Review: Delta Airlines A330-900neo Delta One Business Class "Suites" New York-Atlanta
Intro
After a terrific weekend in New York with family, I began my adventure to country 99 (or thought that it would be; it turns out summer exams took a turn to the trip). For this journey, I would be flying on the Delta A330-900neo from New York (JFK) to Atlanta (ATL) in their so-called "Delta One Suites."
The aircraft originally supposed to fly us over to Atlanta was an A330-200, but the day before, I got a notification informing me of an aircraft swap to the 339, thanks to Flighty!
For this leg of the journey, I was quite impressed with the whole Delta experience. Of course, this flight is marketed as "First Class," so none of the amenities were provided, which would have been if it was "Delta One." Nonetheless, it was a very impressive flight.
The routing for this trip is as follows:
UA1892- LAX- IAD- 737 Max 9 Domestic First (Coming Soon)
UA3539- IAD- LGA- E175- Domestic First (Coming Soon)
DL2342- JFK- ATL- A330-900- Business Class (You are here)
UA235- ATL- DEN- A320- Economy Class (Coming Soon)
UA1241- DEN- SNA- 737-800- Domestic First (Coming Soon)
Route-New York (JFK)- Atlanta (ATL)
Seat- 7A
Flight Number- DL2342
Aircraft- Airbus A330-900Neo
Date- 29th July 2024
Flight Time: 2 Hours 21 Minutes
Price Paid- 47,500 Skypesos+5.60$ (JFK-ATL-UIO D1)
How I Booked
Originally, I booked a ticket from New York to Atlanta to Quito in Delta One for 72,500 Skypesos. However, the day before departure, saver award space opened up for 47,500 for the whole journey. What a deal!
The whole purpose of this trip was to review the Delta One Lounge at JFK, so this wasn't a bad deal, considering I had some Skymiles to burn.
Delta One New Check-In JFK
My alarm went off at 4:30 am, and I contemplated why I was leaving so early. Then I realized I needed to get some good pics of the Delta One Lounge!
Terminal 8 again, Mr. XXX? Excitedly, not today! After a 2 hour drive, we arrived at Terminal 4.
I informed my amazing driver to drop me by the Delta One sign. Already looking sharp.
Everything is branded to perfection, and Delta has taken Delta One up a notch.
Upon arriving at the entrance, my Delta One access was verified, and I was personally escorted to a check-in booth. I took a seat at one of the desks as the agent explained everything about the Delta One experience. A very, very nice lady.
For evenings, I assume the standing desks are used when it is busier.
The agent offered me a choice of water or a quick snack, but I had to save myself for the lounge.
For the time being, Delta One passengers use the normal security lines. However, beginning next month, there will be a private security checkpoint only for passengers traveling in Delta One. Once I bid farewell to the agent, she pointed me in the way of the lounge after I cleared security.
Boarding
Boarding was supposed to commence at 12:15 pm, but during my time in the lounge, we were informed of a delay of 20 minutes. I proceeded to gate B28 around 12:15 pm for our updated boarding time of 12:30 pm.
Thankfully, boarding commenced at 12:25 pm, as I was due to have a short layover in Atlanta.
I settled into my seat, 7K, the second last row on the left side of the aircraft.
The Seat/Cabin
My first impression of the cabin was, wow, this is beautiful! At only 28 seats and supposedly private closing doors, this is a fantastic way to fly.
If you are flying solo, I recommend selecting seats in even rows, such as 2,4,6,8, and by the windows, as these are more private. However, with closing doors, any seat on this plane is good.
Here is an example of a window seat in an even row (8K).
To the next of every seat lay a headphone holder and a light for reading.
Seat controls were just below that and worked well. It should, considering the aircraft is just over a year old. I do wish that Delta had installed USB-C plugs on this aircaft.
My favorite addition to the seat is the little cubby, which is perfect for storing a pair of shoes.
The footwell is spacious enough, but not as spacious as American Airlines 777 Business Class.
The closing door didn't work on this flight, but I didn't feel much need as it was private enough.
Amenities/IFE
For a domestic flight, Delta really showed out in terms of basic amenities. While a small gesture, a miniature bottle of water was placed at the seat.
A very nice pair of headphones were offered, which worked perfectly as I indulged in a movie.
In terms of IFE, the whole system felt very modern, had plenty of options, and was extremely responsive. Top marks here, Delta.
Unfortunately, I forgot to check on the Wi-Fi costs, but I imagine it's much cheaper than an American Airlines widebody. 😂
Departure
Approximately 5 minutes after settling into my seat, an FA greeted me, asking me for my choice of pre-departure beverage. I decided on a glass of sparkling wine.
Cabin doors were closed, and we pushed back 35 minutes behind schedule at 1:15.
It was a short taxi out to 31L for our early afternoon departure. Interestingly, I saw a couple of planes taking off from 13L that morning, which is a very, very rare occurrence.
Flaps were down, and we were wheels up by 1:29 pm.
The Flight
With a flight time of 2 hours, I decided to switch on the Hunger Games and begin the long movie.
The flight attendant seemed to be a junior flight attendant, and was very fun the whole flight! I've decided that I like junior flight attendants more in general. One more glass of sparkling wine and a couple of snacks before calling it a day.
Arrival
About an hour and a half later, it began circling due to weather in the Atlanta area.
However, we eventually got clearance and made our way down into the ATL.
We ended up touching down at 3:28 pm local time.
And pulled into gate E28 at 3:36 pm.
I headed up to the cockpit to have a conversation with the captain and FO, grabbed a couple of pictures, and headed off to the Atlanta terminal for about 20 minutes!
Final Thoughts
Honestly, Delta impressed me on this leg with great service, a fantastic "suite", and good quality headphones for a flight of this length. I was extremely lucky with the aircraft swap, as this was the only time in the past 10 days that this happened, but nonetheless, I had a great flight.
The whole Delta One experience was up to par, with a great check-in, a superb lounge, and everything branded perfectly.
If the experience was the same, I would fly this flight again in a heartbeat.
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