Hello Flight Report community. This is a continuation of a fantastic RTW trip I took in January 2015.
I will dissect the journey as follows:
Planning, Virgin America Loft LAX, VX LAX-JFK (First)http://flight-report.com/en/report-10395.html
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse JFK and SQ JFK-FRA (Suites) http://flight-report.com/en/report-10408.html
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge FRA, Lufthansa Senator Lounge FRA, and SQ FRA-SIN (Suites)http://flight-report.com/en/report-10511.html
The Private Room SIN and SQ SIN-PEK (First)http://flight-report.com/en/report-10524.html
Air China Business Class Lounge PEK and CA PEK-NRT (Business)http://flight-report.com/en/report-10573.html
Delta Skyclub NRT and DL NRT-LAX (Business)(This report)
Welcome to the last leg of my whirlwind RTW. Thanks for following along. I will caveat this final installment to note that it is not presented with great detail. I think I ran out of steam and didn't take many photos.
Upon arrival in Narita Terminal 1 I opted to clear immigration and use a portion of my 2.5 hour layover enjoying the observation deck. This is a tradition of mine whenever time allows at NRT. I'll proceed to the Lawson's adjacent to the food court and procure a can of beer and off to gaze at airplanes. Today would be no different except that it will not be the most comfortable day to be out of doors. The famous NRT crosswinds were howling and the temp was in the 5 degrees C range. I'm a dedicated spotter so I put on every layer of clothing I had and ventured out. I didn't last long but grabbed a few pictures before retreating to the terminal.
A DL747 at gate 25.
My refreshment.
That's me.
Small Boeing.
Time to retreat to the comfort of a warm lounge.
Delta Skyclub Narita South Satellite.
Some airplanes visible from the lounge.
Boarding commenced and I boarded with the call for Delta One passengers. I am fortunate enough to fly between LAX and NRT/HND with some frequency so I was recognized by one of the very friendly flight attendants. We spent a few minutes getting caught up.
I selected an Asahi as my pre-departure beverage.
Full cabin, as always.
Not being by a window also contributed to my lack of pictures. There's always some food to look at!
The starter along with the Delta Sky Breeze cocktail. This service is now from a cart adn I can't say if I prefer one method over another. I will say that drink refills are more forthcoming as the flight attendants have everything right there.
Soup and salad next with a glass of red wine. I'm afraid I failed to take pictures of the menu and wine list. The soup and salad were both very nice. Pretzel bread is great with anything.
The beef entree.
I skipped the dessert cart but the bounty consisted of ice cream sundaes, a selection of cakes and sweets, and fruit and cheese. A port and sauternes were on offer. It was lights out for me. While I prefer a reverse herringbone seating config I will say that these seats work well for me for sleeping. I like having my head away from the aisle. And sleep I did until about 90 minutes out of LAX when the breakfast service commenced.
Breakfast was only two options, an egg dish or cold cereal. I opted for the eggs.
A smooth touchdown on on 24R and we made the journey around to the north complex to park at gate 57 and make the trek to Immigration and Customs. I feel like the 777-200LR is just getting warmed up and the flight is over! A brief stop at the Global Entry kiosk and with only carry-on baggage I was through in no time and the epic journey came to an unceremonious end.
Thanks for sharing this report !
I was surprised by the layout of the cabin in this 777 as I expected another more recent seat type. But as you mentioned you have full access to the iasle and slept well .
Catering in Business on Delta is usualy good and was on this flight although it's never fancy. Same for flight attendants that are most of the time professional and pleasant .
I love teh firts pic as I think that the 747 looks great in delta colours.
Greetings Skyteamchc and thanks for reading! New slogan for Delta: It's not fancy but it's good. I think it will catch on.
This is a great report! Wonderful pictures! I haven't flown Delta outside of North America as of yet (not-so-great experiences on American and United have me a bit jaded flying U.S. carriers outside of the region). However, based on your report, I will certainly keep Delta in mind for flights to/from Asia & Europe.
The food looks great: It's very much on-par with what International Business Class passengers receive on Air Canada's long-haul flights. Although, I'm not a fan of the seat pods offered on your flight (they are a bit tight and don't offer the kind of privacy one would expect when sitting in a premium class). Hopefully Delta will upgrade to a better type of seat in Business soon.
Great job! :-)
Hello Jollygiant and thank you for the kind words!
Although, I'm not a fan of the seat pods..
-I agree, I prefer the reverse herringbone design found on the Delta A330 and B7474.
Happy flying!
Thanks for this FR ! ;)
You're welcome, 02022001. Thanks for reading.
The reason certain routes use cart service for food/beverages is to bridge the language barrier. It is time saving to display what's available, rather than expect non-English speakers to communicate detailed orders.
Greetings Caribel and thanks for the comments. I hadn't thought of that benefit.
Wow!
Really nice report!
We really enjoyed how you took photos of the food and how you gave in-depth explanations about each item.
Although where are the photos of the seats?
Otherwise amazing report, like always.
From the yyz_planespotting36 team
Thanks for reading and commenting Yyz_planespotting36. I'll try to do better cabin shots next time. Happy travels!
Thanks for sharing your RTW, it was great to follow up reading each step.
Definitively DL is not at the same level as the other airlines you rode in, but it still looks like a great option across the Pacific.
Thanks for the comments Chibcha. Happy travels.
Thanks for sharing this awesome RTW series of report! Funny that a few years ago the 77L J was the best J in the fleet, but it now the most outdated J hard product in the fleet. Still a solid overall experience! Though only if you're flying alone--I must prefer the 747/A330 Cirrus seats or 767 Thompson vantage seats when travelling as a couple.
Thanks again for all the great report and now I'm totally expecting all reports to be part of a RTW in the future :-P
Greetings KevinDC and thanks for the comments.
Funny that a few years ago the 77L J was the best J in the fleet..
- I really hope they don't wait much longer to upgrade it to at least the Cirrus product but ideally to a next generation of J seat.
Happy travels.