- Introduction: Two Times To Latin America
- Review: LATAM Lounge Miami Airport (MIA)
- Review: LATAM Business Class Boeing 787 (MIA-SCL)
- Review: Ritz-Carlton Santiago, Chile (I’m Conflicted)
- Review: LATAM Lounge Santiago Airport (SCL)
- Review: SkyTeam Lounge Santiago Airport (SCL)
- Review: Delta One Business Class Airbus A350 (SCL-ATL)
- Review: Amex Centurion Lounge Atlanta Airport (ATL)
- Review: Delta First Class Boeing 737-800 (ATL-MEX)
- Review: Hilton Mexico City Airport (MEX)
- Review: Aeromexico Lounge Mexico City Airport (MEX)
- Review: Aeromexico Business Class Boeing 737 MAX (MEX-MIA)
- Review: Boliviana De Aviacion Business Class Airbus A330 (MIA-VVI)
- Review: The Lounge VIP Santa Cruz De La Sierra Airport (VVI)
- Review: VIP Lounge Santa Cruz De La Sierra Airport (VVI)
- Review: GOL Premium Economy Boeing 737 MAX (VVI-GRU)
- Review: TRYP By Wyndham Sao Paulo Airport (GRU)
For the second segment of my two times to Latin America review trip, I flew Delta’s Airbus A350-900 business class (marketed as Delta One) on the nine hour overnight flight from Santiago (SCL) to Atlanta (ATL).
Delta’s A350 probably offers the best business class experience you’ll find on any US airline, on balance. The airline has comfortable suites with doors, extensive entertainment, and pretty solid food and amenities. Let’s get into the review…
In this post:
How I booked my Delta business class ticket
As any points collector knows, it can be hard to get good value when trying to redeem Delta SkyMiles for business class flights. At least that’s the case if you’re originating or terminating your trip in the United States. However, it’s a different story if you’re simply connecting in the United States, when the price is much better.
For this trip, I booked the following in business class for 65,800 Delta SkyMiles plus $87.32 in taxes & fees:
9/19 DL146 Santiago to Atlanta departing 8:40PM arriving 5:15AM (+1 day)
9/20 DL602 Atlanta to Mexico City departing 12:21PM arriving 1:55PM
If I had terminated in Atlanta and just booked that first segment, the award would have cost roughly 5x as much. So I’d say this trip represented quite a good use of SkyMiles! 😉
Delta business class lounge & boarding
In previous installments, I reviewed the lounges that Delta business class passengers have access to in Santiago, including the LATAM Lounge and SkyTeam Lounge. The LATAM Lounge is definitely the better of the two options, by far.
My flight to Atlanta was departing from gate E9, located at the very end of the concourse. Boarding was scheduled for 7:45PM, 55 minutes ahead of the 8:40PM departure. Sure enough that’s exactly when boarding started, with business class passengers being invited to board first.
Delta A350 business class cabin & seats
I boarded through the second set of doors, where I was greeted by the crew, and then turned left into the business class cabin. I was flying on one of Delta’s “flagship” A350s (not one of the ex-LATAM ones, with inferior interiors), featuring a total of 32 business class seats, spread across nine rows.
The Delta One Suites on the A350 are a customized version of the popular Thompson Vantage XL product, which is one of the more spacious staggered business class layouts out there. In this configuration, there are seven sets of seats along the windows, and nine pairs of seats in the center.
Those traveling together may prefer one of the center sets of seats. However, be aware that unlike in some other staggered configurations, there are no “honeymoon” seats in every other row, but rather the seats are a consistent distance apart from one another, which perhaps isn’t ideal.
The good news is that if you’re traveling alone and end up in one of the center seats, there’s a full privacy shield that can be extended, so you won’t even know you have a seat mate.
Along the windows, seats alternate between being closer to the windows and closer to the aisle.
In even numbered rows, you’ll find seats closer to the aisle, and these would be my less preferred window seats. While they’re still perfectly nice, they’re further from the windows, which isn’t ideal.
