Come join me as I make the trip out from Seattle to Amsterdam on Delta’s old Airbus A330-300 in their lie-flat Delta One seat. Delta doesn’t call this cabin either business or first class, although it’s most similar to other carriers’ business class offerings. Is it any good for 6ft5 individuals?
Seattle Airport
SEA is one strange airport. This major hub for Alaska Airlines and Delta sits on merely 2,500 acres of land while serving 46M passengers annually. SFO serves 42M passengers and spans over a double, 5,207 acres. The shortage of space certainly shows as the airport was buzzing at 10 in the morning when I arrived from a connecting flight.
Having arrived from a previous flight, I eventually found my way through the crowds to Delta Sky Club, and boy, did it not disappoint. I was quickly greeted at the door by my last name and told my gate number and the WiFi password. This Sky Club is a beautiful space, spanning over two levels, with most of the action going on downstairs. Various seating options, two buffet stations, a bar area, restrooms, and shower suites are downstairs. At the same time, the upstairs space has a more intimate feel and was often utilized for video calls.
The lounge was near capacity, but there was certainly no shortage of food and drinks, and after a quick stroll, I found a comfortable cubicle that became my office for a few hours. During my visit, Delta served mac and cheese, Korean chicken, broccoli, salads, sandwiches, and multiple dessert options. The staff was attentive, ensuring all food stations ran high and cleaning after each guest left.
Aircraft and Route
Delta has more than 20 aircraft models from 4 manufacturers in their fleet, which naturally means that providing a consistent experience on all of them is a difficult task. Delta serves multiple European destinations from their Seattle hub and exclusively uses Airbus A330-300 with their old Delta One cabin with 34 seats on this route. The newer seats with sliding doors are available on more modern and efficient A330-900neo planes.
The flight on May 5th took us in 10 hours over Canada, Greenland, and the UK before touching down in Amsterdam. The speed was 543 mph at an altitude of 33,000ft:
Boarding
Do you remember that the Seattle-Tacoma airport sits on a relatively tiny land? Everything simply does not fit into the main terminal building, resulting in two satellite terminals connected via an underground transit system. Gate S7 was assigned this time around, located in the S or South Satellite terminal. Getting underground and back up did take multiple escalators and a good couple of minutes, and the train was surprisingly fast. The S terminal building was extraordinarily crowded and warm, and there weren’t enough seating options near the gate.
What made it worse was that no plane was at the gate at the scheduled boarding time, even though it had arrived a day before. Eventually, the plane was moved over, and the flight crew got on board. They took over 20 minutes to complete safety checks and get ready, all of which could have been avoided with better planning.
Travelers that required assistance and veterans were offered to board first. Then it was time for Delta One ticket holders. That’s me! I quickly got onboard and was welcomed by flight attendants at the door, guiding travelers to their seats.
Seats
There are 34 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, so everyone has direct aisle access. I booked seat 6A, close to the middle of the cabin. Albeit not the newest, the seat felt practical, and I will further detail below. A bag containing a pillow and blanket, a Someone Somewhere branded amenity kit, slippers, a bottle of water, and a menu were waiting for me.
Matching reverse herringbone seats are used throughout the cabin, and the middle pairs have no privacy partition. The seat felt comfortable! The seat wasn’t on the soft side, but it did the trick for me. The footwell seemed endless while seated, and I could easily stretch my legs and move the chair into a more relaxed position. I didn’t feel too restricted in the seat if I excluded the bulky seatbelt with an airbag, which is so last decade.
The level of adjustability was impressive. In addition to moving the seat itself up and down, forward and back, lumbar support can be adjusted in multiple ways. Three predefined settings made getting the ever-desirable lie-flat bed in the sky easy and returning the seat upright for takeoff and landing.
Seat controls are located next to the IFE system, and a wired remote… for a touch-enabled display. The screen can be popped out for better viewing angles by pressing the button. Unfortunately, the system was old, slow to respond, and had low resolution. For some reason, the content differs on transatlantic Delta flights, and no episodes of The Big Bang Theory were available this time, yet they have been before.
