SAN / LAS on Delta and SWA.

[JetB]

Delta Flight BRU - ATL 21.05.2005

I arrived at Brussels airport in the morning and on time so I was the first to check in.
Profiling ( ICTS ) was fast and very professional. I was surprised that a passenger behind me could not answer some questions !. I am sure he discovered how a search room looks like ...!

Flight Care (BGS) lady was friendly and helpful, nice job done.

Long lines at the security checkpoint !, but the new "Six Flags" system at the B pier seems to help. Your constantly moving so it does not feel like your waiting long ( but in fact you are.... !).

Entering the secured US zone I was selected a second time to be searched. I didn't bring much handbags, as it should be !, so I was out there in no time. The entire show gave me a safe feeling !.

The flight was delayed 15 min, so I should not worry about my connection in Atlanta. The aircraft was a Boeing 767 old cs. Flight Care crew at the gate was great and boarding was done in no time.

The flight was packed and completely full, to bad an upgrade wasn't possible.

http://coppermine.luchtzak.be/displayim ... ?pos=-4954

Delta's Boeing 767-300 ER was a big disappointment, old and dirty !.
And that is also how I would describe the crew !, I should also ad unfriendly to that.
Dinner was nothing special, chicken / meat, sodas for free and $ 5.00 for beer / wine.
The 9 hour flight was smooth and I watched a movie to kill time.

http://coppermine.luchtzak.be/displayim ... ?pos=-4956

Passing emigration at ATL was very slow, I had to wait about 40 min.
To my surprise the baggage wasn't even unloaded when I arrived at the baggage carousel.
One hour after landing the first bags started to role out, and after rechecking my bags I took the train to the next terminal.

Delta's major hub was looking dirty and up keeping was bad. It was definitely not like it was 3 years ago when I was here last.

Delta Flight ATL - SAN 21.05.2005

My next flight from ATL to SAN my final destination was also full. Equipment a Boeing 737-800 in Delta's new cs.

Crew was nice and friendly, ac was looking nice and shiny. This was a 4 hour flight to San Diego.
Lunch was an "Enjoy" meal box, disappointing !, not much in it, but I guess every airline has to save where it can. The flight was uneventfully as it should be. One strange thing about this 737 was that you walk into the kitchen, that is situated at the front left door ?.

http://coppermine.luchtzak.be/displayim ... ?pos=-4958

SouthWest Airlines Flight from SAN - LAS 29.05.2005

SWA has its own little terminal at SAN airport with about 9 gates. I booked the 13.00 flight to Vegas and it was very busy when I arrived. AC was a Boeing 737-500 in new blue cs and nice leather seats. Crew didn't look very professional, safety instructions reduced to showing how to use an air-mask, and that was it.....?. Before take off crew came around to take drink orders, I ordered a Coke that was being delivered just after the ac was airborne. 10 min after take off the ac started to go down slowly for its approach into Vegas.

Vegas airport could use an update, but is clean and easy to get around. I was staying at Bally's, the hotel has its own desk at the airport. Nice, so that is where I received my room keys.

The taxi ride to the Vegas strip was long, not in distance but it was so busy even on a weekday !. The ride was about $ 17.00

Vegas is a fun place, Bally's an older but nice and clean hotel on the strip. The view from my room was just great. Belagio was across the street and the Eiffel tower was just outside my window.

http://coppermine.luchtzak.be/displayim ... ?pos=-4959

I drove back to San Diego with a few friends, boy did I regret that. Flying is so much faster and cooler than driving true a hot dry dessert.
Back in San Diego I visited the USS Midway, its an retired flightdeckship that is a museum now. If you have the chance to visit, do it !. It takes you about 3 hours to tour the ship, and its docked downtown San Diego.

http://coppermine.luchtzak.be/displayim ... ?pos=-4953

Delta Flight SAN - ATL 08.06.2005

San Diego airport is a nice not to busy airport, Delta is using the new facilities so that makes it even better. I had a Mc Donalds breakfast because an announcement was made that there would be no food served during the flight.

Delta's equipment : Boeing 767-300, This was the worst ac I ever saw in the Delta fleet.
It was so used that even cleaning it wouldn't make a difference anymore, at least the crew was very friendly !.
The movie was for free but there was only an old fashion projector on this ac, that didn't even work the way it should be.

http://coppermine.luchtzak.be/displayim ... ?pos=-4952

Delta Flight ATL - BRU 08.06.2002

My last chance to have Panda Express ( Chinese fast food ) at Atlanta airport. I know its junk but the taste is so good.

http://coppermine.luchtzak.be/displayim ... ?pos=-4957

Delta's equipment as usual a Boeing 767-300ER for my last transatlantic flight.
Help !, not only did I fly an old aircraft, but again I had to experience an even older rude unfriendly crew.
What is this with American airliners and old unfriendly crew on transatlantic flights ?.
Dinner was so bad, I had chicken with potato's. The chicken had no flavor but the super strong sauce made up for that, the potato's hard and not cooked, dessert a brownie that felt like a rock in my stomach.
In-flight entertainment ! the same movie as on the way to the US !.
Only a hot croissant for breakfast with butter, was I happy to get off the ac....

