Horrid reviews on Delta KLM and United flights have me scared

[irenep]

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

No, not really. Regardless of whether or not the Paris route is in operation it's the extra flight that does it for me so I wouldn't even book via Atlanta.

 

[sam_rogers]

i had a similar panic about delta when i flew to NYC from heathrow earlier this year. All the reviews i read were terrible but I actually had a much better trip with them than I had with Virgin when I flew to Orlando last year! I'm not sure about the seatback entertainment on the Orlando route but if you do get this I found there was a great choice of films, they weren't all new releases but there was definitely enough to keep me more than entertained on the flight!

 

[jennytablina]

Another positive vote for Delta

They brought out Northwest airlines which operated the Heathrow-Detroit route and DTW airport till 2009. Whom had great planes and a very fine entertainment system, but the moodiest staff. Delta did wonders in the buyout, replacing them with a much better crew (or improving morale maybe)

I fly that route at least once a year to visit my boyfriend, and they have always been fab. Heck - when Heathrow Snowgate happened, I was due to fly the Monday, when it had been closed all weekend thanks to the snow! It was a tense night, but Delta have a supportive 24h twitter account, and they did their level best to get that flight going. In fact my flight and the New York flight (that I think might of been also Delta) were the few that slipped out before the snow closed the airport again!

The only complaint I ever have about Delta is that sometimes the assistants are a bit sulky, but I think every airline has this to some degree and it's simply pot luck as to the kind of crew you get. But you should be fine with them

 

[CLPClarinet]

American here who just really misses England...trying to squeeze in a trip this summer if possible. Thought I could put in my experience flying in and out of England.

Background: My friend's mom kindly flew me out to hang out with my friend in England over Christmas. I was scheduled to take US Airways coming and leaving but it got changed.

On the way to England, I went through ATL and then landed in LHR. Something happened with my captain before I boarded, so US Airways moved me over to Delta so I could get there. I departed 26 December, which is a busier travel day and Delta was perfectly fine! They had videos in the seat backs, it was comfy enough, cabin crew was friendly enough...better than expected!

On the way home, I took LGW to CLT (Charlotte North Carolina) via US Airways and this was 13 January (Friday the 13th!) so my flight was only about 40-50% filled. Most people got rows to themselves on the way back to the States. One guy even layed across 4 seats in the middle! Staff was friendly (and I think thankful for less passengers...a rarity!), food was good, movies in the seats. I will say that Delta had a bit more selection with movies and entertainment, but I still found plenty to watch with US Airways.

Both Heathrow and Gatwick worked out fine, including the express trains coming and leaving there...

Man...I miss England

 

[tinkerpea]

Totally could have done with all these positive views sooner as i ended up panicking and booking with VIRGIN i really hope i havent made a stupid mistake my gut was saying Delta and that id be fine and we would defo get seat backs but i just kept reading and reading too many bad reviews about the TVs which like ive said with my Autistic son was my main factor..............
I get that so many people think its an easy solution to just buy a personal dvd player and use this along with his DS BUT until you have a Autistic child that has been only on flights with the seat bk tv & games then you dont understand that for Brandon it is NOT THE SAME, he can use his portable player when ever as we have 3 (one for each child) and we do take it for emergencys as i know things can go wrong with any airline he can also use his DS and he does at the airport and everyday boy i struggle to get him off!! but with the plane he does not want that stuff he wants the window seat with a seat bk TV and he will go on about that everyday from the moment i tell him we are going ( which is why this yr i wont tell him until as late as possible) luckily he actaully deals with surprises really well we just can not change that surprise the day of the surprise details etc etc else all hell breaks lose

So sorry for long post and thanks to all for the help and views for my sanity ive picked like i said Virgin and i hope thats the right decision, hearing these positive views maybe we will try Delta next yr

 

[Genevieve84]

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

 

[rpbert1]

We flew United last year via Chicago, and found the flight and staff to be excellent, similar with Virgin and BA, people will complain about every flight as you cannot please everyone, but i have been happy with all 3 mentioned

 

[NatalieMT]

I've flown with Delta in the past and Continental which is now owned by United. We have booked with United for our trip this August and we are going via Philadelphia. Never had any issues, flying to Orlando or elsewhere in the USA.

