Originally Posted by
psychtobe
The service on CO was better - more attentive, more professional, more demured, if that's a word. They went out of their way to be helpful - volunteering to set up the extra tray table next to me so I could handle my 2 year old daughter without spilling my own food, rushing out her food immediately upon takeoff so she could get some sleep, etc. It was mostly a Japanese staff on CO, so maybe that had something to do with it.
I usually have good service on CO. But the first time I flew DL BE (JFK-BUD) about a month ago, I had
great FAs. I was very impressed. Everyone needs to keep in mind that crews can vary. I've had some lackluster crews on CO BF as well, and every once in a while one real bad apple. (Particularly one who freaked out when I asked to see the wine bottles since all she could verbally tell me was "California Red or French Red"
) Obviously with only one experience on DL BE, I can't say this first hand, but my sense from reading here is that on average, the CO vs. DL crews in Int'l J are roughly equivalent.
The food was much better on CO. The pesto ravioli was actually something I would have ordered in a restaurant. On DL, the pasta was literally a mushy paste - so overcooked I couldn't eat it, and I've never refused even Y TATL food before. The ice cream service was more complete on CO - more topping options, and I liked the little cart that they rolled around with all the different options on it. the CO breakfast was a smorgasbord of granola, yogurt, smoked salmon, an omelet, and croissants. The DL breakfast was basically an omelet, and it was undercooked just a little.
I do think the service with the trolleys on CO for apps, cheese and dessert adds a touch of elegance that is somewhat lacking on DL (and many other carriers for that matter). One thing I liked on DL is they bring you a new round of silverware with each course. On CO you get a bundle with 17 forks, 12 knives and a few spoons. On your pasta, sounds like you picked a bad entree choice. Based on my one experience and reading lots of posts here, the DL food is generally as good and some think slightly better than CO. Though I agree that CO's pre-arrival breakfast service was a notch or two better than DL.
The AVOD on CO had a lot more options, the screen is considerably bigger, and the controls have more functions.
Agree on the CO AVOD equipment. However, the number of options didn't mean anything when the
content is so bad. There were so few movies I actually wanted to watch (at least in April). On my DL flight, there was a much
better selection. Obviously subjective, but it seems CO did not want to pay up for enough current releases. Even Air France, which has pretty poor AVOD hardware had a good selection of current releases.