Review of Delta Air Lines flight from San Francisco to Seattle in Premium Eco

Salut Bernard.

Wow! Time really flies. It just seemed like yesterday when I told you about this trip when we went out to eat.

Honestly I think that sometimes one can ride more comfortably in Y than in F or J, provided that the right circumstances are there.

I think Purgatory fits adequately since it is a holding place for souls to suffer before moving to another place.

Thanks for your comments as always.

Hi Kevin.

I believe that the box is a new customer service initiative. I have not seen it last year when I experienced a delay from SFO-SLC on my way to CDG. This time around I also saw a similar box the same day at another gate. Perhaps directly or indirectly, the M3 big carriers are having an effect on the U.S. carriers and forcing them to be more customer friendly after posting big profits.

No luck this time for the view. I remember when I flew AS the pilots will make references to landmarks or sights whenever we passed by them. Oh well.

Light rail from SEA to downtown is very convenient and cheap at USD 3 each way.

SEA food scene is becoming exciting and you can see the passion in people trying to provide a better product. I have a list of places that I wanted to try but unfortunately there is not enough time. Feel free to email me with questions if you want.

Thank you for your visit.

I am just an amateurish aficionado who likes to take pictures.

- As am I, merely a hobby I picked up due to plane spotting.

I 'would' point out that both of the hotels you mentioned were not in the US (Paris/HK), so there are inherent differences in service standards, but that is just an excuse and doesn't at all address the bigger problem that a luxury hotel doesn't try and distinguish itself with its service. I think the lack of any sort of acknowledgement is poor customer service. As you said, even a card would have made a big difference and showed that they at least cared about their customers. An accidental oversight or just plain laziness? We'll never know the answer, but it has changed your image of the company and that's what they should be worried about. You'd expect greater attention to detail from a hotel like that.

Part of the joy of life is sharing with others.

- Well thank you for sharing with us :)

Your other nickname should be Lazarus.

The sin was to fly DL ?

- There are far worse transgressions than flying DL.

It's a nice gesture but the container seems to be a bit small to satisfy all the pax

- It was replenished frequently, so everybody had its share if they wanted. Don't you think that having a huge basket or cart would have been rather vulgar? The box was discreet and elegantly presented. Quality vs quantity is a way to look at it.

it reminds me of the KL basket(the cornucopia ?) of snacks

- Why not? You got the red from the peanuts, the blue from the pretzels and the white from the Biscoff cookies, just like the flag from the Netherlands.

In a hotel like this one it's easy to imagine you could meet Rhett Butler or Scarlett in a corridor

- As long as it is not someone like Jack Nicholson in The Shining...

I hit the jackpot in the aerial views on the return flight.

Merci Lazarus...pardon, 007!

I'm surprised 007 hasn't convinced you to switch to TK.

- Perhaps he needs to work on his persuasion skills. ;)

Seriously though, I am not impressed by TK's customer service and the way they handled (or did not) a credit. I was commenting to Indianocean that when I took my SK+ trip from GOT-ARN-NCE, only the GOT-ARN segment was credited on my TK account. I even made sure that my TK FF# was entered in the record locator when I purchased the tkt on SK. This was a straight Plus fare that was purchased directly with SK, no middle man or third party site. When I inquired with TK, they replied that the segment was ineligible without giving me a reason. I then resent TK a receipt that SK emailed me with the fare breakdown showing that I took the flight and TK replied again that it couldn't be credited. After about more than a month of this I gave up and credited it on UA which I was able to do it online and it took less than 72 hrs. Then a few months later I received an email from TK saying that they will try to credit that segment and will contact SK. Forget about it.

If I get the run around for something as straight forward and simple as crediting an A fare from SK+, then imagine for something more challenging, and I don't want to deal with the agents over the phone by calling directly to Turkey or even a regional sales office in the U.S. A frequent flyer program should be user friendly, practical and reliable. TK is brilliant in the air for the most part, but the customer service on the ground is decades behind.