In odd numbered rows, you’ll find seats closer to the windows, which would my favorite seats in this configuration. For example, I selected seat 7A, the last “true” window seat on the left side, in the back of the cabin.
These business class seats are 20.5″ wide, though there’s quite a large space next to that, with many of the seat’s features (in these staggered configurations, the footwell from seat behind is underneath the console to the side of the seat).
While most of the cabin finishes are pretty generic and sterile, I like the seat stitching that Delta uses, from the red Delta “widget,” to the widget-shaped stitching on the seat (though Delta is soon rebranding its cabins).
As far as seat features go, to the side of the seat was an open storage compartment where headphones could be placed, an AC and USB-A power outlet, and the headphone jack.
There was also a panel where all seat functions could be controlled. While this was easy to use, I found the placement to be kind of annoying, since it’s in the area where you may naturally rest your elbow during the flight, so I accidentally adjusted the position of the seat several times, without meaning to.
There was also an entertainment controller underneath a panel, though I find that to be kind of unnecessary, given that the entertainment monitor is touchscreen.
Speaking of entertainment, Delta has 18″ monitors in business class, which are a decent size, and pretty high definition. Since this isn’t really a cutting edge product anymore, the tech is otherwise lacking — there’s no bluetooth audio, wireless charging, or USB-A charging.
The tray table in this configuration folds out from underneath the side console, and is easy enough to use. It’s a single, large tray, so don’t expect you’ll be able to get up when it’s extended.
One of the challenges with many staggered configurations is that the footwells can be kind of small, and too restrictive to get comfortable. I didn’t find that to be an issue here, and found the footwell to be sufficiently large.
One of the cool features of Delta’s A350 business class is that seats have privacy doors. These are unlocked after takeoff (and then locked again before landing), and can be extended with the push of a button. Personally I’m a fan of these kinds of doors, though these aren’t particularly high, so think of them as more of a privacy partition than a door.
Furthermore, the door doesn’t actually close all the way, but rather there’s still a gap of a couple of inches, even when it’s “closed.”
Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that Delta’s A350s do have overhead consoles with individual air nozzles, which is a feature that many of us appreciate.
All-in-all, Delta’s A350 business class product is solid. Now, I do think it’s probably time for some updates (especially with technology), but I imagine those changes are coming once Delta takes delivery of Airbus A350-1000s.
Delta business class amenities
Waiting at each seat upon boarding was a zipped pouch with the bedding, which included a plush pillow and substantial blanket. This bedding is comfortable — perhaps not to the same level of United Polaris business class, but otherwise quite competitive.
There was also an amenity kit at each seat, which was decent enough (though I was expecting a Missoni amenity kit). The kit was from Someone Somewhere, and included a dental kit, ear plugs, eyeshades, Delta-branded socks, and lip balm and lotion from Grown Alchemist.
There were also a pair of Delta-branded slippers at each seat, which were practical.
Next up, there were a pair of noise canceling headphones, which weren’t particularly good quality, but were still better than nothing.
The menu was also waiting at each seat upon boarding.
Once the boarding process was underway, pre-departure drinks were served, with the choice of sparkling wine, orange juice, or a mimosa. It’s nice how Delta serves pre-departure drinks in proper glassware, unlike American and United.
Delta A350 business class entertainment & Wi-Fi
The Delta Studio inflight entertainment system is phenomenal, among the best you’ll find on any airline. This includes a massive selection of movies, TV shows, and music, and it’s hard to imagine that one could ever run out of options.
I’m not really into movies, but I did enjoy watching House Hunters, Open Door (house tours from certain public figures, from Architectural Digest), and Lie Detector (who wouldn’t want to watch Shawn Mendes take a lie detector test?!).
Of course I also loved the map feature, and being able to track the progress of the flight. It’s just a shame that Delta chose not to offer a tail camera on its A350s through the inflight entertainment, since that’s an option.
Delta also offers Wi-Fi on its A350s, though that experience was a mixed back. Delta is in the process of rolling out free Wi-Fi for SkyMiles members worldwide, though it’s very much a work in progress. Not only was Wi-Fi not free on this flight, but it simply wasn’t available for much of the flight, due to the current satellite coverage.