We went with Virgin one year and although it was all good I didn't think it was a better service considering it was more expensive.

 

[disneyholic family]

Another positive vote for Delta

They brought out Northwest airlines which operated the Heathrow-Detroit route and DTW airport till 2009. Whom had great planes and a very fine entertainment system, but the moodiest staff. Delta did wonders in the buyout, replacing them with a much better crew (or improving morale maybe)

I fly that route at least once a year to visit my boyfriend, and they have always been fab. Heck - when Heathrow Snowgate happened, I was due to fly the Monday, when it had been closed all weekend thanks to the snow! It was a tense night, but Delta have a supportive 24h twitter account, and they did their level best to get that flight going. In fact my flight and the New York flight (that I think might of been also Delta) were the few that slipped out before the snow closed the airport again!

The only complaint I ever have about Delta is that sometimes the assistants are a bit sulky, but I think every airline has this to some degree and it's simply pot luck as to the kind of crew you get. But you should be fine with them

ok i have to quibble with this - this just isn't true.
As a frequent flyer on both Northwest and Delta, in my experience Northwest was far superior to Delta.
(ask any of the flying public in detroit and they will tell you the same thing - delta sucks relative to NWA.
And for those not in the know - DELTA = Doesn't Ever Leave The Airport)

However, on the UK-US flights, delta does tend to put its best foot forward.
So Brits have nothing to fear where Delta is concerned (on the other hand, americans, especially detroiters, have plenty to fear)

 

[wayneg]

ok i have to quibble with this - this just isn't true.
As a frequent flyer on both Northwest and Delta, in my experience Northwest was far superior to Delta.
(ask any of the flying public in detroit and they will tell you the same thing - delta sucks relative to NWA.
And for those not in the know - DELTA = Doesn't Ever Leave The Airport)

However, on the UK-US flights, delta does tend to put its best foot forward.
So Brits have nothing to fear where Delta is concerned (on the other hand, americans, especially detroiters, have plenty to fear)

I was going to respond myself to that comment, never got around to it.
I only had the privilige of flying once with Northwest via Detroit, as I posted at the time, they were the best cabin staff we have ever had in over 100 trips abroad, they never stopped from getting onboard in London to us getting off in Detroit, a lad infront of us was ill, one of the cabin staff brought him one of his own shirts to change into (a bit big but it worked) they could not do enough for anyone. I was gutted when I hear Delta was taking over. Never had a problem with Delta but not in the same league as NWA IMO.

 

[disneyholic family]

I was going to respond myself to that comment, never got around to it.
I only had the privilige of flying once with Northwest via Detroit, as I posted at the time, they were the best cabin staff we have ever had in over 100 trips abroad, they never stopped from getting onboard in London to us getting off in Detroit, a lad infront of us was ill, one of the cabin staff brought him one of his own shirts to change into (a bit big but it worked) they could not do enough for anyone. I was gutted when I hear Delta was taking over. Never had a problem with Delta but not in the same league as NWA IMO.

NWA had its moments (they were called northworst for a reason after all), but they were better overall than delta.
i miss them.
The frequent flyer staff - the people you call as a frequent flyer - were so much better at NWA.

The funny thing is, when you call delta FF now, you'll sometimes get someone good and sometimes someone atrocious.
Many of us have gotten into the habit of asking what they are - originally NWA or originally delta.
Invariably, the really good staff that you encounter today are originally NWA staff.

i wonder what's going to happen in the united/continental merger.
Should be interesting to see how it shakes out.

 

[stephensmum]

ok i have to quibble with this - this just isn't true.
As a frequent flyer on both Northwest and Delta, in my experience Northwest was far superior to Delta.
(ask any of the flying public in detroit and they will tell you the same thing - delta sucks relative to NWA.
And for those not in the know - DELTA = Doesn't Ever Leave The Airport)

However, on the UK-US flights, delta does tend to put its best foot forward.
So Brits have nothing to fear where Delta is concerned (on the other hand, americans, especially detroiters, have plenty to fear)

Scaring me now!!! We are flying Manchester-Paris-Detroit-Orlando & only have 1.25 to change at Detroit. On the way back we are flying Orl-Atlanta-Man so much simpler & quicker. Any tips on getting through Detroit fast?

