husband was flying a lot precovid for work. We only do direct flights as well. Flown 3x in the past month, no issues and I flew the day the faa system or whatever went down. We've rarely had problems with delays or cancelation but anytime we have, customer service has been very good.

[eyecandy]

This. Status is the best way of dealing with issues that arise.

💯 I like Delta and have status with them. Many reasons to get status with a preferred airline. Anytime there are flight issues or changes I need to make I have a special status phone number to call. Always have experienced very helpful agents on the line and no more than a 5 minute hold. The upgrades are nice (upgraded over Xmas travel to premium select on one flight and first on the next).

I almost went with getting Alaska status, but happy I chose Delta, esp when flying Delta One to Hawaii or Virgin to Europe —love me a 787-Dreamliner for long-hauls.

[sealion1]

💯 I like Delta and have status with them. Many reasons to get status with a preferred airline. Anytime there are flight issues or changes I need to make I have a special status phone number to call. Always have experienced very helpful agents on the line and no more than a 5 minute hold. The upgrades are nice (upgraded over Xmas travel to premium select on one flight and first on the next).

I almost went with getting Alaska status, but happy I chose Delta, esp when flying Delta One to Hawaii or Virgin to Europe —love me a 787-Dreamliner for long-hauls.

Agree with this 100%

I think you're hit or miss with all 3 (AA, UA,DL) without status. Having had status with AA and now DL, I will say DL once your platinum or even gold medallion the service is fantastic.

[MaxPower]

Alaska is far and away the best airline, but they don’t fly everywhere.

I’ve sworn off Delta because of two terrible experiences the last two times we flew Delta. The first was a trip to London we took last year. Bought flights on Economy Plus and picked seats so our 11, 13, and 15 year old children could be seated next to me or my wife. About 6 weeks before we were supposed to leave, we got an email saying they had changed our flight to one that added a 24-hour layover at the beginning of our trip. I checked their website and there was other flights I could purchase through Delta that would have us arriving the same day as our original itinerary. Tried contacting Delta and they said they couldn’t help me. So I booked new tickets through Virgin (yes, I know Delta and Virgin are affiliates) with flights that were comparable to our original itinerary. Contacted Delta again and told them those flights didn’t work and they said they would cancel them and refund our money.

About 4 weeks before we were supposed to leave, get notification of a flight change. Now our seats aren’t anywhere together, and so my kids would be seated next to strangers on an overnight trans-Atlantic flight. Try contacting Virgin and wait on hold forever only to be told that it’s actually a Delta flight so I need to contact them. They are completely unhelpful and say they can’t move seats of other passengers, even though they had just done it to us and now my kids would be seated alone. They told me to ask at the gate and have them sort it out. I hate doing that, so I refused. A week later we get another notice saying our return flight itinerary had changed. They added a stop in Detroit, but the arrival time and our next flight departure time was 20 minutes apart, so obviously no way to land, get off plane, go through immigration, and catch the next flight. So I again had to contact Delta to get our flight switched.

About a month after our trip, original tickets hadn’t been refunded to my credit card like they said. Spent hours on the phone and text message help over the next 4-6 weeks to try and get it resolved, even sending them screenshots of where the email they sent said the fares would be refunded to the card I used, as well as text messages from their reps saying the same thing. Painful.

Most recent was a trip to Hawaii. I had sworn off Delra after the London fiasco but we had credits from a flight that was canceled during Covid that were going to expire so has to use them. We show up at our local airport and they tell us that a flight attendant hadn’t shown up so they were working on an alternative. Just then a young woman showed up dressed in civilian clothes but carrying a Delta lanyard. Turns out she is a Delta flight attendant who had come into town for a bachelorette party and was flying home (to a completely different airport than the one we were flying to). The desk agent starts talking to her about the situation trying to convince her to cover the flight. She goes off to make some phone calls—I can hear her calling family or roommate/friend and then bargaining with some Delta person about pay and how she’s going to get home. Meanwhile, the desk agent is announcing over the intercom that she just got off the phone with the flight attendant and she’s almost there (total lie). The unscheduled flight attendant comes back and there’s more bargaining/discussion and she takes another call and walks off. Desk agent then announces that she just got off the phone with the flight attendant who is parking and walking in momentarily. Over 20 minutes pass and eventually the other flight attendant comes back and says she’ll do it. She has to go change, and by the time we board and get going, it’s clear we are going to miss our connection. So instead of a night in Hawaii we spent a night in some LAX airport hotel. Delta sucks.

tl;dr Delta sucks. Avoid at all costs if possible.

