LegalTender

I enjoyed my first time across the ocean up front. The lie-flats are genius and the wine is fine!

Couple of suggestions:

You hear the recorded safety demonstration, but you don't see it. FA's don't show emergency exits; no belt demo or oxygen mask use. Presumably, just an oversight.

Inaudible PA's en route. I am due to get my ears checked, though.

It's a 10:20 am.push-back. Why promptly lay on a 5-course dinner and 14 hours later serve breakfast? An omelet with orange juice becomes a 3pm arrival meal. Which time zone oversees?

The.crew lets you alone after dinner carts are stowed. That's fine. They might check on/greet awake passengers once every three hours to offer a refill of beverages. Or maybe roll out a cart with coffee. Pax across the aisle believed they'd entered witness protection..

Can't see any window from most BC seats..

A walk-through water service would be welcome. Ringing for water seems strange. It's usually offered five or six times in the back.

All good. Time certainly passes faster when you aren't fighting over the arm rest 15 hours..

GYEWorldTraveler

Good to hear that you enjoyed the ride as many consider the 777 to be the best BE product DL has (until the 747 mods). Just a couple notes for the next time you fly that may help:

a) Delta offers a mid-flight snack cart that is stationed after the meal service which has self serve water, chocolate, chips, bananas, biscoff, etc. On a 777 one if stationed at the forward galley (in front of row 1) and another at the middle galley (behind row 7) in business class.

b) I have yet to encounter an FA that had an issue or got upset when I approached them in the galley to ask for something mid-flight. One major issue for many people is that they don't want to bother the FAs but the FAs seem to have the same issue and don't want to bother the BE passengers by walking through the dark aisles while many are trying to sleep. Also, since it is dark it is difficult for them to know when you are awake and wanting something if you don't have a light on or ring the call button.

c) As for the food, the main course would be the hardest to store until the end of the flight as it takes up the most space and is supposed to be prepared soon after being put onboard. The breakfast/lunch items are less substantial and can be stored more easily. It also could be difficult to serve a 5 part meal midflight or towards the end since many people would be sleeping. I believe DL surveyed many top clients and the set up they currently have is what the majority of those people wanted.

d) The FAs not doing the safety demonstration must have been an oversight. In coach they do not have to since there are seatback TVs but in BE they have to be stored so they always do a manual safety demo at row 1 and row 10.

e) The window issue was addressed with the new reverse herringbone configuration on the 747 mods. Now the seats face the window as opposed to facing the aisle. It gives a much more private feel and you get a great view out the window.

As with every business class product, there will be some flaws. DL has been great with listening to customers opinions and addressing these flaws in future mods (see 764 BE tray table issue and 777 BE window issue...both addressed in future mods)

LegalTender

The tray's inventory were four granola bars. No fluids.

In fairness, I did see an FA in the aisle once or twice.

GYEWorldTraveler

Well that is pretty bad then. I have yet to see a tray that only had one item and no fluids. I have gone at times where a lot of the stuff was already taken but they usually restock fairly often too. I would probably just write a note on delta.com and let them know that you flew and there was only one item on the cart and you think they should consider putting more options there as well as liquids. I think DL should offer more than just water on the cart, would be nice to have some soft drinks and a pot of coffee or something.

k2

Unfortunately you got the "miss" side of DL's hit or miss BE service. I've had many flights like yours where FAs camped in the galleys for 10hrs leaving you on your own to get more water and bus empties. I've had others where they were quite attentive and would come through the cabin at least every hour. In my experience it's pretty much 50/50 which you'll get on a given flight.

RE: catering, they've cheapened the midflight meals vs. even a couple of years ago (and definitely a step down from PMNW, who for all their faults had good catering on TPACs).

TimAtl

It really depends on the crew. I've had good and bad. Last week coming back from MUC the crew was very attentive.

If I want more wine or whatever and they are not there, I just get up and ask them.

Regarding safety and announcements, I wouldn't complain, they drive me crazy with that crap, especially on flights where they do it in several languages.

Sometimes coming back from Tokyo they do it in Japanese, English, and Portugese. Really, how can you live in Tokyo and not speak a work of English or Japanese?

If you want to see a good attentive consistent crew, try an Asian airline.

RobertS975

Legal, the safety video in BE is on the flat screen TV even though we are supposed to keep it stowed during taxi.

The angle to look out the windows is unfortunate in the 777 layout. It is better on the modified 747s.

As for the meal service, you cannot expect them to do the full course meal just before landing, do you? Consider it an elegant lunch rather than dinner. I did DTW-HKG in July, and this flight had a mid-flight snack that had some substance to it. And our snack trays were indeed set up in both BE galleys. As for beverages, it does you good to get up and stretch every several hours anyway. Plus, I usually stow a few bottles of Dasani water in the minimal space that the seat offers for storage.

slipbeer

Last trip I flew EC over (LAX-SIN thru NRT) on a 777 and BE back.

Maybe having that fresh memory of EC made me ignore the small issues with BE service.

I do appreciate the fact that I can sleep in BE more than anything else and am happy to get up and go ask for something to avoid having a bunch of aisle activity.

thomwithanh

Air New Zealand's Business Premiere seats are very similar to BE on the 777. Instead of doing a live demo, they ask passengers in J to pull out their monitors for the safety demo and then stow them immediately after for takeoff. After hearing that over the PA once on an NZ flight I've always wondered why Delta doesn't do the same thing, pull the monitor out for Deltalina... I mean the safety demo, and then put it away before takeoff... might be a regulatory difference between New Zealand and the US.

RobertS975

Technically, they should be stowed for taxi as well. Of course, the newer seats all have direct aisle access and having your screen out will not obstruct any other passengers in the event of a taxiway evacuation. I did pull my screen out to watch the safety video and nobody yelled at me.

NotHamSarnie

I'm a bit confused by this thread as I assumed everybody ignored the safety video as I try to do. For me not being able to hear the PA system would be such a blessing, I would almost forget I couldn't look out the window!

RobertS975

The problem I have on these flights is that after takeoff, there are incessant PA announcements after I have already started my first movie... describing the service in each cabin, describing the duty-free etc. And sometimes in three languages... HKG to NRT was English, Japanese and Chinese (don't ask me if it was Cantonese or Mandarin... maybe it was both!). A useful mode would be to be able to exclude non-priority PA announcements (not safety related).

tentseller

And now, a word from our sponsors!

DL HKG NRT you get English, Japanese and Cantonese. CX does it in English, Japanese, Cantonese and Chinese Mandarin.

LegalTender

BE meal service staging and menu courses are unaltered by the push-back hour.

Good to know.

mtkeller

Paging MSPeconomist to warn about the service ex-HND.