Don't count on Delta Business Class either

Nice job by someone at Delta.

At the price of first class I’d be angry .

That is unacceptable (the food part). I get that technology snafus happen, but how hard it is to go .... hmmm, we have X number of seats and therefore need X number of meals!

Wow, that’s Delta One, the premium product on their big birds. I imagine this will be escalated!

We flew Delta One to Spain this year. There was ample opportunity to pre-order all meals on line weeks in advance. Hard to picture “running out of food”. Could it be your colleague did not pre-order and did not get her choice as a result? As for the screen-that happened to me on United years ago. I wrote a letter to customer service and received the equivalent of 50% of the fare as compensation.

Wait, you’re supposed to pre-order food in first class?? I’ve never flown Delta first class trans-Atlantic. But I have never heard that you would have to pre-order meals in first or business class on any airline.

The opportunity to preorder your main meal for Delta business class international flights is standard. This helps to reduce disappointment when the selections available on travel day might be limited.

Wait, you’re supposed to pre-order food in first class?? I’ve never flown Delta first class trans-Atlantic. But I have never heard that you would have to pre-order meals in first or business class on any airline.

I can’t speak to the reasons why/how Delta deals with pre-order of meals, but I was impressed with how Air France encouraged pre-order of meals for our recent business class flights in May & June. They don’t require you to pre-order your meal (unless you have special needs like a vegan or gluten-free diet). Rather, they encouraged us to pre-order meals as a way to not only ensure they could give you your first choice, but also as a way to reduce food waste. The latter especially impressed me, and it is consistent with their larger efforts to reduce their carbon footprint.

However, running out of food for passengers who pay a premium is unacceptable! Hopefully she will make some noise and get some compensation. I bet Elliot the travel guy would have some advice for her.

Wait, you’re supposed to pre-order food in first class?? I’ve never flown Delta first class trans-Atlantic. But I have never heard that you would have to pre-order meals in first or business class on any airline.

Yes, it’s standard on long distance flights. You get a menu about 2 weeks ahead of time. With Delta you can select from several entree’s and your breakfast meal as well. You can also choose kosher, low salt, vegan etc. The only airline I fly regularly that does not have this is Hawaiian. But there you are on a narrow body plane with about 12 first class seats. They hand out menus on boarding and you can select from 2 or 3 entree’s. But if one is popular the folks in the last rows get the chicken.

Well I guess that just shows how long it’s been since I’ve flown international in business/first class. Asking people to pre-select their meal makes sense from both an economic and environmental sense. I guess I was hung up on the whole pre-order idea. You know, pre-order a shrink wrapped whatsit or be satisfied with pretzels.

My husband's colleague is currently on a trans-atlantic flight. They ran out of food in first class and her screen doesn't work.

Seems the communication link works to give a real time report..

Ran out of food , or ran out of the choice she wanted?

A few years ago, I was flying BA in first. A flight attendant came over to tell me they had run out of the first course I had ordered but they could try to make something similar from other choices. I said it was no big deal and I would choose something else.

A few minutes later, the chief purser (senior flight attendant) came over to personally apologize for what happened and again wanted to know if they could make up a special plate for me. I said that while I appreciated the service, it was no big deal and just ordered something else.

I did, however, take up their offer for another glass of the $300 bottle of Scotch they were pouring freely in first class.

AA allows you to pre-order your meals in Biz and FC. I usually do.

Years ago, back in the days of USAir. I was on a fairly long flight, in coach, and the FA's let you know that the caterers had messed up. All they loaded was fish. Not too many happy passengers.

I've encountered my first choice of a course having run out whilst in first or business class on BA and it's never been an issue, I simply selected something else. I don't pre-order my meals as I prefer to choose at the time depending on what I fancy. I doubt that the Delta flight run out of food completely, they know how many passengers they have and make provisions accordingly, more likely that the person in question's preferred option had run out.

On a first class flight from Kuala Lumpur to London I was advised that there was a fault with the IFE on my seat. It didn't bother me as I had my tablet to watch something I'd downloaded and I was intending to sleep for much of the flight anyway. I was given a load of Avios points in compensation.

The biggest benefit of long haul first class is the large, comfortable bed. I don't need a screen but a bed is a huge bonus.

Well I am writing about a meal flying coach which is probably not as big of a deal when one considers the price for First or Business.

When I flew to London from Austin in 2019, one of the choices was curried chicken. However someone forgot the curry. I had dry chicken and it was not edible. it was terrible. I guess that I could have eaten the chicken but it was very dry and not tasty. I never said anything to the cabin crew. maybe I should have as I think back. Maybe I just had a fluke. Well, too late now.