A raisable armrest on the right side must be down for takeoff and landing and only has one position. There are two compartments for magazines and small items in the suite, but no place for anything more extensive, like a laptop. On the left side, we can find a reading lamp, Delta Studio headphones, a universal power socket, and some space on the armrest. A bottle of water and a menu were already there. The table also comes out from the left, but it requires unlocking it by pressing the button underneath and pulling it out. It’s in two pieces and large enough for food and a few drinks but nothing more.
Sleeping
I slept for a good 4-5 hours on this flight, which may not sound like a lot, but it felt great. The length of the lie-flat seat was perfect for me, but there was only a little room left over, and turning around took some maneuvering due to the narrow footwell. Still, it resembled a bed more than an airplane seat in this position. I liked that the seat wasn’t too soft, though providing a mattress topper would be a nice touch. The pillow was large and plush and a great substitute for the lack of a proper headrest while sitting upright.
The crew dimmed cabin lights around dinner and left purple ceiling accent lights on, creating some excellent mood lighting.
Did I mention closing doors on the newest Delta One configuration before? Those would surely create a more private space, and while this cabin has none of that, I wasn’t too exposed sleeping because the shell of the seat slightly goes around the corner to the right, so I couldn’t see anyone else while lying down.
Meal Service & Crew
The crew on this flight was wonderful. Not long before sitting down, friendly FAs offered pre-departure drinks, and I got a lovely chilled glass of sparkling wine. Delta always has the purser go around the Delta One cabin greeting all passengers personally. The purser on this flight was an absolute gem: Very welcoming, attentive, and helpful. She confirmed each passenger’s entree choice for the day to ensure a smooth service when meal time arrived.
Delta offers a few additional entrees when ordering online in advance, and I took advantage of that option. I opted for the seared pork tenderloin, which made it to the fight.
When meal service started, FAs handed out packaged refreshing towels from Grown Alchemist. Then they placed linen tablecloths on tables and gave out nuts. As we were airborne, all bets were off drinks-wise, and I asked for the champagne, which wasn’t on the cart but was promptly brought over and popped open before my eyes. There’s something special about opening champagne above clouds!
It was a short time before the meal was served. Everything came on one tray, and it included a soup, a salad, bread, my chosen entree, and a plane engine-shaped pepper container. The meat was dry, but the meal was tasty and filling overall. Oddly, Delta has no options for appetizers and bread, but if it makes service more efficient and reduces waste, I’m okay with that. There were three dessert options, and I just had to go for the ice cream sundae with all the toppings they had. The ice cream was too cold to handle with a spoon at first, but it gave me enough time to wait before the FA returned and noticed my empty champagne class. She went to bring the bottle over, and during that time, the purser also saw my empty glass and asked if I wanted more. Not offering more drinks earlier was a minor oversight, and the crew was otherwise spectacular.
The crew struggled to solve a few technical issues after dinner. Still, they fixed them eventually, and it was great to see how dedicated they were to ensuring the passengers got the best experience. The lights for seat 1A wouldn’t turn off, and the purser kept pressing various buttons in the console and checking back until something finally worked and the lights turned off. Then there was a problem with one seat’s IFE, so the purser had to reset the entire system, meaning all screens went dark for 10 minutes.
Breakfast time arrived around an hour before landing. The options were a yogurt or an onion and mushroom frittata. I opted for the latter, and it tasted much better than it looked. I got coffee and orange juice at the same time. The FA asked how I took my coffee and brought it over exactly how I liked it. She poured me more coffee after I was finished with breakfast and asked me to help myself with the milk this time.
Bottled water, snacks, and fruit were available during the flight in the galleys. The FA also walked around and offered more battled water a few times during the flight. Shortly before landing, the purser thanked each passenger for flying with them and offered dark chocolate.
Landing
From one overcrowded airport to another. We landed on the Polderbaan runway, literally miles from the terminal building, and taxiing there took around 15 minutes. Once we got to the terminal, a jet bridge was attached quickly, and Delta One passengers got to walk off first.
Conclusion
Delta’s terrific crew and time spent onboard almost made me forget the chaos at SEA. They really do have service figured out; the food was tasty, and the seat was fine for sleeping and comfortable for sitting. The 10 hours went by so fast on this flight, which I’m happy about. The decision not to retrofit these aircraft with the new Delta One cabins no longer sounds senseless because Delta has a solid product that comes with spectacular service and is likely good for years to come. Thumbs up!
The total approximate cost of this flight was $2,800.
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