Delta- Any good experiences/Bad?

[TinkerbellRules]

Well, I'm a little more nervous about flying with Delta now. Anyone have any good experiences with Delta? What about the bad ones? We already have reservations, but I'd like to go prepared.

Thanks

[Momof2]

We flew Delta at end of August. No probs at all. Flights were pretty close to on-time and no probs with luggage. We've been very lucky with Delta. Also used Delta last year with no problems at all.

[Scott43449]

Have flown with Delta 4 times out of Columbus, OH, and have never had any problems. Always on time, and luggage gets to where it is suppose to get.

[Gary M]

We fly Delta Express out of Ind to MCO 3 to 5 times a year. We have had nothing, but good experiences with them. Weather can affect any airline, so that can't be held against them or any airline.

ATA, Southwest and Delta Express all fly non-stop from IND to MCO and I like Delta Express more than the two other airlines. We have flown on Delta Express at least 20 times over the last few years. I fly 15 to 20 times per year and if I would not fly on an airlines that I've had a bad experience with, I would be out of airlines.

[ripleysmom]

The bad-Equipment changes caused a change in our seating assignments. So the family wound up 3 seats together and 1 apart.

The good-That seat apart got upgraded to First Class, so guess who got to sit there while DH stayed with the kids.....

[CarolA]

One thing you can see by reading these boards is that almost EVERY airline gets an occasional bad post. However, if you consider the volume of travelers vs. the number of complaints I think you are pretty safe flying most major airlines. Just remember that as long as you want $100 round trips, you don't get a lot of perks like lots of extra flight attendants, meals, seat room etc...

[GoldenOldie]

I love Delta. I fly them often on the same flights and from the same airport as chris1gill's recently posted horror story. I have never had a problem flying with them either as Delta or as Delta Express.

CarolA is correct. ALL airlines will have some horror stories. The determining thing should be whether these stories are the exception or the norm.

[lookingforward]

I know that Delta is a favorite with business people, but I did not find them very family friendly. We flew them from Hartford to Florida this winter and I was surprised to find out that they no longer pre-board families traveling with small children. When I approached the gate with my two year old daughter, car seat, stroller and two other children I was told rather rudely that "we have not pre-boarded like that in three years, get in LINE!". Now I know that some people do not like when children get to pre-board, but I think this was a big mistake. It took me ten minutes to set up her car seat, stow my carry on bags and get everyone safely in their seats. That was ten minutes that people were left standing in the aisles behind me, fuming at us. I did my absolute best to hurry, but many,many people were left standing. If they had let me pre-board a few minutes early we would have been safely in our seats and out of the way of everyone. I don't know why they don't since seats are pre-assigned anyway, but they refused. It made it harder on everyone, and we were not the only family blocking traffic either!

[imgoingtodisney]

My 9 yr son and I are using Delta in 28 days! Im hoping we have a good experience. This will be my first time flying alone with him. In 1996 my husband flew with us both ways but this year he is driving down with my MIL to her winter home a few days before my son and I fly down.
Then in Dec I am flying to Orlando alone for a cruise with my MIL.

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Tinkerbell,
If I don't fly SWA I fly Delta. I really like Delta and really have never had a bad experience with them. The one and only time you could call anything trouble was when my suitcase was misdirected. It was on the return trip home, so, it was not a huge issue. They found the bag, delivered it to my home and sent me two vouchers for 50.00 each. The customer service on this issue was a ok with me.
Every business has complaints, it is impossible to please everyone and you also have bad employees regardless of where you go. Tis the nature of being human.
So, relax, enjoy your planning. Delta is fine.
Not sure why they don't preboard people with children, but, if I were flying with children and could not preboard, out of courtesy I would wait until the end of the line so I would not hold up others.

[lookingforward]

I am as considerate as anyone and I thought of boarding last, but ...When you are trying to install a toddler's car seat into a seat, store two carry-ons for three other people, and seat, settle and strap three children into the three of the middle four seats of a large, packed aircraft, believe me, you don't want to wait until everyone is already seated. There would be no room for your carry on bags and it would be very stressful to have to do this all while the plane was waiting for you to taxi out to the runway. Factor that by a few more families and it would significantly delay departure.

[TinkerbellRules]

Thanks for all the encouragement. I've only flown a few times, so I was getting nervous.

I, too, can't understand why in the world they won't allow preboarding. That only makes sense to me! I don't know which would be worse, making people wait til I was settled (which you didn't have a choice) or waiting til the end and worrying about holding up the take-off ;) I think everyone loses in both situations. Either way, it holds up the whole plane.

I don't think Gail meant you were inconsiderate. You were thrown off by not being able to preboard and didn't know what to do. I think Delta is being inconsiderate for ALL passengers, for that matter, by not allowing preboarding. I'll try and remember that when "you" are in front of me in a couple months ;)

Oh, do they board from the back to the front or the other way around based on seat assignment?

