Is Delta...EVIL?

[Royal Consort]

..not Delta Goodrem; her hair is far too luscious to be evil.

I digress.

We are flying out with VA to LAX and making a connecting flight with Delta. Similarly, we fly home from LAX to Aus with Delta. We got the flights really cheaply and were thrilled. But then I looked into Delta's reputation and it sounds like it's not good. The saving grace is that Virgin is codeshare and that we'll be on the VA flight to the States.

I am wondering if anyone has flown Delta, and what they thought of the experience? Punctual? Comfortable? Hospitable?

Thanks!

 

[taylor3297]

..not Delta Goodrem; her hair is far too luscious to be evil.

I digress.

We are flying out with VA to LAX and making a connecting flight with Delta. Similarly, we fly home from LAX to Aus with Delta. We got the flights really cheaply and were thrilled. But then I looked into Delta's reputation and it sounds like it's not good. The saving grace is that Virgin is codeshare and that we'll be on the VA flight to the States.

I am wondering if anyone has flown Delta, and what they thought of the experience? Punctual? Comfortable? Hospitable?

Thanks!

As with any airline, there is the good and bad. I fly Delta 90% of the time when I fly. Overall, they are fine. The longest trip I have taken with them was from Atlanta Georgia to Nagoya Japan. Excellent flight.

There have been other flights that I have taken with Delta and haven't been thrilled, but in the end they got me to where I needed to go.

The only airline that I won't fly anymore unless I have to is Airtran. Ev en though Southwest bought Airtran, I still won't fly on Airtran.

 

[frangipanisam]

That's like us.

We booked with VA and have a VA flight Syd to LA but coming home the VA flight was too early for us so we went with the Delta codeshare with VA...

mainly for piece of mind with peak hour traffic in LA so we have plently of time to finish off our afternon before going to LAX. So fingers crossed its a good flight but if not I'll sleep most of it because we're spending our last day at Disnyland so we'll be buggered by the time we get on the plane anyway

 

[DizOz]

I have flown Delta a few times internally in the US and found them to be no better and no worse than any other domestic airline in the US.

Like any US airline (Starting to get that way here now) it is pretty much a free for all as far as carry on bags are concerned. So get on early to get any space in the overheads.

Expect to pay for everything including headsets.

 

[Mum from oz]

..not Delta Goodrem; her hair is far too luscious to be evil.

I digress.

We are flying out with VA to LAX and making a connecting flight with Delta. Similarly, we fly home from LAX to Aus with Delta. We got the flights really cheaply and were thrilled. But then I looked into Delta's reputation and it sounds like it's not good. The saving grace is that Virgin is codeshare and that we'll be on the VA flight to the States.

I am wondering if anyone has flown Delta, and what they thought of the experience? Punctual? No. We were delayed by an hour, then another and then another. We ended up flying our of MCO 3 hours later than scheduled.
Comfortable? As comfortable as any other domestic carrier I've flown
Hospitable? Not at all. My DS who was 4 at the time threw up on the same delayed flight, it was around midnight halfway across the USA and he woke up and just puked. All over himself, the seat and me. My mum went to ask the flight attendant for some help and she got a roll of paper towel and a plastic bag.


Thanks!

I'm not trying to scare you and to be honest it was probably a once off bad experience as a whole but as a consequence DP has chosen not to fly with them again, regardless of price.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

My family has flown with Delta on our 2 US trips internationally and found them great. Other than one slight internal flight glitch with a fault on the plane, all of the rest of the international and internal flights were on time, the staff were friendly, food was nice etc.

When I think about it though, there was one issue with my DH in flight entertainment screen on the way over on our first trip with them and there wasn't anything they could do to make it work. But that could've happened with any airline.

We would definitely fly with them again, no problems.

 

[welley]

We flew Delta internally a couple of years ago. Generally they were good. We had an unfortunate weather delay (Major storms delayed all flights). We were stuck at the airport for hours, and I mean hours (think it was about 9 hours). They didn't really keep us updated on the flight status, which was very annoying. All we wanted to do was get to WDW!!! Granted, can't blame Delta for the weather, but keeping us updated would have been great.

Our flight back to LA from Orlando was fine. Only thing was on our V Australia flight (who chose Delta as their internal airline) told us we wouldn't have to pay for luggage. Got to the airport in Orlando, and yep, had to pay for our luggage. (and since we had shopped heaps, DH & I both had two bags each!!!). The staff told us tuff and and take it up with V Australia when you get home. It was 5.00am and couldn't be bothered arguing with them. Took it up with V when we got home and they finally (they weren't going to reimburse us until we proved that their own site states that all baggage is included on all flights) paid us back.

All in all Delta were fine. The fleet and staff are older than most other airlines I have flown.

 

[australiankaren]

I like delta, but I also like frontier....

they do the job.

I have the flu, so brainfuzzy

 

[ame]

I have never flown Delta...

But if you're transferring from VA it's pretty handy. You collect your luggage, go through customs and then just load your luggage back onto a conveyor belt. Too easy You won't have tyo change terminals either.

And really, the connecting flight will be a day flight of a few hours. Your 14ish hr night flight comfort is way more important

Re the checked baggage allowance. Check on your itinerary what the luggage allowance is for each flight. On our last VA/ ALaska Air flight it said we had a 0 piece allowance on the LAX-SEA leg. I called VA andhad it remedied. It really pays to scour the itinerary with a fine tooth comb b/c mistakes do happen.

Coming back from Orlando-LAX you may have to change terminals (not sure when VA are moving in with Delta) but if you do, you won't have to touch your bags. You won't even see them, just your carry on and a short shuttle ride or 10 minute walk across the carparks to the other terminal.

 

[Royal Consort]

Thanks everyone for your responses!

It seems from the vast majority that Delta seem ok but don't particularly pride themselves on customer service.

We've got got three hours at LAX to connect to the internal Delta flight, and since they're both in Terminal 5 (as ame mentioned) I am hoping that gives us enough time to pass through immigration, customs and go through security for our domestic flight.

For the rest of our internal flights to other places, we've booked JetBlue and will probably also book with Virgin America from Orlando to LAX. Hopefully the entertainment units work on the flight home with Delta airlines.

 

[ame]

Thanks everyone for your responses!

We've got got three hours at LAX to connect to the internal Delta flight, and since they're both in Terminal 5 (as ame mentioned) I am hoping that gives us enough time to pass through immigration, customs and go through security for our domestic flight.

For the rest of our internal flights to other places, we've booked JetBlue and will probably also book with Virgin America from Orlando to LAX. Hopefully the entertainment units work on the flight home with Delta airlines.

That is plenty of time to recheck in. When we flew in (the week before Christmas last year) it took us 30 minutes from the time the plane arrived at the gate (it got towed in) to when we left the terminal. The Alaska Airline flight left from the same one that VX uses (for now) terminal 3. We walked across past the carparks and it took less than 10 minutes. So if you're coming back VX then you'd have to walk over. But VX is worth the walk

 

[australiankaren]

Re delta inflight entertainment..be prepared for last minute aircraft change and no IFE....just internet. My DH hopped onboard last year and had tantrum cause they changed the aircraft to no IFE.
A friend flew virgin america lax-mco in febuary and loved it good food, IFE, comfy seats etc new aircraft.

 

[AussiePJ]

I fly a lot in the us and Delta for mine are one of the better.

V America is the best by far.
Delta would be next.
Frontier have always been good.
Continental used to be very good but are rubbish since being bought by United, who are crap.

American is ok as is us air.