Horrid reviews on Delta KLM and United flights have me scared

[tinkerpea]

So at the end of next wk we finally have the money for our flights!!!!!!! can't wait as it makes it all feel way more official to me.

Anyway we have been quoted by virgin £3175 for 3 adults 3 kids on September 24 ( day earlier then wanted but £300 cheaper) as our SSR accommodation is booked for 1st October for 15 nights we plan on going a wk earlier to do Universal & seaworld plus shopping

I was looking at the indirect flights as they would be £2660 with delta or KLM & £2900 with United I did a huge reviews search and did not find hardly any positive reviews infact for KLM they was all horrific and delta not much better with quite a few saying no personal seat bk Tvs on alot of the flights that was international/transatlantic the smaller flight does not bother me but the long one does with a ASD child we would never cope without the personal entertainment system.

So as I'm looking at booking around now I'm in serious panick mode, I was going to leave flights till last min but with 6 of us I'm worried we won't find a decent flight to accommodate all of us. P.s hubby is 6.1 so reading about knees touching the seat in front in reviews on people who are tiny worries me also!
Any thoughts? Cheers Cindy

 

[disneyholic family]

do you have a portable device like an ipad that your child could play with/ watch movies on?

that way, the seat back system would be irrelevant.

as for delta/klm...

which flights are you referring to? going out of which airports?

delta tends to put better planes on its heathrow route, though i don't know if that's always true..

the point is, you have to be sure you're comparing apples with apples...
an airline can sound good or bad, depending on the route you're looking at..

 

[mousesweetie]

delta is my Preferred airline. United, on the other hand was a huge hassle.

 

[wayneg]

Never had a problem with Delta, more issues with Virgin than Delta over the years.
What is your route? they use different planes for different routes.
If you are saving £500 buy a DVD player.

 

[tennisfan]

Have flown both Virgin & Delta, IMO Delta are far superior & have better hand luggage allowence

 

[chmurf]

I guess "your mileage may vary"

I've never had any problem with united (latest flight 2 weeks ago), they were very helpful, and inflight service was perfect.

My mom just came back this morning from Dubai on Air France (merged with KLM) and it was perfect (maybe it was because it was an A380, so rather state of the art plane)

I used to fly Delta and it was equally good.

I take reviews with a grain of salt, because passengers (guests, customers, etc) are more inclined to write reviews when they are disatisfied. A lot of unhappy people will write reviews, and in comparison very few happy people will think of writing a good review, because basically, once you're back, you're back to the daily routine and you don't always think to write a review when everything has gone as it should have gone

anyway, even if you found a 100% satisfaction rate airline, you're never guaranteed that you'll not end up on the only flight that will go wrong, or where the FA has had a bad night.

I would not fly VA, as a personal choice, because they are always willing to cut corners on service, and I don't want to condone the views of some airlines who make passengers pay for everything on top of an already hefty air fare.
If I can't check a bag for free, then I'll take another airline

Delta is probably the "safe bet", but united is also pretty good.
On our CDG-EWR-MCO flight we had AVOD and DS (4) was kept entertained all the time (even watching Cars in english, a language he doesn't speak) and we were flying a 757 (tin can only designed for short haul of cattle). So I guess with a 767 or A340 it would be another ball game, and probably much better.

When you try to decide what flight to book, look up the flight number, and if the airline/TA site does not tell you the type of plane, you can look it up on flightaware (for example) http://flightaware.com/ enter airline and flight number and you'll bet type of plane and on time performance, as well as live flight plan

the type of plane and average on time performance can also be a factor for your choice

 

[Cyrano]

We flew KLM and Delta indirect last year.
Previous trips were direct with Virgin.

Hands down Delta were vastly superior to Virgin and we had no issues going indirect. Staff better, food better, on demand films, better luggage allowance and better seats.

 

[tinkerpea]

God now I have No idea what to do I thought you was all going to say yep there awful haha and my decision would be made I'm more then happy going indirect asking as out flight had the tv we have portable DVD players & we have DS for each of out 3 boys! But they seem to cope better with the seat bk tv especially the ASD son!

We can fly out of Heathrow ( our preferred) or Gatwick as we live in Bedford at RAF Henlow and so we pretty close to either, I've said in previous posts I'm USELESS at working out flights if I could find the flight numbers & work out the plane we would be on that would be a good start that way I'll know if the plane will be old or newer ( am I understanding that correct)

If it had been just a few reviews it wouldn't have worried me I understand when reviewing anything you will get high & lows and bad/good I just read sooooooo many bad lol and not any good!!

