I was so excited to fly Delta One that I had no nerves about flying for nine hours. But the journey from Brussels to New York was actually one of the worst travel experiences of my life.
My 10:45 a.m. CET flight was first delayed about 90 minutes because the incoming flight was late. Once we boarded, we sat on the tarmac for four hours before taking off for the nine-hour flight because of a mechanical problem. I wasn’t able to get on a connecting flight to New York until 11 p.m. ET, so I wasn’t home until after 2 a.m. I ended up traveling for a full 24 hours before I made it home.
Delta One made some of those stressors easier, as I was served additional snacks and beverages during the long wait on the tarmac, and I wasn’t cramped in my seat, like some other passengers on the plane might have felt. It still wasn’t fun to wait for so long, though, especially before a lengthy flight.
Sitting in business class didn’t mean the experience on board was perfect either. For instance, mine and several other passengers’ TV screens weren’t working when we boarded, and the flight attendants weren’t able to fix them with a hard reset until we had been on the plane for over six hours. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, but it did make the lengthy time on the flight less fun.
“Delta people have the autonomy to offer on-the-spot service recovery in the uncommon event of inoperative in-flight entertainment or Wi-Fi,” a spokesperson for Delta told Business Insider when contacted for this story. “Of course, customers can further contact Delta to have additional concerns heard and additional compensation may arrive on a case-by-case basis.”
Delta One offers a standout flight experience, but I’m glad I know now it won’t make flying perfect.
