Recently I flew from Atlanta, GA to Munich Germany on Delta Airlines in their Delta One “Business Class” seating on an Airbus A330-200.  This was the first flight I’d taken outside the continental US in about 12 years.  I used to travel to Europe quite frequently – at least once and sometimes twice a year for the freelance writing and photography I used to do.  But when I transitioned out of that career and focused first on showing Rottweilers, and later taking up competitive shooting, I just didn’t have a need to travel outside the US.  But then, a funny thing happened – I turned 55 years old.  And I decided I need to get back to Europe to see some cities I missed, and some I had not yet been.  I had been saving AMEX points and decided to cash them in on this trip.  Initially I had booked both the outbound and the return flight sitting in Delta Premium Select.  But then I got a nice upgrade offer and sprang for Delta One seating on the outbound flight from ATL to Munich.  I usually flew Business Class on my trips to Europe in the past – but business class seems to be a relic of the past.  Now “1st class” is no longer a seating designation for international flights.  Where “business class” used to be one step below “1st class” on international flights, nowadays “business class” is considered the top tier seating class internationally, while “1st class” is a seating class only found on domestic flights here in the US.  I had never had to opportunity to fly 1st class to Europe and since the trip was a bit a birthday present to myself, it made sense to upgrade.  Hopefully I would be able to get a good nights sleep in the lay flat seats in Delta One.

 

WHAT IS DELTA ONE?

Delta’s seating designations are a bit confusing – particularly for us older folks.  These days Delta One is Delta’s business class, while “First Class” is a term again typically used for domestic routes on Delta. Delta One is the premium cabin offered on most international and long-haul domestic flights, and it features lie-flat seats, premium food and beverage service.  And as of this writing, Delta consistently is at the top of both expert and customer rankings including J.D.Powers and Skytrax, as well as websites like The Points Guy, and AirlineRatings.com.  When it comes to premium international experiences, Delta’s Delta One Suites are best-in-class among U.S. carriers, especially with the sliding privacy doors.  Sadly for me, the sliding door suites are only available on two different planes in the Delta fleet – the Airbus A350-900 (long haul flight flag ship) and the Airbus A330-900neo (A330neo).  Of course, flying Delta One isn’t just about the seat on the plane and the customer service.  A huge benefit that transforms the entire airline experience is having Delta Sky Priority status.  That means priority check-in counters, being first to board and leave the aircraft, and dedicated overhead storage at your seat. I was planning on carrying on all my luggage so this was a huge consideration for me.  There’s also the in flight meal considerations which come with Delta One.

MEAL SELECTION

The trip (pre-trip?) began with an email I received from Delta about a week prior to departure inviting me to make my in-flight meal selection for dinner:

Technically, it’s only necessary to make an actual selection for the main course if you intend to get one of the “Limited” options like the crab cakes or the Lamb.  I’m generally not a Bar-B-Q person, but the reviews for the Fox Bros. Beef Short Ribs swayed me to make it my choice.  Here are the starter choices:

Desert?  Who doesn’t want to re-enact the famous Seinfeld episode with Jerry flying in first class and eating an ice cream Sunday:

Finally, we have the pre-arrival meal before we land in Munich…breakfast:

Note that the exact menu on your flight may have different options.

I would be boarding my flight to Munich from Atlanta, and had quite a bit of time to lounge hop while in the Atlanta Airport.  If you didn’t already have access to the Delta Sky Club lounge, it’s included with your Delta One ticket, provided there’s one at the airport on your route.  Given that ATL is Delta’s primary hub there are Sky Club lounges in several terminals.  I’ve done a separate review of the ATL Delta Sky Club lounge in Terminal F, but suffice to say that it was a fine place to kill some time prior to boarding.

THE FLIGHT

When I arrived at my seat, I found that I had a bedding kit, and a welcome kit waiting for me in my seat.  My particular seat had some space directly behind the seat where I was able to set the bedding kit, but without that little shelf (which most of the other Delta One seats didn’t have) I would have been really short on space which surprised me.  I really found myself missing the seat back pouch which I use for my iPad and phone when not in use. I’m also used to having my backpack at my feet in front of me, but quickly realized doing so in this seat wouldn’t work out well as the only place to put it would have been the area where your feet go when the seat lays flat:

There was shelf space next to me which I immediately set up for plugging in an charging all my essential devices.  The seat had a standard AC outlet and a USB-A port, so I plugged in my Anker Prime 100W 3-Port Charger was ideal for this application.