 

[disneyholic family]

Scaring me now!!! We are flying Manchester-Paris-Detroit-Orlando & only have 1.25 to change at Detroit. On the way back we are flying Orl-Atlanta-Man so much simpler & quicker. Any tips on getting through Detroit fast?

don't be scared - delta is as good as any other airline crossing the atlantic -well, any of the ones i've been on that is...

1.25 seems a bit tight to me, just for the suitcase/customs bit...
but i think there are several flights from detroit to orlando, so if you miss one, you can be on the next..

also, detroit is a pretty easy airport to get around quickly - it's one long long long terminal..

i can't remember where you come out of customs - Wayne, do you remember?
i think it's towards one end of the terminal - if you have to get to the other end, there is an internal train that you can take to the other side. it's inside the building - you go up an escalator to get to it.

when you're on the plane coming from paris, you can ask the flight attendant what gate you're coming into and what gate the orlando flight is going out of.
they actually usually announce it, but you can ask to be sure.

then you can look in the magazine at your seat - there is a map of the terminal - you'll see where you're arriving and where you're taking off..
it will make it easier for you when you get there...

don't worry - detroit is a very very very nice airport - a hellhole of a city, but with a beautiful airport!!! and you're nowhere near the city, so not to worry about that either. the airport is an hour away from the city. so don't worry about what you've heard about detroit (which is all true), you won't be there.
the airport is lovely. A really nice airport. One of my favorites in fact.

i just looked at kayak- i see that delta does have many flights to orlando from detroit.
what time is your flight to orlando? can you get a flight with more time in detroit for crossing customs?
but if they booked it for you that means they'll take care of you if you miss the flight, so i guess it's ok.

 

[#1MMFan]

United is my preferred US airline. Economy Plus is the most affordable mini-upgrade and the leg room was amazing for that.

 

[LincolnCanary]

I find with airlines that you can have an excellent flight one day and a horrid one the next. We had flights with Thomson last year, read a post on here just before we left of criticism. We had no problems whatsoever.

 

[stephensmum]

don't be scared - delta is as good as any other airline crossing the atlantic -well, any of the ones i've been on that is...

1.25 seems a bit tight to me, just for the suitcase/customs bit...
but i think there are several flights from detroit to orlando, so if you miss one, you can be on the next..

also, detroit is a pretty easy airport to get around quickly - it's one long long long terminal..

i can't remember where you come out of customs - Wayne, do you remember?
i think it's towards one end of the terminal - if you have to get to the other end, there is an internal train that you can take to the other side. it's inside the building - you go up an escalator to get to it.

when you're on the plane coming from paris, you can ask the flight attendant what gate you're coming into and what gate the orlando flight is going out of.
they actually usually announce it, but you can ask to be sure.

then you can look in the magazine at your seat - there is a map of the terminal - you'll see where you're arriving and where you're taking off..
it will make it easier for you when you get there...

don't worry - detroit is a very very very nice airport - a hellhole of a city, but with a beautiful airport!!! and you're nowhere near the city, so not to worry about that either. the airport is an hour away from the city. so don't worry about what you've heard about detroit (which is all true), you won't be there.
the airport is lovely. A really nice airport. One of my favorites in fact.

i just looked at kayak- i see that delta does have many flights to orlando from detroit.
what time is your flight to orlando? can you get a flight with more time in detroit for crossing customs?
but if they booked it for you that means they'll take care of you if you miss the flight, so i guess it's ok.

Thanks Beth. That's really helpful, I will definitely ask for the gate numbers. Our flight lands at 8.22pm but there's one an hour & half later, when I queried the change over I was told that Delta had set the schedule but that if i didn't make it I would be put on the next flight. I'm hoping to get it & preparing as much as I can but also accepting that I need a lot of luck. The 1.5 hours wouldn't bother me if it was earlier but don't fancy a midnight arrival at SSR, worst case scenario is getting put in The Carousel area & having no option to change. What order do I go through after getting off the plane? I'm thinking imm-collect luggage-put luggage through for flight-check in.