Originally Posted by
topflight
Hi all, new to FT and enjoying all the discussions. I've probably only taken a total of 7 rt flights (4 international) in the past few years, but I'm looking to fly a bit more and also take advantage of mileage programs, so that's why I'm here.
Anyway, I recently flew Delta from MSP to NRT and had a shocking experience. Even now, I feel sick and just feel bad whenever I hear the word "Delta."
I have 46,000 Skymiles, and not much of anything with other carriers.
If you look at the other forums, Delta seems to be disproportionately filled with unhappy customers. Threads about getting cheated or ripped off somehow are a lot more common. What I don't understand is, a number of posters claim that Delta started to go "bad" in the 1990s. If that's true, how can people put up with that for so long?
I'm probably going to focus on other airlines, maybe AA. The way I see it is, if someone offered me $50 to lose my clothing, make me sick, treat me like a felon and steal time with friends and family, I would, uh, refuse that offer.
But before I make this choice... what am I missing? What do happy Delta customers see that I don't?
OP, others have said the same thing. The airline is too big with many conflicting customer service issues that take too long to get resolved presumably because of the merger with NWA. For me, I've come to realize that taking advantage of my Delta FF benefits can become a weeklong ordeal. This could be anything from trying to nail down an int'l upgrade on Delta or a Skyteam upgrade or even just being able to claim credit for FF miles you should recv anyway. Maybe other airlines do this as well but Delta has a habit of putting their most inexperienced untrained people on the front lines with the customer be it a TA, GA or CSR on the phone. That's the face that Delta gives us. That said, IMHO I believe 99% of the flight crews are top notch. The hardest part is getting on the plane and after you get off the plane. If I'm connecting through ATL, I do my best to avoid checking in baggage because that's where it will get temporarily lost. You'd assume ATL service would be "best in class", not so in my experience.
I still occassionally fly Delta but not like I have the past two years. I don't know if they're really much better but this year I'm giving Continental and *A the first go when I'm planning trips. The benefits aren't as hard to take advantage of and the web site actually works. I can request an Int'l upgrade online without speaking to a human being that may or may not know what needs to happen.