On this flight, messaging was available for free, or otherwise you could buy a full flight pass for $15.
The only catch is that for a majority of the flight from Santiago to Atlanta, there’s not actually coverage at the moment. That should change in the near future. Fortunately this was an overnight flight, so that wasn’t a huge deal.
Delta A350 departure from Santiago
This was a pretty empty flight — there were around 135 empty seats, and before boarding started, only 10 seats were occupied in business class. The cabin then became nearly full, as that were around 20 non-revs, who were all cleared into business class.
It seemed that most people just spent a night in Santiago, as they mostly knew the crew, they discussed what they respectively did on their “layovers,” etc. It’s safe to say this flight was a goldmine for non-revs!
Boarding was efficient, and at 8:20PM the purser added his welcome onboard, announcing that boarding was complete, and that our flight time would be 8hr55min. At that point the safety video was screened.
Then at 8:35PM we began our pushback, and five minutes later we began our taxi. It was quite a long taxi to the departure runway, where we were cleared for takeoff at 9PM. We had a powerful takeoff roll, and gradual climb out.
Even though the climb out was perfectly smooth, the seatbelt sign stayed on for around 30 minutes.
Delta business class dinner
As you’d expect, dinner was served after takeoff on this flight, and you can find the menu below and drink list below.
Service was pretty quick to get started after takeoff, with warm towels being distributed around 15 minutes after takeoff.
After the warm towel service, drinks were served from a cart, around 35 minutes after takeoff. I had a sparkling water, along with the Ontanon Tempranillo Blanco (white wine) from Spain, which wasn’t listed on the menu. Those drinks were accompanied by warm mixed nuts.
Around an hour after takeoff, the first course was served from a cart. Delta deserves high marks for serving a salad, appetizer, and soup, as not many airlines serve all three in business class. These included:
- Mixed green salad with heart of palm, cherry tomato, parsley, and spicy lemon dressing
- Lemon and lime poached prawns with passion fruit ceviche dressing and red onion
- Creamy cauliflower soup with croutons
The only disappointing aspect of this was the bread roll, which was hard and room temperature. I’m not sure if that was an oversight on the part of the crew, or why Delta wouldn’t heat its bread.
While the service up until this point was performed off carts, the main courses were just brought around on trays a few minutes later. I ordered the seared salmon with lemon herb cream sauce, asparagus, and rice.
This was quite good, though I found the service to be a bit sloppy. When this was served, the soup bowl was cleared (so there would be room for the main course on the tray), but the empty salad bowl and appetizer plate were just left on the tray.
Then around 90 minutes after takeoff, the crew passed through the cabin with the dessert trolley, with the choice of caramel flan, an ice cream sundae, or a cheese plate. US airlines actually do a great job with ice cream sundaes, so I decided to order that, and had it with the whipped cream, cashew pralines, and berry compote. Yum.
Trays were cleared just under two hours after departure, and I’d say it was an excellent meal, all things considered, definitely a step up from American and United.
Delta A350 business class lavatories
Delta has two business class lavatories on the A350, located in front of the cabin, with one on each side. The lavatories are pretty average — they do the trick, but aren’t particularly spacious or luxurious.
I did like how the hand soap was from Grown Alchemist, which is at least a classy touch.
One thing I don’t enjoy about US airlines is how the crews don’t do much to tidy the bathrooms during flights. I get it’s not their job, but it sure is nice when you fly an airline where the bathroom is spotless even before landing.
Delta A350 business class bed
Once back at my seat, it was time to get some rest. I turned my seat into a bed, and found it really easy to get comfortable. The temperature in the cabin was cool, and the bed was cozy, without being overly tight. The bed is also quite long, at 76.”
I ended up falling asleep with around seven hours remaining to Atlanta…
…and woke up around two hours from Atlanta.
As someone who is usually bad at sleeping on planes, that was a great night of sleep for me!
Delta business class breakfast
Breakfast was served before landing, with the cabin lights being gradually turned on around 70 minutes before landing in Atlanta. You can find the breakfast menu below.
