Recently I visited the Bay Area and Orlando. In this review I’ll discuss my experience with Delta’s Premium Economy cabin. Find out if it’s worth it, upgrading to Delta Premium Economy – or Premium Select as Delta calls it – and how it compares to KLM Premium Economy.
During this trip I flew KLM’s 787-10 from Amsterdam to San Francisco, and Delta’s A330-900 from New York JFK to Amsterdam, both in Premium Economy. So, this was the perfect trip to compare both products. I already have a separate blog on KLM’s Premium Economy when I flew with them earlier this year; KLM Premium Economy Review – worth the wait?
For this trip, I also have 2 Youtube videos on my Youtube Channel; ‘KLM’s Premium Economy Review’ and ‘Delta Premium Economy’. Please see the links at the end of this blog.
Delta Premium Economy Product
Delta introduced Premium Economy in 2017 and I was an immediate fan of the hard product. I regularly flew them from Detroit to Amsterdam on the A350 and both the plane as well as the Premium Economy cabin were a big hit in my opinion. Premium Economy has since then expanded to more and more routes and planes. Recently Delta announced it will also introduce Premium Economy on domestic routes, starting with flights between JFK and LAX. I think this is an excellent move.
When you enter the Delta Premium Economy cabin and you just came out of the KLM Premium Economy cabin of the 787-10, you could get a feeling of deja-vu. Everything is exactly the same; the layout (4 rows in a 2-3-2 configuration), the screens and the seats. And this is not a bad thing because the MiQ seats from Collins Aerospace are certainly one of the best out there. They are very comfortable, there is sufficient space between the seats and they are a big step up from the regular economy class seats. In fact, I believe these are one of the best premium economy seats on the market.
Premium Economy with Delta comes with 2 free checked bags, Sky Priority check-in as well as Sky Priority Boarding. Especially the Sky Priority check-in could be very useful.
The inflight entertainment HD screens have a decent size (13.3 inch) – exactly the same as KLM- and there is a good selection of movies.
The amenity kit is really excellent for premium economy and here is where Delta makes the difference. The bag itself looks and feels nice. Besides the tooth brush, toothpaste, earplugs and facemask, there are also socks as well as lip balm. This is even better than some of the Business Class amenity kits from certain other airlines …
After take-off, the crew comes along with the refreshment towels. I don’t know what happened here but the towel I got looked gross! For sure not something I even would like to touch, let alone clean my face with it. Not sure how this towel made it past the quality check and how they could hand out something like this. I kind of lost my appetite after that, but it was anyway time for the meal to arrive.
Meals
There is a Premium Select Menu but there is only a choice of 2 main dishes. I picked the Roasted Chicken Breast which was OK. In my opinion, the overall menu selection feels more like regular economy than premium economy. Snacks – like the bag of peanuts served after take-off – are the same as in regular economy, and selection of meals is limited.
Conclusion
I’m happy to see Delta is expanding their Premium Economy product to more and more routes including domestic routes. The hard product is excellent, the amenity kit is good, and the Sky Priority benefits are a good addition. Meals could be improved though and it would be nice to see some extra, exclusive mid-air snacks. Service is where Delta is dropping the ball. The refreshment towel was just disgusting and overall the service was not that fantastic.
Please have a look at my Youtube reviews of this same trip;
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