lc412000

Currently on DL0027 ATL-ICN in Business Class and seat only moves about 25% towards flat bed. The FA have tried but can’t get seat to work properly. I used 750k miles for the round trip with the return HND-MSY.

One FA offered to give me 5,000 miles which I didn’t think was enough. Especially when a main cabin seat has more recline than this BE seat.

Any suggestions on what to request and who should I contact at delta?

thank you

TechMarauder

You seriously paid 750K for a Delta ticket?

I would be surprised if you were offered anymore than 10K for the seat malfunction.

lc412000

I didn’t pay 750k, I used 750k miles

erik123

I'd ask for a significant number of miles back - e.g. equivalent to the fare difference between BE and PE. About 70%.

GagaPilot

So sorry to hear this. Have you verified there is nothing stuck under the seat? A few weeks ago flying SEA-ICN my seat at first would only go about 75% of the way to flat bed mode. After going up and down a bit, I tried rocking it fairly firmly, heard a loud pop, and the seat moved as if it had dislodged something causing it be stuck. No issues for the remainder of the flight.

As for compensation, I would imagine if you contact Delta after your trip you might get another 10-15K miles. I’ve heard 5000 is the max an FA can offer in flight, but customer service can definitely provide more.

tennessetom

This is an area where I think delta is way too stingy on comp and needs to rethink a little what people are paying for when they buy D1, last I had a seat issue I requested 50,000 miles, it was a tatl flight was told all they could offer was 15,000 but then dl actually deposited 25,000 miles,

MichaelLAX

I got 15K miles inflight in a similar situation on a JFK-LAX flight last year. The Delta One seat behind me was stuck, and the FA saw that I was working, so she asked me if I would would mind switching seats, so that the passenger in the stuck seat could sleep. So I switched with the guy behind me, and the FA offered me 15K miles as a thank you.

Orange County Commuter

It’s probably too late for the original poster but for anyone else in this position ask if there is a non-rev in the cabin if there is, they are required to trade with you unless it’s a contractual issue but if they’re just flying free on their benefits, they will try they can make them trade


i’ve learned the hard way to check my seat as soon as I sit down in it to make sure it works because I’ve had it happen. now in my case, the flight attendant immediately went and told the non-revs they had to move. And she’s the one who told me this little back

rylan

Besides the crazy amount of miles the OP spend for a D1 seat, I would be pushing back on DL and looking for something significant. To me, the primary purpose of D1 is the room provided by the seat and especially to be able to go into lie flat mode and sleep during a long flight.... and ATL-HND is a particularly long one around 15 hours.

15-25k miles would be an insult. The seat didn't work, the OP can't recline and sleep. To me that is a significant portion of the value. I'd be more inline with the poster who said the difference between D1 and PS for that ATL-HND segment. Since OP used 750k miles, for purpose of example lets just assume the portion in question is half that - 375k. I'm not sure what PS rates are, but I do not think that going for 100-150k compensation is unreasonable.

DLASflyer

PSA it hasn't been called BE or Business Elite for 9 years.

xliioper

Yep. Most people think "Basic Economy" when they see BE these days, not Business Elite. Most have moved on to referring to cabin as D1, not BE, as that's what DL rebranded the cabin to.

chipbennett

I didn't want to be pedantic, but yeah: "BE" now means "Basic Economy". Which really confused me when I read the thread title and then the OP.

FabCW

Good advice.

MSPeconomist

Yeah, I was wondering what a nonfunctional basic economy seat would be. No seat back? No cushion to sit on? Missing arm rest or arm rest that won't raise and lower (but some seats aren't supposed to have this function)? No seat belt would surely be a FAA violation. Maybe it failed to recline two inches, but that's true for all of the seats in front of exit rows. AFAIK basic economy seats are the same as main cabin except that the passenger can't select the seat assignment.

BTW, OP joined FT long after BE became D1.

Jeff767

Be aware that all the seats have a manual recline system. Flight attendants don’t like to use the manual system and prefer just to hand you miles. Did they attempt to recline the seat manually?