I had a wonderful time in the US, California is getting crowded but remains a fun place. San Diego is great to go out and Mexico is just down the route, I enjoyed Palm Springs thanks to its relaxing atmosphere.
Six Flags Magic Mountain just outside LA is a must if you love theme parks. The 100 year old Las Vegas is still fun, to bad no more coins come out the slot machines but electronic tickets !.

Sky Team is expanding rapidly and that is great !, that means more choice.
This was defiantly my last time flying Delta Airlines.
My next time flying to the US is going to be on Air France and maybe Continental Airlines, also Sky Team members.
And Delta gets my stamp "AVOID" from now on !.

[sab319]

nice report!!!

[vliegtuigfreak]

Nice trip report.
Next time we are going to the USA (this winter) we will probably take British Airways.
We allready took Delta and American to JFK and we are not satisfied of both airlines. Although American has cleaner 767's.

Greetingzz
Sonny

[Humberside]

Nice report

[Buzz]

Very nice report!

Why did you have to recheck your bags at ATL when you flew again on DL?

[vflies]

Interesting report there!
Funny how points of view or experiences can vary...
I will agree that Delta's fleet needs some serious upgrade and renewal but I only ever had extremely nice, friendly and professional crews on int'l flights. Domestic legs can be quite different IMO.

Lunch was an "Enjoy" meal box, disappointing !, not much in it, but I guess every airline has to save where it can.

I believe that until a few weeks ago, coach passengers on domestic flights had to pay for their food, so it's some kind of improvement...

As I travel on business, I'm always upfront in Business Elite (I currently make about two round trips per month) and I find their service better than on AA or CO.
I agree that AF tops them on transatlantic route but the extra hassle of taking the train to CDG and rechecking bags there if you have more than carry-ons is just too much for me...
KL is not an option for me as I have about the same opinion of them as Comet does of AirNZ... LOL
That will change of course if/when they start using a PrivatAir shuttle...

If only VirginAtlantic could join Skyteam and give us MQM's, allowing me to remain a Platinum Medallion member and enjoy those benefits, while also enjoying their nice Upper class service...

Thanks for your report!

VFlies

[sn26567]

Excellent report, Bob! I am surprised that you got a 737-800 on one of the US transcontinental flights: I thought all such flights were wide-bodies.

On the contrary, I am not surprised that cflies got better service on delta than you did: the airlines usually take good care on the business customers who are their bread and butter. The real benchmark for the quality of an airline is how thay care for their economy passengers. And for that, I agree that Delta are near the bottom...

[JetB]

Thank you for the comments.

Delta can not compete with European competitors like Air France, Lufthansa and BA anymore on transatlantic flights.

Most American carriers are lucky there is no European competition on flights from Brussels, and maybe that is why the service and quality standard is so low.

Continental Airlines is in my opinion the only American airliner giving the Belgian consumer something for their money.

On transcontinental US flights I can only say that Delta is going down ( and Delta is not the only one ! ), look at how fast Jet Blue, Frontier and Southwest are expanding. These company's offer lower fares, nicer equipment and even your own in flight entertainment.

Airbus is getting big in the US, especially in San Diego. Jet Blue, Frontier, America West, United are all flying Airbus into San Diego !. Except for UA, these are the wining company's taking over market share.

Delta is not delivering anymore and I am sorry to say so, but I expect the company only to go down if its not changing its strategy. But what can it do ?, it doesn't have the money to upgrade its fleet. Delta's new advertisement campaign " Good comes around " didn't do it for me !.

[B744skipper]

Hi JetB,

Thanks for sharing this interesting report and pictures with us, too bad that Delta Airlines didn't live up to your expectations (and provided something better for the money you paid).
But luckely we are not in the former Soviet Union (with Aeroflot as the only carrier), so you are free to choose whatever other (better?) airline you want!

[JetB]

Just booked my next trip to the US on........... Delta !, yeah maybe I am stupid but it was the price that did it for me, and at least I know what to expect "Not much !".

After these flights I have saved miles for my next free ticket. Problem is that CO ( also Skyteam ) that I prefer over DL is charging more than double for the same trip.

17/02 BRU - ATL B763ER
17/02 ATL - LAS B762

21/02 LAS - ATL B764
21/02 ATL - MSY B763

04/03 MSY - ATL MD88
04/03 ATL - BRU B763ER

Price 636 euro.

@ Buzz, I have no clue why we had to recheck at ATL, does anybody know ?.

[sn26567]

JetB, don't lose too much in Vegas casinos!

[JetB]

How can a guy like me lose money in Vegas André ?, I am so cheap that I'm flying Delta again ! .

Btw, I'm going to Kingman AZ and Vegas is the closest airport ( 90 min drive ), Phoenix would be a 4 hour drive.

[JetB]

A few weeks ago I send a mail to Delta's customer service department mentioning Luchtzak. be and this topic.

Today I receivid this ( this is not the full mail ! ).

We recognize you encountered a series
of disappointing circumstances which contributed to your experience
being less than we hoped to provide.

Delta takes customer service very seriously, and we are committed to returning
the company to its traditional high level of service. You can be sure we
will make every effort to handle things differently in the future.

As a goodwill gesture, we will mail our Transportation Credits for each
passenger which may be used toward future Delta travel and some
travel-related services.

We appreciate your selection of Delta and will always
consider it a privilege to be of service.

Thank you Luchtzak for the forum and thank you Delta.

[7up407]

Nice report man, has anyone been to all the countries in America?