Since I don’t eat pork, I decided to go with the cold breakfast option, comprised of greek yogurt with strawberry compote and granola, a fruit bowl, and a croissant. It was simple but tasty.
I also had a cup of coffee. Delta doesn’t offer espresso or cappuccino in business class, and I don’t find the carrier to have particularly good drip coffee either. Still, something is better than nothing!
Delta business class service
When it comes to US airlines, Delta is generally known for having above average employees. In that sense, I’ve gotta say that service on this flight was just okay. The crew went through the motions and wasn’t rude, but wasn’t the friendliest or most attentive crew I’ve had on Delta or another US airline.
This year, I’ve taken one long haul flight on each of the “big three” US carriers. Funny enough, Delta actually had the weakest service of those flights, as I had stellar service in American business class and United business class. It just comes to show you how service on US airlines is consistently inconsistent.
Delta A350 arrival in Atlanta
At around 4:25AM local time, the first officer announced that we’d be landing in around 30 minutes, well ahead of schedule. A few moments later we began our descent, and then around 10 minutes after that, the seatbelt sign was turned on.
During the descent, the crew passed through the cabin with little chocolates, which seems to be a standard parting gift in Delta One.
Our descent was smooth, and we touched down in Atlanta at 4:55AM.
We taxied for a few moments, and then came to a stop on the taxiway. At this point it was announced that the immigration facility in Atlanta doesn’t open until 5:30AM, so we’d have to wait some time until we’d be able to proceed to our gate.
Look, the airline industry is incredibly complex, though that also can’t help but make you scratch your head. Why schedule an international flight to arrive at 5:16AM, if the immigration facility only opens at 5:30AM?
Fortunately the wait didn’t end up being quite that long. At 5:15AM we were allowed to park at our gate. Everything then took a few minutes longer, but we were allowed off the plane soon enough. I breezed through immigration thanks to Global Entry, and then visited the Amex Centurion Lounge, prior to my flight to Mexico City.
Bottom line
I had a pleasant flight in Delta One on the Airbus A350-900. The seats were comfortable, the entertainment was extensive, the food was pretty good, and the amenities were solid. On balance, I’d say that this is about as good as business class with US airlines gets.
However, the flight wasn’t perfect. Service wasn’t anything special, and on top of that, due to Delta’s Wi-Fi transition, there wasn’t Wi-Fi for over half the flight (which didn’t bother me on this overnight flight, but would bother me more on a daytime flight).
I’d gladly fly Delta One again, assuming the price is right (which can be rare). Just keep in mind that this is by far Delta’s best business class, and it’ll be a vastly different experience on the carrier’s secondhand A350-900s, 767-300ERs, etc.
What’s your take on Delta’s A350 business class?
For all that's holy, can you please please please for once have something else besides the sundae. It is boring. I want to see what the other desserts are like.
The funny thing is, Delta will give the D1 seats to non-revs for free, I steady of giving paid pax a decent upgrade price. As a DM, my upgrade price is usually $2k+.
Delta is so cheap that it use sticky sweaty plastics coverings for its business class seats instead of the typical breathable fabric.
Enough said.
Ben, which day of the week was this flight on ? - Thanks
House Hunter International is so much better then the US House Hunter. Too bad they do not have the International version.
Can anybody explain why airlines continueto install those silly two prong headphone jacks?
Sure: to make it less likely that people will steal the headphones, since they aren't compatible with most personal electronics.
(Yes, of course there are adaptors. But that's the reason.)
"It’s worth mentioning that Delta’s A350s do have overhead consoles with individual air nozzles." It is probably also worth mentioning that this is only true for the window seats. The center seats do not have them (no overhead bins). Also, I think the ex-Latam A350's don't have them at all in J.
Who cares. I have no nozzles at the office I work in.
I can't fly without nozzles.
Yeah, this aligns with my experiences - the a350 gets hype from some loyalists online, but in person it's a bit of a paper tiger. Unfortunate given that DL had so much to work with here.