[bovie]

Alaska is far and away the best airline, but they don’t fly everywhere.

I’ve sworn off Delta because of two terrible experiences the last two times we flew Delta. The first was a trip to London we took last year. Bought flights on Economy Plus and picked seats so our 11, 13, and 15 year old children could be seated next to me or my wife. About 6 weeks before we were supposed to leave, we got an email saying they had changed our flight to one that added a 24-hour layover at the beginning of our trip. I checked their website and there was other flights I could purchase through Delta that would have us arriving the same day as our original itinerary. Tried contacting Delta and they said they couldn’t help me. So I booked new tickets through Virgin (yes, I know Delta and Virgin are affiliates) with flights that were comparable to our original itinerary. Contacted Delta again and told them those flights didn’t work and they said they would cancel them and refund our money.

About 4 weeks before we were supposed to leave, get notification of a flight change. Now our seats aren’t anywhere together, and so my kids would be seated next to strangers on an overnight trans-Atlantic flight. Try contacting Virgin and wait on hold forever only to be told that it’s actually a Delta flight so I need to contact them. They are completely unhelpful and say they can’t move seats of other passengers, even though they had just done it to us and now my kids would be seated alone. They told me to ask at the gate and have them sort it out. I hate doing that, so I refused. A week later we get another notice saying our return flight itinerary had changed. They added a stop in Detroit, but the arrival time and our next flight departure time was 20 minutes apart, so obviously no way to land, get off plane, go through immigration, and catch the next flight. So I again had to contact Delta to get our flight switched.

About a month after our trip, original tickets hadn’t been refunded to my credit card like they said. Spent hours on the phone and text message help over the next 4-6 weeks to try and get it resolved, even sending them screenshots of where the email they sent said the fares would be refunded to the card I used, as well as text messages from their reps saying the same thing. Painful.

Most recent was a trip to Hawaii. I had sworn off Delra after the London fiasco but we had credits from a flight that was canceled during Covid that were going to expire so has to use them. We show up at our local airport and they tell us that a flight attendant hadn’t shown up so they were working on an alternative. Just then a young woman showed up dressed in civilian clothes but carrying a Delta lanyard. Turns out she is a Delta flight attendant who had come into town for a bachelorette party and was flying home (to a completely different airport than the one we were flying to). The desk agent starts talking to her about the situation trying to convince her to cover the flight. She goes off to make some phone calls—I can hear her calling family or roommate/friend and then bargaining with some Delta person about pay and how she’s going to get home. Meanwhile, the desk agent is announcing over the intercom that she just got off the phone with the flight attendant and she’s almost there (total lie). The unscheduled flight attendant comes back and there’s more bargaining/discussion and she takes another call and walks off. Desk agent then announces that she just got off the phone with the flight attendant who is parking and walking in momentarily. Over 20 minutes pass and eventually the other flight attendant comes back and says she’ll do it. She has to go change, and by the time we board and get going, it’s clear we are going to miss our connection. So instead of a night in Hawaii we spent a night in some LAX airport hotel. Delta sucks.

tl;dr Delta sucks. Avoid at all costs if possible.

That sucks, you're right.

That said, pretty much all of the rankings from both industry and consumers indicate the exact opposite.

These issues are certainly not unique to Delta. Much less likely to happen on Delta, actually.

That's why a large sample is more useful than N=1.

As they say, YMMV.

[The White Coat Investor]

💯 I like Delta and have status with them. Many reasons to get status with a preferred airline. Anytime there are flight issues or changes I need to make I have a special status phone number to call. Always have experienced very helpful agents on the line and no more than a 5 minute hold. The upgrades are nice (upgraded over Xmas travel to premium select on one flight and first on the next).