You are most welcome Kevin.

Do you still think that the dAArk side is greener? I keep reading about the constant deterioration of the inflight product - eg. FA's telling F pax to make their own turndown service in F on long haul intl. flights, inedible food, etc. and I am glad that I never looked back. Then just when I thought I found the right program, BA introduced detrimental changes to their mid-tier level and I am back to square one. Lately I have been pulled to *A and I will give OZ's program a try. We'll see if the third time is the charm.

Thanks for your supportive comments as always.

As a loyalty program, AAdvantage is still the best bang for your buck of any of the North American FFPs, but the less than stellar service I've received on some occasions have left a bad taste in my mouth. Most of my experiences have been very good, but the few bad ones have been so bad that they are changing my view of AA. I am trying to keep an open mind and I know that mergers are difficult, I've been through them too, but AA needs to stop using the merger as an excuse. Every time there have been customer service failures on their end, I get the mergers are rough excuse....BS, stop hiding behind it and pointing fingers and start taking ownership! Anyway...don't wanna get on a rant. I'll write reports on it at some point, though I have such a huge backlog, LOL.

Re *A Programs, I'm surprised 007 hasn't convinced you to switch to TK. I'm not sure if they're still doing status matches, but I know they were matching (no challenge required) for a long time.

To answer both of you, IMHO FFPs' golden age is over :(

TK is only useful to have/retain a status : 25000 miles every two years to stay *A Gold.

The Earning/Spending rates are bad and taxes are too high.

The customer/ground service is a nightmare.

AV is useful for award tickets but I don't need to earn with them, only buying miles when I need.

As Jetsetpanda said, BA(d) is over since its detrimental changes and I'm looking at AA because the spending rates are (still) good

Great points Gilbert, but there is a cautionary tale with AA.

For the moment, AA has a great earning and redemption scheme, but the question is how long that is going to last. DL and UA already imposed a minimum spending on them with USD qualifications. AA will follow sooner or later. Furthermore AA might even cut the bonus mileage on mid-tier elite status down the line once the merger issues are resolved. AA's current management does not seem like the type that will invest money in differentiating AA from the pack but rather emphasize on the return for investors at all costs by cutting and slashing amenities. I'm convinced that the only reason they are improving catering is because the timing of UA's improved catering announcement caught them by surprise.

With less competitors, it is expected that FFP's golden age will come to an end. It's a natural and logical progression. Less competition has always been detrimental to customers. These days it's a matter of degree and find out which program is less punishing than others if you want to look at it that way.

I find AV useful despite its bad reputation for customer service and keep it as a back up. The promotions they they offer a few times per year to buy or share miles and ability to redeem awards with a cash + miles combination are its major advantages.

Lately I've been disappointed with BA's Executive Club and the reduction of Silver bonus to just 50% was the final blow which happened recently after I switched. So far LHR has been the worst airport for connections that I have ever experienced in Europe and that has left me with a bad taste. I still have time to concentrate on another program this early in the game so I will give OZ a try. Its qualification to mid-tier Diamond (Gold on *A) is only 40,000 miles in 2 years, which at an average of 20,000 miles per year makes it even better than A3 and without the minimum spend on their own metal. Perhaps down the line I could solicit a status match with TK and just use that to retain Gold status. When I was Platinum with AA, I was refused a match with TK because at the time they only granted it to same *A members. I found that ridiculous on TK's part to poach from their own program partners instead of attracting top customers from other alliances.

Sadly, you are right 007, the golden days of FFPs are gone. I'm holding on to what I can of it with AAdvantage, which is still a good program...but the customer service experience was definitely better on DL. With the way loyalty programs are going anymore, I'm not sure that I'll even make an effort to renew status and may just have to fly less often and straight out buy J or F when I fly. So for now until the program changes I'll keep racking up my AA miles and then who knows after that. Maybe it'll be a good thing in the future not to feel trapped by brand loyalty and explore new things.