I was able to charge my phone, extra battery, my Fujifilm X100VI, and my Airpod Pro II’s with ease.  But the devices,along with my camera, took up all that space.  I’m used to having my backpack at my feet, but it really wasn’t convenient to do so in this seat, so I stored it in the overhead storage bin with my carry on suitcase.

I then had a look at the provided amenity kit that was in my seat:

It contained things like lip balm, and eye mask, and socks…nothing I wanted or needed during the flight or after.  The leather zipper container was a tad bulky too and not something I had room for so I just left the whole think on the plane.

I was offered a drink shortly after arriving at my seat, so I got some orange juice.

Once we were in the air, the typical hot towel service offered on most any long haul flight came around, as did some warm nuts.  It was nice having access to a window in flight because for space reasons I normally get an aisle seat on domestic coach flights.

Not long after the warm nuts, the appetizer course came out – the herb marinated shrimp and tomato bisque which were both quite good:

Next up came the main course:

The Bar-B-Q beef short rib was excellent as were the mashed potato.  Of course, none of the portions were particularly large but with the different courses I certainly felt full.  But not so full that I didn’t have room for desert.  Finally I was able to live like Jerry Seinfeld in 1st Class:

\

Unfortunately the Sundae wasn’t very Seinfeldian.  The ice cream was rock hard and of course a small portion, though I’m sure I could have ordered more.

IN FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

When the meal service started I put on the provided noise cancelling headphones and began looking over the movie selection.  The media screen which pulls out of the back of the seat in front you can be positioned for optimal distance and was larger than I had thought it would be, which was a welcome surprise.  As was the quality of the noise canceling headphones which were also available for Delta One passengers.  I generally hate using the in flight system as the movie always pauses whenever any announcements are made, but did so for this review.  The entertainment selection was was fine, with a mix of both newer releases and older movies, TV shows, and even some video games.  The most disappointing aspect of the system was how unresponsive. the touch controls were (darn near unusable truth be told) and the controls on the remote were much better.  Pressing the “right” arrow on the control made the cursor on the screen go left.  Pressing “up” on the remote made the cursor go “down.”  On the plus side, the provided noise canceling headphones worded remarkably well and provided perfectly acceptable sound quality during the movie I watched.

HOW DID I SLEEP?

Normally after meal service on a flight to Europe , I pop a couple of ibuprofen PMs and this trip was no exception.  The provided pillow was quite comfortable as was the provided blanket.  I was easily able to make my seat lay flat using the seat controls and I continued to watch a movie while waiting for my sleep aid to kick in and knock me out.

I woke up just a few minutes before they began serving the pre-arrival meal about an hour before landing feeling quite refreshed.  I think I got around five hours sleep which is pretty standard for me when flying to Europe.  The pre-arrival meal was quite good – the banana bread french toast along with some sort of yogurt and orange juice:

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

The service in Delta One was quite good and lived up to the positive reputation Delta has garnered in recent years.  I had originally booked this flight for Delta Premium Select seating using AmEx points, but decided a few days before the flight to accept an upgrade offer that net cost me $690 out of pocket after applying some other credit card perk dollars to the $800 upgrade price.  As I mentioned it has been over 10 years since I made this flight and I wasn’t sure how well I would sleep.  I suspect I would have slept just as well in Premium Select (I’ll update this review of my return flight on Delta Premium Select from Heathrow to Atlanta and definitely answer the question).  The food was good…not great.  Nothing truly blew me away or made me think it was worth the upgrade.  And the entertainment systems both looks dated and functioned as though it were in bad need of an update.  It’s a shame that I couldn’t have experienced Delta One on one of Delta’s newer, and more premium planes like the Airbus A330-900neo, though I suspect even an upgraded seat would not have been worth the upgrade price.  I’m pleased to have had a flight in Delta One class at least once in my life.