Why Delta is the Best Legacy Carrier - and Why I Flew First Class

So just yesterday I was able to fly Delta Airlines from Denver to Salt Lake City. Let me take a moment to say how impressed and in awe of Delta I am. Not only have they proven over and over that they are constantly on time and a friendly and incredible carrier, but they have not given me one bad moment at all, which other carriers like United, Southwest, and Spirit have. Below is a full trip report in words and photos. Enjoy everyone :D



Boarding 6:35 AM:

I arrived at the gate and did some early morning plane spotting as aircraft were landing runway 34R (right over Peña Blvd) and passing by the Western windows of Concourse A at roughly 30-40 feet above the ground. Anyways, the flight began boarding a few minutes early. I was the 5th person on the aircraft. Let me just say how amazing Delta and the MD-90 is. The seats were incredible spacious, wide, with outstanding legroom. The only thing I thought was a little bit of a bummer is how low their windows are. On the A319-321 the top of the windows reach above my head but on the MD-90 I had to lean forward and duck to look out the window. But that’s a menial complain and nothing Delta can help.


PreDeparture 6:43 AM

When I arrived at my seat I sat down. First thing I noticed was the bottled water. Nice little gesture by Delta. Almost right after I sat down a very friendly female flight attendant came to me and asked what I would like to drink. I asked for an orange juice with ice. The above photo shows both the bottle water and the orange juice. The boarding swept by for me as I drank my OJ and did my usual videos on the seat, safety card magazine, etc for my YouTube channel.


The First Class Privileges During Flight 7:30 AM

As the above photo shows, when I got to my seat I found the water and more importantly I found a blanket and pillow waiting for me. Keep in mind as I stare all of this that this trip was roughly 58 Minutes. I went in to first class knowing that I wouldn’t get much for such a short hop but boy was I wrong. The pillow and blanket were an incredibly thoughtful touch along with the pre departure drinks. Delta had so far impressed me out of my wits and we hadn’t even pushed back yet.
We pushed back and departed off of runway 34L and traveled over a lot of Montana before arriving into Salt Lake City via a north—>south trajectory.

image

Inflight service throughout the flight was nothing short of exemplary. They came through the cabin after we reached Cruising Altitude. They first asked for any drink requests. I asked for a coffee and they brought me a nice hot steaming mug of it. This was my first time ever using an actual mug Inflight. It’s a feeling I will never forget. The snack options were incredible as well. Choices ranged from chips, cookies, granola bars, bananas, apples, cheese sticks, trail mix, and more. I got a bag (as shown in the photo above) of this really interesting mix of pretzels and chips. Later in the flight they came by again and I took an extra pack for the Frontier flight home (thus saving a purchase I would have had to make on Frontier).

The tray table was nice and very sturdy. The legroom was so much I could fully stretch my legs and still just barely reach the ends of my shoes under the seat in front of me. The flight attendants always made sure I had something in my cup or offered snacks. They even came through asking if anyone needed help with WiFi. I used the complimentary version and just watched two episodes of Big Bang (all you can watch in 58 minutes).


So how was the flight?

  • I rate the flight 5/5 for the incredible service and the above and beyond call of duty that these cabin crew and pilots made. Not only were the cabin crew incredible but the pilots kept us constantly aware of any reason for a delay. They even came over the PA to tell us about the salt lake we were descending over (how Salt Lake City got its name).

  • I rate the experience in First Class 5/5 and the most memorable flight I will ever have. I felt pampered and treated like I was a highly esteemed guest and not just some avgeek who sprang for the upgrade. Delta treatedme with respect and courtesy and never looked down on me for my age. I was the youngest first class passenger. The next youngest was a man in his 40s. So yeah it was kind of weird having a bunch of businessmen and little old me 😂


That’s all from me. What’s your thoughts?

20 Likes

Robert, this is a great trip report, and I can’t wait to watch the trip report on your YouTube channel! You might be in college, but I wouldn’t consider yourself a “kid” age, so yeah, it might be weird being so young next to the rest of people in first class, but you’re still an adult lol.

3 Likes

And I am so happy Delta and their crew didn’t look down or bring my age into question. I ya da small fear going in that they’d act confused or think I made a mistake when I boarded SkyPriority with the other first class businessmen. But the lady didn’t even glance funny at me. The other guys in first class were decent as well. One asked me if I was in first class since I was standing near the front waiting to board. I told him yes and he nodded. So polite!

Thanks for reading and I’m glad you enjoyed! Link to my quickly growing yotubue channel is below for anyone interested :D

2 Likes

And this is why I like Delta so much.
They’re my favorite airline

2 Likes

Glad you got all that persuading?

Most of the persuasion was to not pay for the upgrade
so technically no I am not ;) I mean don’t get me wrong I love having feedback but at the end of the day it was my choice and I heard all of your feedback and decided that it was worth the risk.

Great trip report! I can’t really speak of good experiences with Delta though


2 Likes

I completely understand. There a lots of people who love united whilst I personally can’t stand them. Each legacy carrier I feel caters to a different audience and my favorite is just Delta. Thanks for your input :)

1 Like

Wait so did you pay for this first class seat?

I paid for the full seat yes :)

Ok I was just a little confused by the post above. American and Delta have a pretty generic first seat, Uniteds is a little more custom. However I think that Delta has the best catering and both United and Delta have pretty good service. This looked pretty fun!

I knew you should’ve taken first class

Complete agree- Delta is by far the best

1 Like

Delta is best in merica
U gotta try the A350 first ,Amazing
Kinda like a jet blue mint except way better

ANA to me is best to me tho,prob cause all I eat is Asian food and rice

1 Like

I’ve flown once with them, ended up getting $300 in Amazon credits because the flight was so crappy. Not really their fault, it was a full flight, and the spoiled brat behind us was told by his mother that she paid for the seat, so he could do whatever he wants to it. Including kick ours ALL THROUGH THE FLIGHT. Finally got the flight attendant involved, she asked if anyone would switch with us, all of a sudden everyone was facing forward again instead of watching this crazy lady yell at us and no one wanted to switch lol. The flight attendant apologized, the lady went on to talk loudly and occasionally yell that my wife and I were crazy people the rest of the flight from Utah to NY. but delta did reach out and apologize and reimburse us.

2 Likes

Great trip report. Did you make use of the lounge before hand? I find on short haul flights that the use of a lounge before hand is sometimes more beneficial than the inflight service.

Domestic first class does not come with lounge access.

Wow really? Does on this side of the pond! Even if flying cattle class (which is the norm for me around Europe or UK) I will gain access to a lounge either via points or purchase, makes it a better start to the trip.

Flying to Rome tomorrow for work and enduring a get lounge access though I am sitting near the back!

On this side of the pond you get upgrades though if seats are available (UA, DL, AA) interesting tradeoff 😏 You can buy club memberships for $450 with a CC.

1 Like

It wasn’t complimentary so no, it would have cost $50 for onetime access

1 Like