Thanks for all the help I mega appreciate it so Delta isn't a total right off then....... I jut want a half decent flight with good entertainment and comfy ish seats for the longer part of the journey, I do know if it's Virgin the plan would be the A3300 both ways on one of the routes I looked at & 747 and A3300 on another anybody found a big difference with these planes ?? and how do the new compare with Delta?


Thanks & sorry for so many questions it's just I'm going out of my mind!!!

 

[Kath2003]

If you are tall and fly economy, your knees will touch the seats in front. It won't matter who you fly with. There's 1-2" max variation between the airlines.

Take the DSs and the DVD player. You can't guarantee IFE on any airline (may have a plane out of service, screen not working etc.)

Look at these reviews for Virgin who charge over the odds and everyone seems to rave about http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/vir_atl.htm

A 9 hour economy flight will suck whoever you book with, so go based on price and airports.

I've only ever flown across the Atlantic twice without IFE - AA and BA!

 

[ford family]

We can fly out of Heathrow ( our preferred) or Gatwick as we live in Bedford at RAF Henlow and so we pretty close to either, I've said in previous posts I'm USELESS at working out flights if I could find the flight numbers & work out the plane we would be on that would be a good start that way I'll know if the plane will be old or newer ( am I understanding that correct)

I believe that, with effect from mid April, Delta have discontinued their Gatwick - Atlanta flight and now have two Heathrow - Atlanta flights instead. They are also discontinuing their Heathrow - Miami flight.

ford family

 

[tinkerpea]

I have sUch a head ache now lol ...... It looks like Virgin from the views above are not all that great after all! So there is loads of Delta flights on the dates I want which airport is the best to fly from is it heathrow to get the better planes? As it looks like ill be looking at Delta again! Oh to be a child again and just be excited to turn up! & the fact hubby leaves all the deciding down to me is just Perfect

What planes do Delta tend to use are they pretty old planes? and are seats ok?
I'm so sorry normally just do a package deal with Thomson lol when we went with them 2 yrs ago we had 2 tv that didn't work .....but with 6 of us we just shared so that was better then nothing! I just think carrying a laptop DVDs 3 DVD players & 3 DS plus anything else we need as a carry on ia a bit much I'd rather just have to take the DS each!

 

[stephensmum]

We flew with Delta in 2009 and it was our best flight experience so far, flying with them again this year. 2010 flew with Virgin, it was okay (more than double the price). You really have to try for yourselves. Flew with Monarch via Thomas Cook twice, First time got what we paid for, cheap flights with little leg room, small tv up the middle. The second time was so bad we have never flown with TA since, reguardless of cost. We flew once with an airliine that went bust (can't think of the name) it had a bad reputation & bad reviews, so we had a low expectation but it was brilliant.

 

[Kath2003]

I have sUch a head ache now lol ...... It looks like Virgin from the views above are not all that great after all! So there is loads of Delta flights on the dates I want which airport is the best to fly from is it heathrow to get the better planes? As it looks like ill be looking at Delta again! Oh to be a child again and just be excited to turn up! & the fact hubby leaves all the deciding down to me is just Perfect

What planes do Delta tend to use are they pretty old planes? and are seats ok?
I'm so sorry normally just do a package deal with Thomson lol when we went with them 2 yrs ago we had 2 tv that didn't work .....but with 6 of us we just shared so that was better then nothing! I just think carrying a laptop DVDs 3 DVD players & 3 DS plus anything else we need as a carry on ia a bit much I'd rather just have to take the DS each!

Seriously - all the airlines are as bad as each other. There's next to no difference in food, seat size, legroom, in flight entertainment etc. They're one and the same.

There will be some form of in-flight entertainment. I would be VERY surprised if there weren't - but that could happen on any airline. Likewise, even if there aren't TVs on the back of the seat in front, there'll be cabin TVs. Or read a book. Plus three siblings, with a games console and a laptop, plus books etc. - even without the DVD player, it's only nine hours...

With the £500 you'd save by not flying Virgin, you could also buy an iPad...

 

[irenep]

If you can wait a couple of weeks I will get back to you and let you know how we get on.
Booked Delta flights going LHR to MCO via Paris CDG
and back MCO to LHR via ATL
I have heard awful reports too - especially for flying via Paris - checking stats and the flight from CDG to MCO has a 0% on-time record and todays flight was over 5 hours late taking off
Doesn't bode well for us on Thursday and am really worried now- DD and friend have tickets to see Snow Patrol at Hard Rock the night we arrive and it doesn't look like we will make it on time

I know all airlines can get delays etc but I think I will stick to BA in future.

