Originally Posted by
Youngmiler
I ended up in Main Cabin for NRT-DTW (PE and D1 went out full, upgrade list has 13 pax for both list with identical names (I was in the middle of the list). Only two cleared for PE and none for D1.
I think a couple of D1 seats were Airbus or DL engineers because after boarding we had some issues and I noticed people moving around with laptops accompanied by crew and maintenance staff.
I second doing ATL-NRT on 777 over DTW-NRT on A350.
We flew the A350 DTW-NRT on 11/7 and NRT-DTW on 11/13. We cleared both directions NRT-SIN-NRT, but nothing at all on the A350.
On the way over, nobody cleared D1 or PE upgrades. We were close to the top of the list, but the flight was 0/0 several hours before departure with no upgrades processed.
On the way back, they upgraded 1 to D1 and 2 to PE. We were at the top of the list at this point, but no great consolation there.
Beyond the initial demand for the new products, there were "A350 Support Team" staff in every cabin occupying seats that could have been ours. We also left nonrevs at the gate in both directions. And no offense to this support team staff, but they made a total cluster of the process of boarding and getting the flight off the gate, massively overcomplicating what is a routine process for DL gate and cabin staff to just do very well on their own.
I would have much preferred the ATL flight and would have booked this instead if we had any idea they would swap to the A350 on the DTW route. As A350 deliveries roll out and the refurbs happen on the 777, this will probably settle down, but for now I'm booking ATL from now on.