Tim_T

I had some fun last week thanks to snow in Dallas and Albuquerque. I was treated to multiple re-routes and instead of my planned ABQ to DFW to LHR to MAN on BA/AA, I eventually ended up on a Delta service from LAX to LHR and then Virgin little red to Manchester. I did have other re-routes, inc AA LAX to JFK to MAN, but I missed these as well. A frantic run across LAX allowed me to catch the LAX to LHR flight with seconds to spare. I had to beg to be let thru security - I'm sure at LHR I would not have been let thru! Even more amazing, one of my two bags also made it !!!

Anyway, this did give me the chance to compare BA CW 64A to Delta’s business elite.

Dealing with the soft product side first, I have to say the Delta was better in almost all respects:-
Hot towels were a flannel sized and thick
Headphones were noise cancelling and actually worked
Two white pillows and a white quilt. The quilt actually looked clean unlike the brown/blue BA quilt, and was thicker and softer.
Amenity kit. Tumi branded. Did not look cheap and very useable after flight. Content included tissues, floss, glass cleaning cloth, comb, in addition to what you get on BA.
Meal served on a (fake) wooden laminated curved tray with square bowls. Looked classy.
Starter was anitpasta and was very good with multiple items all in separate bowls.
Bread was soft and warm.
Little salt and pepper pots on the tray
4 main courses, Beef, Chicken, Salmon and pasta. Nice, large portions and not over complex.
Ice cream sundae made at seat. Ice cream not as nice as that on BA (but you don’t get any on the USA to UK leg), but toppings and size made it better.

My only complaint on the soft side was that the cabin crew took the lights from pitch black to nuclear blast instantly and I saw flares in my eyes for minutes afterwards!

Now the hard product ie the seat. This was a 1 2 1 but had a staggered ‘left/right’ pattern. If you can picture the seat, the side pod / storage area alternated on the left and right hand side as you went down the plane. This is because the feet of the person behind goes into a space under your side pod, and your feet do the same in front. The seats therefore have to be staggered. This means that you can either be tucked in against the cabin wall or middle of the plane, or away from these points and closer to the aisle.

Good points / better than BA club world (even 64a):
All seats had a large flat storage surface that you could have the tray on if you wanted
Charging and USB points easy to access and not at floor level
Screen was in front and usable during takeoff
All aisle access seats
Storage pockets / holes not blocked in recline.
Inner window seats very private (as good as 64a)

Bad points / where BA are better:
Seats a bit narrow even for me (11 stone 5’7”)
No screen between neighbour of centre pair
Narrow isle
Tray table had limited movement
Leather upholstery allowed body to slide around
Not a lot of overall seat adjustment – no Z position

However the biggest negative for me was that because I had an ‘outer’ seat, and because of the narrow width I was banged hard in the night several times by passing traffic. I also found the seat difficult to sleep in as it was not wide enough for me to sleep on my side. If I had had an inner window I think it would have been much better, perhaps not as comfortable as 64a, but close.

I must say the flight opened my eyes. I have always assumed that delta were rubbish, but on this flight the soft product was much better than the now penny pinched BA product, and the seat is better is some ways and not that far off in comfort if you get the right one. I would not be worried about ending up on another Delta flight as long as I can get an "inner" seat.

I have another BA CA 64a coming up in a week, and a return on the US Airways PHL to MAN service. It will be interesting to see how these compare.

mario

That sounds much better than anything you can have on BA

FenLandK

Swiss Tony

I used Delta TATL in J last year and was equally impressed, especially with the food and the engaged staff - but at 6ft and just a few ounces more than 11st , don't recall any problems with the seat.

Also worth pointing out that the centre pair (at least on the planes we used) had an armrest that was a foot or so wide, so not like the BA divider between E&F in NCW.

Side note - we had a connection in ATL and were up front in a 757, having boarded from door 2L. My 3 kids were all invited up to the cockpit for a look around & given little sets of plastic Delta wings by the pilots. Costs a few cents but I remember it and the kids still talk about it, too...

Tim_T

Ahh yes, not that kind of at seat service!

Hoch

Interesting read ^ Like you, I gave up on DL many, many years ago. In my case, it was after an appalling flight experience. Perhaps things have changed.

H

PDXNRTLHR

Thanks for the comparison. It's been a while since I've flow Delta in Business Elite. Can you tell me if there was a mid-flight snack, and what breakfast was like?

Tim_T

I don't recall a mid flight snack but it was listed on the menu. I didn't have breakfast but it was a choice of an omelette or hot turkey sandwich. Both came with fruit and yogurt.

Wines were ok. I'm not even close to being an expert but I did enjoy a couple of glasses of the Decoy Pinot noir.

I did not find the uniforms for the crew nice. BA look much smarter. The women looked "frumpy" and the man had a black turtle neck jumper and black slacks. Very retro!

Tim_T

On my outbound BA LHR to dfw, the pilots were showing several children the cockpit, even after doors closed.

orbitmic

I find the DL J product typically significantly better than BA's. I say typically because DL uses different seat configurations on its different aircraft type (not because of slow retrofit but by choice). All of them are at least very good, many excellent.

I agree with you that not seats are equal but in many ways, I find the difference less bad than on BA. Sure, 64A/K or 62A/K on a 744 are very good seats, but frankly, an outer window seat on DL is far preferable to an aisle on BA, and the 2-4-2 layout on BA's 744 lower decks or 777s ensures that many more passengers are "banged hard" [ ] than on any DL cabin.

Lefly

I flew DL last November, and while the seat/pillow/duvet were comfortable the food was so-so, especially on the return leg (redeye). Now I am really curious to try CW next month.

cazoz

I flew BOS to ATL last week (domestic first), and there was a plane substitute to this so had it for 2.5 hours. A330 I think.

Thought it was fantastic, both service and hard product. Quite impressed. People do say that the US airlines have really fixed up in long haul business product. A nice change from BA and Virgin actually, would use again.

toothy

I think you will enjoy the PHL-MAN service too. Lounge etc isn't great, but I quite like the Envoy seats. Only problem is that the fight isn't long enough for much sleep (even without eating on the plane).

As this is showing, the US carriers have now caught up with BA. Luckily for BA (or rather luckily for their profitability), many people haven't realised this, so still fly BA.

T

HIDDY

Considering how important in the world the Americans seem to think they are it's about time their airlines got their act together J product wise. Even AZ and IB have a very good long haul business class nowadays.

Certainly helps when you don't have to provide an F product as well.

xooz

Or, maybe a 3 Class airline purposely doesn't meet the competition in J to encourage sale of F. Don't see that reflected in the price however...