[SeaSpray]

I'm glad to read the mostly good reports about Delta. We'll be flying them down to Orlando in December for the first time. We used USAir in May, and they were fine, too.

[lookingforward]

When I flew they boarded from the back to the forward. I know Gail was not calling me inconsiderate, I hope I did not sound snotty about that. I was just trying to explain how either way it is such a pain in the you know what.

[seashoreCM]

(copied from another post)

No sweat, or rather don't sweat when getting your little 'uns settled in the plane. Do it normally instead of hurrying. If you want to, if there are people breathing down your neck trying to step to the rear, move out of the aisle, catch your breath, let them overtake, and when everyone has passed, resume settling your kids normally. If enough people act normally maybe they will re-instate pre-boarding with small kids, hint, hint.

More Disney tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

[TinkerbellRules]

Looking: It's so hard to tell what type of "tone" people are using on here. I've said things that later I read and think it didn't sound like I meant it.

I wish they boarded from the front to back considering I'm in row 6 ;) Have you ever had someone put their stuff in your overhead? What do you do if that happens and there isn't any room for your stuff?

[GoldenOldie]

You look for a bin that there is room in and if you can't find one, you get a flight attendant to assist you. The worst case scenario is some of your items may have to be gate checked into the luggage compartment but that rarely happens. You'd be amazed what an experienced flight attendant can jam into an overhead bin. ;)

[MaryAnnDVC]

We always fly Delta from Providence, RI, to Orlando, and have had very good experiences.

[karylrocks]

We have flown Delta a few times, most recently last month. I did notice that they did not pre-board families with young children, but didn't think about it since I was flying alone this time. Is it just Delta or have other airlines stopped doing this? I have not had any problems with Delta - flights have been on-time, no lost luggage, and attendants are friendly (not overly nice, but friendly enough).

[hercamore]

We flew American last month to Orlando. They pre-board families with children on flights to Orlando, but not out of Orlando. They made an announcement that most of their flights out of Orlando are filled with families and it doesn't make sense to let them pre-board.

[mickey4ver]

Delta from IAD to MCO on the Delta Express. No real complaints, except the express flights are a little cramped, but I can stand it for less than 2 hours and a good fare. I don't like SWA simply because of how they board their flights, no picking your seats and that bugs me! They say that is because of giving discounted no-frills flights, well....hello, most of the other airlines are no-frills and better air fares also, and they can assign a seat number to you.

In fact, we are flying Delta to Phoenix this year, because they leave out of IAD and let you get your seats when you purchase tickets, not any of that "cattle call" getting on board.

Last year, we flew United from IAD to Tampa and were pleased with them also.

[GAIL HAYDEN]

When I can find another airline that will offer a75.00 rt, ns flight from Hartford to Orlando or Tampa, then I will consider an assigned seat an important issue.
I don't find getting a number and standing in line much different than waiting for rows to be called and standing in line. The only difference is the assigned seat. If you get there early, as they advise with any airline, you will find a decent seat. We have arrived later than planned and have had seats in different locations on the plane, not a big deal for me, I live with this person and I am going to be with this person at Disney for a week or more, I hardly think 2 hours and 45 minutes of separation is going to be a huge hardship. Of course, if it were a child that would be an entirely different tune. :)

[mickey4ver]

Gail, I respect your opinion, I was simply stating mine. I do happen to appreciate my assigned seat. I opt for discount travel too, and if worse came to worse would fly SWA, as they are dependable and cheap, but I will fly another airline when possible that allows assigned seating and has a decent fare.

I bet you are a very, very nice person, and very knowledgeable, I appreciate your posts, but sometimes your tone in your posts suggests otherwise.

[TinkerbellRules]

mickey4ever: My DH just flew Southwest last week. I thought it was strange the way they boarded as well w/o seat assignments. It didn't bother him because he was flying alone, well, I guess another employee was with him, but it wasn't like flying with family members.

I was ticked off by ATA because there was an EMPLOYEE beside me and DH had to fly up front. This was our family's first time flying together. I asked the employee nicely if she could switch with my Dh and explained my just turned 5 yr DD wanted to fly with daddy, but she wouldn't. I found out later she just wanted to be near the other flight attendant and was out of her seat most of the time! There wasn't any reason why a standby, employee couldn't have been seated up front instead. I know for a fact she was flying standby for the weekend to see her boyfriend.

I'll be checking regularly for the seat assignments. Do they change it on the website when things have changed?