 

[tinkerpea]

If you can wait a couple of weeks I will get back to you and let you know how we get on.
Booked Delta flights going LHR to MCO via Paris CDG
and back MCO to LHR via ATL
I have heard awful reports too - especially for flying via Paris - checking stats and the flight from CDG to MCO has a 0% on-time record and todays flight was over 5 hours late taking off
Doesn't bode well for us on Thursday and am really worried now- DD and friend have tickets to see Snow Patrol at Hard Rock the night we arrive and it doesn't look like we will make it on time

I know all airlines can get delays etc but I think I will stick to BA in future.

Thanks, I was really hoping to book when I get paid in Friday, as I'm worried flight prices will increase or I won't get 6 seats on the same plane ( bit of a worrier ) lol but I may be able to wait!
Will you be on here doing a report ie daily? As I would love a quick note to say how your flight over was, I really hate reading reviews but I can't help myself I just HAVE TO DO IT!!!! I really hope your flight is fab & even if I end up booking with virgin by the end if the wk I'd love to know how everything went for you I just wish things like this was simple haha that way I'd go with Delta as they was the cheapest by far


Thanks again & have a amazing time!

 

[disneyholic family]

Regarding the delta flights from heathrow to atlanta - i just looked at the flights for the dates you'll be flying.
Delta currently has their 767 (76D version) scheduled for that route. This is the UPDATED version of the 767.
The one that does have seatback entertainment!!

if you want to fly delta from heathrow via atlanta, keep in mind that it might be cheaper for you to book with KLM instead.

KLM has a codeshare with Delta. You can buy the ticket from KLM, but you'll fly on Delta. But sometimes KLM will sell you the same ticket for less.

Check on the kayak site to see.

 

[tinkerpea]

Regarding the delta flights from heathrow to atlanta - i just looked at the flights for the dates you'll be flying.
Delta currently has their 767 (76D version) scheduled for that route. This is the UPDATED version of the 767.
The one that does have seatback entertainment!!

if you want to fly delta from heathrow via atlanta, keep in mind that it might be cheaper for you to book with KLM instead.

KLM has a codeshare with Delta. You can buy the ticket from KLM, but you'll fly on Delta. But sometimes KLM will sell you the same ticket for less.

Check on the kayak site to see.

Thankyou so much that's great news thanks so much for doing that!
if they have the seat bk Tvs ( I know they could change that) I'll look up those planes... I've been so stuck with deciding my hubby leaves all of it down to me so I'm having to tear my hair out instead!
Thanks again

 

[disneyholic family]

Thankyou so much that's great news thanks so much for doing that!
if they have the seat bk Tvs ( I know they could change that) I'll look up those planes... I've been so stuck with deciding my hubby leaves all of it down to me so I'm having to tear my hair out instead!
Thanks again

here's the description of the 767 that delta has on the heathrow routes.
keep in mind that delta has several different versions of the 767, but the version that they have on the heathrow routes is the 767-400 (76D).

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Delta_Airlines/Delta_Airlines_Boeing_767-400ER_B_Version_2.php

i hate having the decision all on my head!!!!!

 

[irenep]

I expect you may already have booked your flights but I just got back so here's a quick review of our flights.

Our flight from Paris to Orlando with Air France was over two hours late taking off but I was kind of expecting that anyway and it was not as bad as I had feared given that the previous flight on that route was over 4 hours late. AF texted at 4am to say there had been a schedule change. As a result we had to spend a bit of extra time at CDG airport which was no fun at all as there is nothing to do there as its just very expensive designer shops and the worst/most expensive cafeteria I have ever been in.

The flight itself was fine though and the staff couldn't have been nicer. Nothing was too much trouble and they were really friendly. Every seat had its own personal on demand screens and there was a decent selection of movies etc. Food was pretty good too.

Return home was with Delta. First flight up to Atlanta was OK with just a drinks service on board. Arrived at Terminal A and had to change to Terminal E but it was a breeze as the transfer trains come every couple of minutes and go at some speed (wish Heathrow was as efficient).

The Delta plane also had seat back on demand screens - again with a good selection but the crew were a totally different kettle of fish from AF. Everything seemed too much trouble for them and they were so rude in that awful, sickly sweet, totally insincere, patronising manner only middle aged US cabin crew can do. We were sitting at the bulkhead so could hear them chatting in the galley - complaining about the passengers the whole time and how they thought it basically wasn't their job to do anything for them

Food was dreadful but who wants dinner at midnight anyway and at least the plane was punctual.

Overall, if you just want to get there and back at a reasonable price then I guess Delta/AF do the job.

Personally, I don't think I would use that route again but that's mainly because we have an extra leg to and from Aberdeen and three flights to get there and home is pretty exhausting.

Happy planning

 

[chmurf]

Personally, I don't think I would use that route again but that's mainly because ...

i guess that's : mainly because the CDG-MCO route with AF will soon be discontinued