Weird that wifi map.. in 22 and 23, I flew a delta 350 from Detroit to Japan and had wifi the whole way.
"...Ontanon Tempranillo Blanco (white whine)"...
If White Whine had been the title of the review, it would have been hilarious.
If it was unintentional, you may want to correct the spelling of the word "wine".
Regardless, thanks for another fun read.
The washrooms on N American carriers, any class, any route are a disgrace more than Hal the time. WestJet seems to be the exception!
Airline staff hopefully live in better circumstances. Passengers should too.
It takes neither a lot of materials - gloves, brushes, spray cleaner - nor a lot of training. The big problem will be supervision and motivation.
I am not sure why but Delta One seats are uncomfortable for sleeping and make me sweat way more than any other carrier. I am not sure if it’s the material of their seats, but I hate this aspect of their seats.
. They're covered in plastic, while a good seat is covered in breathable fabric.
"Delta’s A350 probably offers the best business class experience you’ll find on any US airline, on balance."
Come on ... United is without question better. United has better beddining, better in-flight wine, and more business-class-only lounges.
I noticed in several reviews that you mentioned that US airlines do a good job with ice cream sundaes. But I'm a bit confused at how you could possibly mess up a scoop of ice cream with toppings haha? Imo the other. desserts would be more interesting to review.
Lots of airlines mess up ice cream sundaes, because many times the portions are dished up prior to loading them on the plane and then re-frozen in the individual dishes, and they are served to passengers still frozen solid and impossible to eat. You can usually tell by looking at the dishes of ice cream on the cart if this is the case, and when it is, I pick another dessert option or the cheese course.
The proper Delta One procedure currently for presentation of the main course is to first clear the whole tray (salad, soup, appetizer), leaving perhaps the bread dish (if the pax is still enjoying their bread), and the salt and pepper shaker. The main course is then presented with a new cutlery set without any trays. Obviously this crew (and purser) decided to do it the old old way.
This has sort of been mentioned already, but I don't see the point in rating a global airline in comparison to literally two others. You wouldn't say 'I enjoyed my experience on TAP and I think they're the best airline in the whole of the Iberian peninsula because IB this and UX that', what's the point of doing it with DL? Someone flying e.g. between Europe and Mexico may be able to choose from more than a dozen options.
Agree. It's like a review saying that China Southern (or whatever) is the best international long haul airline in China.
Who cares, when you can find many better airline to carry you over the Pacific.
One thing I find really lacking is the DeltaOne menu is always so boring. Grilled salmon, seared chicken thigh, roast beef. Would really appreciate something that tries a little harder.
I wish Delta and United could use a "plate" to plate their main dishes instead of "bowl" they currently use. These aren't so comfortable to cut food.
In contrast, American uses a better one with although I wouldn't exactly call those a plate.
@lucky...
"One thing I don’t enjoy about US airlines is how the crews don’t do much to tidy the bathrooms during flights. I get it’s not their job..."
If it is not the FA's job to 'tidy' bathrooms during a flight, who's job is it?
"Pre-departure drinks." The French champagne is only opened after take-off (for duty-free/customs reasons?). So for Delta One pre-departure it's bubbles of a Delta-branded Mionetto off-dry prosecco. Mionetto-labeled prosecco is about $8 a bottle. …(Nov 21, 2022 vftw)
I find it disappointing to not even offer a flimsy mattress sheet just to be able to not sleep directly on the seat itself. Even LH is able to offer a seat cover on long haul flights. UA's bedding makes this embarrassing.
Delta does offer a mattress pad on some flights. I have used them
Yes, but isn’t that just for the longest routes? Mainly to Asia and to JNB if I’m not mistaken? Would make sense to introduce it to transatlantic routes as well, given the premium on those routes.
Delta only has mattress pads on ultra long haul routes--South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, some Asia routes. The cutoff is 6000 mile flight length. FWIW, I think AA removed their mattress pads for business class with their amenity update this past April (while it lasts, Flagship First still gets them).
It is not the Flight Attendants job to tidy/clean the loo’s? Never heard of this. This makes no sense. I guess one can count on dirty loo’s on Delta, other US airlines. Really?
