Flight Review: Delta Airlines Airbus A330 Delta One® – MSP-CDG

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After we took a quick flight from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), we stopped into the new Delta Sky Club®. It’s gorgeous (full review here). We were there for a little under two hours and then made our way to the gate.

Anthony’s Take: It might seem like I heap praise on Delta all the time and am more critical of other airlines (United, especially). I try to be as impartial as I can when I provide reviews. This flight definitely had some areas that needed improvement. The plane itself was old and wasn’t very clean. The crew felt as if they were going though the motions and were more excited when people chose not to eat dinner than to deal with customers. The flight was slightly delayed, but we made our connection.

Booking

This flight was booked as a one-way ticket through American Express International Airline Program with The Platinum Card® from American Express. We flew ORD-MSP in First Class, MSP-CDG in Delta One®, and then Business Class on Air France. I paid a cash fare of $3,368 per ticket and booked award seats using MileagePlus miles to fly home on United Polaris®.

Boarding

The boarding was a bit delayed due to the inbound aircraft arriving late. Boarding was pretty orderly with those needing additional time, military, and then Delta One® being called.

On-Board

On Delta’s Airbus A330-300, Delta One® contains 34 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. Row one has two center seats and rows two through nine each have four reverse herringbone-style seats. We selected seats 1C and 1G. I always go for the bulkhead seats, but be warned that these seats are close to the galley and you will need to use an eye shade to sleep if the light bothers you.

These are the older seats and they are showing their age. They feel dated with buttons not fully functioning, scuffs, tears, and more. These cabins need to be updated to the new product found on the A330-900 with fully enclosed seats with doors.

At the seat was a large pillow, a duvet, slippers, and a Someone, Somewhere amenity kit.  Polaris® bedding by Saks Fifth Avenue is far superior to what Delta offers. I understand Delta’s pitch on the bedding and amenity kit being more environmentally friendly, but the old Westin Heavenly® bedding was much nicer.

Seat Features

These Delta One® seats are good if you’re traveling with someone, but wouldn’t provide much privacy if a stranger was seated next to you. The seat features standard controls for converting it into a lie-flat bed as well as controls for the entertainment system. (My photo of the entertainment screen got deleted. Photo Credit: TravelUpdate.) The entertainment system offers a huge selection of movies and TV shows. The screens were not the easiest to get to stay closed. It took several hard pushes for them to latch back into place.

Each seat has a USB and standard power outlet as well as a headphone jack. Neither outlet worked well and I had to keep checking and jiggling the cord for my phone to ensure it would charge.

Delta provides Studio branded premium headsets. While these are not Bose, they functioned well and blocked out noise. A small reading light was also here.

The tray table easily swung out and was a good size.

Food

Menus were already at each seat when we boarded.

Pre-departure beverages were offered with a choice of water or champagne. We selected champagne. I also asked for a ginger ale and it was promptly provided.

The Delta One® menu offered a choice of three entrees. We preselected two that were not on this menu: Manicotti with Pork Ragu and Oven Roasted Sea Bass. I like that Delta provides proper menus.

The service started with nuts and a beverage of choice. The nuts were not warmed.

The meal service was brought out next on one tray. My manicotti was probably better than anything I have ever eaten on United. It was also a big portion. Soup is one of my favorite foods and the Tomato Basil Soup was tasty. The tray also had a Spinach Salad. A normal salad was appreciated, unlike the random bowls of weird things United serves. The roll was not warmed, so I did not eat it.

My husband had the Oven Roasted Sea Bass. He loved it. His tray had the same dishes for the other courses.

Dessert was served next. Choices were a Chocolate Fondant Cake, Ice Cream Sundae, or Fruit and Cheese Plate. The Fruit and Cheese plate was thought to not be catered, but flight attendants found it a lot later in the flight and came back to my husband to see if he wanted it. We both had the Chocolate Fondant Cake. It was fine, but would have tasted better warm. We saw others get ice cream. It’s not dished at the seat (like United does) and Delta is missing a fun opportunity by not having a cart.

Pre-arrival choices were a Three-Cheese Quiche or a Green Chili Spiced Beef Burger. We both chose the quiche and it was massive. The flavors were so good and we both finished the large quiches.

I got up to use the restroom midflight and found the snack basket. This looks cheap and I did not take anything.

Wi-Fi

The Wi-Fi on this flight was slow and did not work for about a quarter of the flight. The cost for the full flight was $21.99. This is reasonable for a transatlantic flight, but I wish it were faster.

Lavatory

There are two lavatories at the front of the plane. They were both standard and functional with no additional amenities.

Service

There was nothing particularly good or memorable about the service. Flight attendants went through the motions and stayed in the galley most of the flight. They were a bit loud from my seat and were discussing how happy they were that half the cabin was not eating. The purser did not warm up until we were deplaning.

Overall Impression:

We departed a bit late but made up time, the service was meh, but the food was better than anything I have ever had on United. The bedding, seat, and Wi-Fi lack what I’ve found in United’s Polaris® cabin. Overall, the flight was fine, but nothing memorable or special.

Anthony’s Credit Card Pick: The Platinum Card® from American Express is my go-to for booking airfare from the airlines to earn 5x points (up to $500,000 per calendar year booked directly with passenger airlines or through American Express Travel). The card has an annual fee of $695, but it provides many travel benefits and will always be my go-to for lounge access (both Delta Sky Clubs® and Centurion Lounges) and taking advantage of all that the Fine Hotels & Resorts program offers. Learn more. Rates & Fees. Terms apply.

(Featured Image Credit: Air Data News.)