I expected better from B A.

But on the way home, we had the same entree except this time we had the curry and it was delicious.

Last year I was flying Premier Select on Delta and my screen wouldn't work. They reset it twice and still nothing. They then offered to find me another seat (in PS) but I was comfortable where I was, and had my devices and a book to read, so I was fine without it.

The only thing I missed was playing Hidden Objects. I am slightly addicted to that game. :)

"You know, pre-order a shrink wrapped whatsit or be satisfied with pretzels"

That's not really what you get in Delta One, Cala's story notwithstanding. The food on Delta One is usually pretty good and plentiful. Nice linen napkin across your table, prosecco for a pre-flight drink in an actual glass, real silverware and linen napkin. I do preorder because I want the veg selection however if your flight is cancelled as mine was out of Heathrow in May your preorder will not carry over to the re-booked flight. Usually it's a 3-course meal with nibbles and soup, a main and then a dessert.

https://www.delta.com/us/en/onboard/onboard-experience/delta-one-business-class

I don't ever use the screen. In Delta One it's too far away for the focal length on my glasses. I have my kindle and my books on Audible if I need them. I only ever check the screen to see where we are.

I don't understand how some people or so blindly loyal to Delta. They care as much/little about their customers as any other large corporation—that is, little. Being stuck living in an airline's hub is one thing, or being enmeshed in a frequent flier scheme is another. But actually devoted loyalty... I just don't get it.

"I don't understand how some people or so blindly loyal to Delta."

My dad worked for the FAA for his career and was an Air Traffic Controller thru the early 70's. That WAS 50 years ago but he felt Delta had the best safety, best safety training and best pilot training. A current friend is a contract airline maintenance guy. He also feels Delta is at the top with maintenance. Their recommendations have just stuck in my brain.

For years I flew out of a really small airport where Delta was really the only choice for a decent international connection as well.

I flew Alaska to Hawaii 2 winters ago and the seats, FAs and amenities (none but we knew that ahead of time) were so terrible on that 6 hour flight from SEA to Kauai I just won't do them long-haul again.

So....yes, I have a loyalty to Delta.

@ Cala...thanks for the additional information and so sorry for your friend's experience.

I feel the same way about Delta as I do Verizon. They are the best of the worst. Every time I've flown another airline, with the exception of Hawaiian Air, it has been substandard. Southwest? Don't get me started.

And it doesn't really matter if I like Delta or not, because I live in Minnesota.

What I will say, where Delta really shines is their customer service via phone line. I've never had a reservation or tech support person that was less than pleasant or very helpful. Wait times have sometimes been horrid, but when I actually get I live person, I've been pleased.

I am also "Delta loyal".

I have had excellent customer service and multiple free upgrades. I typically fly twice a year, once international and once domestic. I only pay the taxes for my domestic flights.

I agree that they don't "care" about me and that they are a capitalist, money hungry corporation. But so far, it is working out for me.

Hopefully, cala will update us regarding what, if anything Delta does to compensate the colleague for their snafu. Afterall, sh** happens.

I've never had a reservation or tech support person that was less than pleasant or very helpful.

I have to same experience with AA.

American does get most of my business, but only because I ended up deep in the OneWorld status system, and now OneWorld is the dominant alliance at my most frequent destinations. But it’s nothing like loyalty—I certainly have no illusions that they particularly care about any individuals.

I too have a loyalty to Delta. I've flow other major US airlines and a few others and Delta is above and beyond the rest. Do issues happen? Of course they do. But my overall experience is that Delta will get me where I need to go, on time, and will provide a pleasant experience.

Regarding the OP:
It's rather shocking to learn that someone on a TATL wasn't provided a meal. Flying in D1, Delta provides the opportunity to pre-book a meal choice, which is really lovely. However, the cabin will still be fully catered. To actually run out of food, is quite unsual and compensation of miles is to be expected. Regarding the IFE, screens do sometimes fail. (always have a backup novel and tablet). Delta FAs have the ability to award a handful of miles onboard, but it would be worth it to use the online form to submit a formal complaint.

I would absolutely take that bigger seat without a working screen over MC any day.

I'd be super mad, but if I ever get to fly 1st class, it would be the bigger/lay down seat that would tickle me to death. Anything else would be icing on the cake. She must have had food of some sort. Certainly there was food that was being fed to "steerage" that they could have offered her. My guess is that she will be given LOTS of skymiles. Probably enough so she can get another 1st class flight opportunity.