I almost went with getting Alaska status, but happy I chose Delta, esp when flying Delta One to Hawaii or Virgin to Europe —love me a 787-Dreamliner for long-hauls.

Yup, just got upgraded to Comfort Plus for my flight next month. I'm Gold, Katie is Platinum, and our COO (who we often travel with) has been Diamond the last couple of years due to a prior job . The lounges and seat upgrades definitely improve the experience. Lounge rules just changed though to make it harder to use.

[JB14]

Btw, if newer aircraft is on your list of reasons to fly an airline, the lowest cost ones will be at the top of your list (I think frontier technically has the youngest fleet last I looked). Delta kept the MD's around for a long time because they were incredibly reliable (leading to lower cost/less delays) - I wouldn't use that as a criteria personally for determining who to fly with.

I miss the mad dogs, at least they still have a few 717s. The 3/2 seating is awesome, and if you were towards the front, they were quiet. Luckily the A220 has 3-2 seating, and they keep buying them. I will miss the 757 when they go away. I hate the 737 in all forms, and am bummed they ordered more. The A32x is heads and tails better than that 737 POS.

[bovie]

Yup, just got upgraded to Comfort Plus for my flight next month. I'm Gold, Katie is Platinum, and our COO (who we often travel with) has been Diamond the last couple of years due to a prior job . The lounges and seat upgrades definitely improve the experience. Lounge rules just changed though to make it harder to use.

That was from Katie's status; Gold doesn't process upgrades until 72 hours prior to departure.

Platinum is where things begin to get noticeably better overall, but Diamond is probably the only one I'd consider true "status" in that the upgrades are reliably frequent and the perks are across the board.

I'm surprised you wouldn't want an exit row, that's almost always the way to go with twice as much extra leg room compared to Comfort+. Can't think of a reason I'd want Comfort+ instead, unless perhaps I had a really tight connection.

Lounges are best accessed via credit card programs.

[bovie]

I miss the mad dogs

Yes!

The A32x is heads and tails better than that 737 POS.

Also yes.

[GasFIRE]

Most recent was a trip to Hawaii. I had sworn off Delra after the London fiasco but we had credits from a flight that was canceled during Covid that were going to expire so has to use them. We show up at our local airport and they tell us that a flight attendant hadn’t shown up so they were working on an alternative. Just then a young woman showed up dressed in civilian clothes but carrying a Delta lanyard. Turns out she is a Delta flight attendant who had come into town for a bachelorette party and was flying home (to a completely different airport than the one we were flying to). The desk agent starts talking to her about the situation trying to convince her to cover the flight. She goes off to make some phone calls—I can hear her calling family or roommate/friend and then bargaining with some Delta person about pay and how she’s going to get home. Meanwhile, the desk agent is announcing over the intercom that she just got off the phone with the flight attendant and she’s almost there (total lie). The unscheduled flight attendant comes back and there’s more bargaining/discussion and she takes another call and walks off. Desk agent then announces that she just got off the phone with the flight attendant who is parking and walking in momentarily. Over 20 minutes pass and eventually the other flight attendant comes back and says she’ll do it. She has to go change, and by the time we board and get going, it’s clear we are going to miss our connection. So instead of a night in Hawaii we spent a night in some LAX airport hotel. Delta sucks.

This sounds like my former group trying to decide who will cover the 4pm case expected to last 3 hours. “Can’t you get the on-call guy to do this case?” Lot of negotiating for those cases between 3-6pm.

[Tim]

Why would you even bring this up to the flight attendant? Just switch.

Actually might have been an observant flight attendant.
Something to do with accurate flight manifests that flight kept by seat. One advantage of SW, they don’t care where you sit.

[MaxPower]

Why would you even bring this up to the flight attendant? Just switch.

Bigger question is why would one have premium economy and one regular economy?

[GasFIRE]

Bigger question is why would one have premium economy and one regular economy?

Agreed. Wife in the back doesn’t sound like a good plan. Just sayin.