It was as good as it could be. Flying is not a pleasant experience these days.
The plane was old and thus the seats were not good. No cushion left whatsoever, and it all was a bit worn out.
I was in Comfort and we didn’t get any drinks, chips or anything! First Class got full service on the flight and Comfort got nothing. Seat was horrible and uncomfortable
My flight was delayed by 4 hours in 30 minute increments. The gate agents were amazing but the communication was not. We were told that there was a maintenance issue but they didn't know what it was. That didn't inspire confidence. Then they said they found it and it was fixed and the pilot just needed to sign off. Then the pilot needed to talk to the other pilot from the arriving flight and we'd be fine. Then we were waiting for the pilot to call back. Then the maintenance issue wasn't fixed. Then they decided we were getting a new plane (why didn't they decide this earlier??). Fine. But then they announced we were changing gates AND terminals. And we were boarding in 20 minutes. So we all had to run to the new terminal gate. We could have taken off at that time, but we then had to wait for all the people who rebooked on a different flight to book this flight again. That took 30+ minutes because there was only one gate agent. When everyone ditched this flight, I saw it as an opportunity to upgrade to comfort. Delta, the greedy jerks they are, charged me $121. After their delay, their fault, their issues, couldn't even discount an upgrade. They only handed out $12 meal vouchers for the delay. I can't even get a snack from starbucks for that.
The crew was very inconsiderate and rude. My flight was scheduled to depart at 6:00am. I received a call from the crew at 5:40am, asking if I was going to make the flight because I was the only one that hasn't boarded yet and boarding ends at 5:50am. I let them know that I will be at the gate in a few minutes, before the 5:50am cutoff. When I arrived at the gate at 5:45am the gate was closed. Departing early on last minute notice without having all passengers on board is inconsiderate and unprofessional.
FA was a bit strange and dodgy not very characteristic of Delta
Not really a “Delta” problem but worth mentioning: Boarding was a difficult process. TSA seemed understaffed and Pre-Check took longer than regular TSA. The supervisor was frazzled and yelled at travelers. Once through TSA, we had to put our carry-ons through another x-ray machine. Then queue up to board with both boarding pass and ID. Then, when we got to the stairs on the tarmac, we had to show our boarding pass again. Maybe this is just normal for Kona since the terminal is outdoors (but still a “secured” area).
Delta was really good about being transparent with why we were delayed it’s just that’s the plane was really old and outdated and a lot of the comfort and amenities we know Delta to have did not shine through
My sister and I paid to have our seats and have them next to each other. I heard one of the employees say to the other one that you shouldn’t have given away reserved seats away to other passengers, and so I guess that is what happened because I got the last most uncomfortable seat in the plane even though I paid to sit in the middle of the plane with my sister. Terrible Experience !!
We checked one bag. That was fast and the agent was fast and super nice. At the gate, boarding was fast and efficient. Flight was uneventful which was great because it was early in the morning and most folks were sleeping. Landing was great. Delta does a really good job of making the flying experience better all around considering you are sitting in such a small space on a plane for several hours.
