So one last time, we woke up at an impossible early hour and left the house by 6am. We had said good night to the kids the night before and even received gifts from them. So sweet.
We drove to San Francisco, dropped the car at Avis, left behind Bernhard in the shuttle as he was going to another terminal, and finally dropped our luggage.
While queuing at security check we couldn't help noticing that service in the US is not what it used to be. Maybe Europe is catching up and the gap is not as big as before. Maybe after experiencing service in Asia anywhere else is poor. Nevertheless, this security check was one of the most inefficient one have seen (and I have seen a lot in the past 3 years) with crew people keeping pushing through.
After this painful security check, the unfriendliness of the Delta people at the counter didn't improve our mood, especially mine.
The Delta staff was:
1- not listening. it was like "yeah, yeah, keep talking, I don't care"
2- Incompetent. At least one lady acknowledge she didn't know how to add a frequent flyer number in the system (should be basic, no?)
3- not listening and not caring: even worse
We couldn't get the emergency row because they are reserved for their Medallion members. Apparently being Elite Plus from Sky Team is 2nd category even though Delta is part of Sky Team. I was highly disappointed especially with my back already hurting. But above all, would this lady have said it with a smile and a little "sorry" I would have accepted it much better than her unfriendliness.
We did have a good laugh when we opened the Delta magazine on board:
Clearly there is room for improvement.
The strange thing is that Delta is not a low cost airline but:
- you do have to pay for any alcoholic beverages
- headsets will cost you 2$
- any movie or show will also cost you money
- food is not for free either.
The best part is that "now" you can check in 1 bag for free. It used to be 2 bags for free, no?
I wonder, why flying Delta for domestic US flights? what benefit do I get vs. a low cost airline? at least when I fly Ryan Air, I know what to expect.
Wolfram was always complaining that the flight attendants on Delta were old (understand there not young and sexy) and to be fair, the average age of the crew was clearly above 50. Doesn't have to be bad if they were nice but whenever you ask something it's like disturbing them. Maybe it's just Delta atmosphere given all the financial trouble they've been through.
The worse part was actually to come. The aircraft for the Atlanta - Brussels flight was a Boeing 767, an old one. Overhead compartment was small, very small, so small some people couldn't fit their trolley...
AND we didn't have our own TV with the full in-flight entertainment program.
Like the lady sitting behind nicely said "what are we going to do without movies and games?" Good question.
That's how I ended up watching Karate Kid (2010), one of the worse movie ever and finished my book.
Next time, I will consider twice before flying Delta.
Next time, I will fly via Amsterdam or Paris instead of a connection in the US and directly arriving in Brussels. The more I think of it the more I'm sure next time I'll fly KLM or Air France and not Delta.
2 comments:
Welcome to the world of domestic air travel in the US, and the new world of security after 9/11. The TSA and security procedures have actually *improved* since when the TSA took over security. It used to be that the agents were very unfriendly, incompetent, and treating the passenger like a nuisance.
Now, I occasionally get smiles from them, and at times merely inefficient. That's a giant step forward :-)
Re: Delta in general. Yes, this is one of the US airlines I try to avoid. Given recent flight experiences, of the big airlines, I had the best experience with American. Friendly staff, both at the counter, and in the cabin. When our flight from Boston was severely delayed, the pilot came out to the counter to talk to the passengers and explain this. I thought that was really cool.
American also seems to have more knee space in the main cabin. At least compared to United that heavily pushes their EconomyPlus program.
nach 9/11 hat sich fliegen verändert.
im märz 2009 bin ich mit air france stuttgart-paris-san francisco geflogen. morgens hatte es in stuttgart geschneit, der flug war zwar verspätet, holte auf. leider benötigt der service in paris 30 minuten um vom flugzeug zum richtigen terminal zu fahren und somit hatte ich meinen weiterflug nach san francisco um 10 minuten verpasst.
das bodenpersonal in paris war sehr freundlich und der weiterflug ging über atlanta mit kostenfreiem service. im flugzeug von atlanta nach san francisco musste man für getränke, essen etc bezahlen, das personal war ansonsten überaus hilfreich und entgegenkommend.
während ich bei einem flug von air france ein anderes mal einen überaus unfreundlichen steward hatte.
air france mag ich trotzdem, sehr guter service und leckeres essen.
am liebsten fliege ich mit lufthansa, sehr guter service und sehr freundliches personal, habe ich vor 2 wochen nach wien gehabt.
die flüge über amsterdam waren immer die besten, auch mit air canada nach vancouver.
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