[GAIL HAYDEN]

mickey4ver
I tend to doubt I "put you down" in any way, shape or form in expressing my opinion.
I do respect your opinion, greatly. However, after logging many miles and standing in many lines waiting for people to board, stash their overhead junk, etc. I have found SWA to be little different, only a seat assignment. I only fly SWA, Delta and Air Jamaica, two have seating assigments, one does not. Not a big deal to me, but, as I stated, I don't have children, and I am sure if I did, it would matter more to me.
Please, be assured, when I do express an opinion, it is rarely aimed at anyone in specific, but, more to the point in general.
You need to fly with the airline you are most comfortable. Since my flights to Orlando or Tampa are not even three hours in length, I can deal with whatever is dealt.
Hope this helps you to understand me better. :)
I am also "terse", which means I am not unusually wordy, I say what I need to say and get it over with.
I have no time for nicey nicey, just plain and simple, sorry if that offends, but, that is how I am. I do know a lot about Disney, travel and life in general. I spend a lot of free time here trying to help others. I don't get paid for this, I do it willingly and happily because I want others to enjoy their Disney experience as much as I enjoy my 2x's a year forays to that magical place.
This medium is difficult, you cannot see the body language, the smile, the frown, the look of utter disbelief at some of the questions, but, rest assured, I could better spend my time elsewhere, but, I choose to be here. So, accept me, please, as I am, or as I appear to you. Take the information offered, use it or discard it as you wish. The choice is yours. :)

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Tinkerbell,
Why she was flying standby is not the issue, the fact that she represented the airline and was so unfeeling is.
As to seating assignments, who are you flying with. If memory serves it is Delta, right? Your assigments should be in your hands now, if that assumption is correct. They don't change, they are made with your ressie and only you can change them. They should be listed on your ressies, Tink.

[babslittleones]

I noticed in an earlier statement about the preboarding policies. We had a different situation with both our flights last week. Our first flight was from Columbus, OH on a Delta Express flight. I made sure my husband asked about preboarding when we got to the gate counter to get the flight tag for the stroller. They did let us preboard at Columbus. Everyone was really nice about helping us with the preboard. Coming home was another story. Again, my husband asked the attendant at the gate counter about preboarding when getting the stroller tag. This attendant told us we had to wait until our row was called. So just as stated earlier there were many unhappy people waiting in the aisle of the plane while we put the car seat in, stowed the luggage, and got the kids in the seats. I guess every flight can be different. I always tell my husband that it never hurts to ask.

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by TinkerbellRules
Well, I'm a little more nervous about flying with Delta now. Anyone have any good experiences with Delta? What about the bad ones? We already have reservations, but I'd like to go prepared.

Thanks

Just got off of a Delta Express flight less then three hours ago. We have been down to Orlando twice this year so that makes 4 flights since May and they have all been good ones. We have been flying Delta Express out of Logan since 1997 and have never had a problem.

[mickey4ver]

no offense taken and again, I respect your knowledge, as I am a seasoned traveler myself and have seen and done a lot, and know WDW and most of the Florida area quite well, I also having been travelling there for the last 30 years, and know all of our comments can help others make informed choices, and share from the voice of experience. Hope that all of our comments have helped those who were questioning different practices of different airlines. I still stand by my opinion that I don't like the way SW loads people. Our experience with them just wasn't so good. Our flight had come in from New York and very few if any people debarked, so seating was very poor to say the least when we boarded, even being in the first 30 to get on. I unlike you, wanted to sit with my spouse for a 5 hour flight, not on opposite ends of the plane. Nope, no movie, just p-nuts and drinks on the long flights too.

All of us give our free time and want to share our knowledge on these boards, that is why they are so successful and so helpful, free help is the best! Hope ALL our comments are put to good use. I feel I can readily learn more by following these boards and continue to share what I have learned with others. I do not hesitate to ask questions....I certainly don't know it all.:)

Have no experience with ATA. It appears that that particular case was just a person not having any real manners or concern for somewhen else, and being an employee makes it worse. These people exist in every walk of life.

Gail is correct, if you have your tickets/e-tickets whatever, your seat assignment should be on it. America West is famous though for assigning seats and then overselling them. Had that experience too...you don't want to hear that story...horrendous and to say we put on a "show" at the ticket counter is to say the least:eek:

[GAIL HAYDEN]

mickey4ver,
Thank you for writing.
For the record, I do like to sit with my s/o, BUT, we were late arriving at the airport and were among the last to board, the flight was jammed, so, we sat at different parts of the plane.
This did not upset us at all, you "snooze you loose", it just made us darn sure to be at the airport early on the return and subsequent flights.
My s/o and I love overbooked flights, means that the chances of being bumped are good. LOL.
Most airlines, fyi, do overbook, which is a shame for those who really want to be somewhere at the appointed time. We are kind of laid back and realize that we are on vacation and we spend so much of our time rushing that this, again for us, is not an issue.
Now, there are many things that bug me for travel, but, that is another topic another time. :)