For a leisure traveler (we are retired), I travel a lot. In fact, I don't know any leisure traveler that flies more than I do. Still, it gets me very little. I noticed that somehow, I will achieve silver status this year. It doesn't get me much of anything as far as I can see. I will admit to be practically drooling as I walk past the folks in first class on my way back to steerage. I'd bring my own food if I could just sit in one of the fancy compartments.

My brother is a pilot for Delta and my sister-in-law (married to another brother) is a flight attendant for Delta, so I do have loyalty to them. Of course, I grew up in Cincinnati, which was a Delta hub for years until the Northwest merger, and now live in Minnesota, which contains a large Delta hub.

But my biggest reason for choosing Delta is my brother. He is a very good pilot (he actually built his own four-seater plane a few years ago, which I had the pleasure of flying in earlier this year) and has always praised Delta for the care they take in ensuring the safety of the passengers. I trust him explicitly and will always fly Delta.

It wasn't that they didn't have her choice-it was that they had no food period.

Wow! I would love to know the back story on that flight. I guess that means there was no food to requisition from the lower classes.

Thanks for the clarifying edit.

EDITED: It wasn't that they didn't have her choice-it was that they had no food period.

Somebody at the catering service is going to get 'nastygram' from Delta HQ

First world problem. But I hope they will be compensated for it.

P.S. this is why I always pack some snacks in my carry-on just in case of unexpected long delay or scenario like this.

Well, since Delta doesn’t have first class, I’m not really sure what flight the husbands colleague was on

But I can tell you having recently flown Delta‘s business class to Europe that they do not take diamond medallion food orders ahead of anybody else. They took them in the order that we sat on the plane. As a diamond medallion, the colleague should’ve been able to pre-order their food up till 24 hours in advance. Now that doesn’t excuse Delta from what’s going on but stuff happens.

And while the food in Delta’s business, cabin is better than the food and Delta’s coach cabin it’s hardly great dining. . The flight to Europe I always eat before I get on the plane and go to sleep. There’s no need to waste sleeping time eating warmed over TV dinners 😂

The truth is the flight attendants probably screwed up if there was actually no food. They are supposed to check the catering when they get on and the plane will not leave it’s not been catered . I cannot tell you how many times my plane has been delayed by Delta waiting on catering. My flight to California few weeks ago was delayed half an hour I think because we are waiting on ice.

And I’m only loyal to Delta because I live in Atlanta. My options are to fly Delta direct or stop someplace on all my flights. I know people who’ve left Delta and Connect on all their flights because they are boycotting Delta but I’m not willing to spend the extra time.

My husband, daughter and I were all in business class and boarded at the same time. My husband and daughter were sitting together and their dinner orders had been taken. Mine had not. When I leaned over to talk to my husband the flight attendant asked "are you with him" and them immediately took my order. That's why I think there's a pecking order in business class, but maybe that's changed since Covid.

that's why I think there's a pecking order in business class.

My airline of choice is Air Canada, and while I've never witnessed the "pecking order" on International Business Class flights, I have seen FAs carefully checking their "pecking order" list on Domestic Business Class and flitting about the cabin from top to bottom - always interesting to see where I fit in on that list as a cash paying customer ie. no points upgrades.

On international flights, Delta (not codeshare flights) will typically have four classes. Main, Comfort Plus, Premium Select and Delta One. Delta One, on most of their planes, is a suite and your husband's colleague would have an opportunity to choice their entree 7 days prior to departure. There are usually a few selections available only by pre-order. If you don't preorder, you can select from what is on the regular monthly menu based on availability. I've flown on many Delta international flights in Delta One and always there are two very good meals, anytime snacks and top end drinks served with glass/metal and linen napkins (no paper/plastic). After dinner, you can sleep on a lay-flat seat/bed with high end linens and two pillows.

I don't mean to doubt what you are saying however, I find it hard to believe Delta provided such service to a Diamond Medallion Member which is their highest honor. These folks sometimes receive gate to gate rides in their porsche in Atlanta, gifts, thank you notes on their seats, etc. Hopefully your friend at least had one of Delta's Espresso Martinis. LOL Just a thought....were the ticketed by Delta and flew on a KLM, Air France, Kenya Airways or other partner flight?

This honestly makes no sense to me. Ran out of food period? In the middle of meal service? I find this truly difficult to believe, as Delta would have enough food to feed the premium class passengers as well as have meals available to purchase by others. And in addition to the mail meal service, there's always a hot snack or cold snack option.

Delta does not take food orders first from Diamond level. Anyone in the premium class can order ahead of time. Once you are boarded, the flight attendants will come confirm your order. Flight attendants on one row may be ahead of flight attendants working the other row.

I have had a screen not work in first class occasionally, but once I let the flight crew know they've always been able to get it working.