Exactly, if not them, whose job is it? I guess the flight crew, because there are no other employees working on the flight.
Passengers should keep it clean after use. Many don’t. It isn’t difficult but for some, peeing ( or worse) on the floor and leaving tissue paper everywhere is normal.
I don't think he is saying it *shouldn't* be their job. But it is literally not their job, as defined by their contracts.
So glad Delta changed their amenity kit. I got the Missoni one and it is definitely a huge upgrade over that ridiculous cloth pouch they used for years.
Is it possible to add a stopover in Atlanta on this itinerary?
@ Matt H -- Unfortunately not, that would totally change the pricing.
Do you have any idea how likely Delta would be to do anything if you used ATL as a hidden city and just didn’t take the last flight?
As with anything do it sparingly. If you did it once or twice a year you'd have no issues. Past 5 times a year you might start to get a look.
Lucky, can we get an interpretation on this TOPIC? Also, if a round trip ticket is cheaper than a one way ticket, is it OK to simply toss the return ticket?
The most surprising thing about this review is your rating for it. 4.5 given the long list of things to be improved, from service to food to bathrooms to tech and so on. Is it really as good as other airlines you rate at 4.5?
I suspect the rating is for the North American context: the big US 3 plus Air Canada and Latam. Otherwise, no way. Only drip coffee available, no beef entree, only bacon choice for protein in the breakfast, non-serviced lavs, etc; a total embarassement ig compared to what is offered by the top ME and Asian airlines.
The best North American flights I've had recently was on WestJet to NRT.
Really solid flagship lounge in YYC and the actual service and food quality was excellent. I would say it was better than European airlines and not too far behind Asian carriers. They should really be the standard in North America.
WestJet could actually hold its own against Air Canada if it had a proper expansion strategy. Without any of its additional 787s,...
The best North American flights I've had recently was on WestJet to NRT.
Really solid flagship lounge in YYC and the actual service and food quality was excellent. I would say it was better than European airlines and not too far behind Asian carriers. They should really be the standard in North America.
WestJet could actually hold its own against Air Canada if it had a proper expansion strategy. Without any of its additional 787s, they're having a hard time growing and the choice to have a 4 row business cabin probably hurts the revenue quite a bit too.
Aeromexico have been consistently good for me, certainly far better than my experiences with UA. The lounge at CDMX isn't fantastic, but everything else has been spot on.
It is a stupid way of doing things. If Ben flies Singapore Airlines, gets amazing service, food, wines, service and so on, but the flight attendant at certain point forgets to refer to him using his name, will the airline end up with a 4.0 rating in the contents of it being Singaporean (and the high standards of service in Singapore)?
The first ex Latam A350 is in for mods right now and the type isn’t scheduled beyond next summer which means Delta expects them all to be converted in less than a year.
The highs of Delta service aren’t as extreme as the lows of AA and UA which is why Delta service is rated higher. It is much more of a guess how low you might get with Delta’s competitors.
Can you explain with any data about the lows of AA / UA? Yes, I've enjoyed flying DL...but I've also enjoyed AA...I don't fly UA...you just made up that silly statement.
You are far more likely to get the random AA or UA employee that offers service well below company standards.
AS, DL and WN are far more consistent with few highs but far fewer lows.
yeah this genuinely doesn't make sense, there's no reason to do this, SCL doesn't even have a curfew or anything! just leave a half hour later and arrive at 5:45 am; if passengers have to wait for immigration to open anyway it's not like they're going to miss connections they'd otherwise be able to take
Looking at Flight Aware, this flight arrives anywhere between 6:20-6:40 on average, so it probably depends on taxi times and maybe weather en route.
Maybe there were caught in the gap where the two markets were in different phases of daylight savings time.
Hey Ben, DL does actually have espresso on some fleet types including the ex LATAM A350s but don't believe it's on the "flagship" A350s. It's listed on the menu you posted.
I’m glad you mentioned this. I’ve ordered espresso before on the DL 350’s, but many FA’s get annoyed when you do, but it is on offer.