Why Delta Sucks
I can’t say that I am a big fan of Delta Airlines after this trip. Not that I was a big fan before.
At Atlanta, you supposedly drop off at a curbside checkin. So I take all the bags and my two kids to the curbside checkin while my wife goes to return the rental car. Between us, I had five bags to check. No problem, I have three people with me.
Well I could only check four of the bags at curbside and I only had boarding passes for my wife (who wasn’t even with me at that moment), and my daughter. My son and I had “extra seats” in our reservation, which for some reason the curbside checkin and the automated kiosks won’t allow me to print boarding passes for. No excuse for that. That meant going inside and checking in again.
Next, they would not allow us to pre-board our flight, despite the fact that we have a child under the age of two. Every other airline I’ve flown on allows this. Instead, we had to board last. The bollocks answer given by the gate attendant we that we were boarding in the front of the plane and that if we boarded first, we’d blockthe rest of the passengers from boarding. Since when is row 22 the front of the plane?
Then there is Delta’s food service on the flight. For someone like me who doesn’t eat bready stuff, a “snack” of crackers, cheese, raisins, and Oreo cookies isn’t exactly filling. Fortunately, I pack food and drink tomato juice (or Bloody Mary mix), which helps keep me less hungry.
In any case, I will do my best to avoid flying Delta in the future. It’s clear that Delta’s priorities don’t include a high-quality customer experience. Maybe I’ll write them a letter and see if they will respond within 30 days as they say they will.
Meanwhile, it’s been an uneventful flight so far. Kids are mostly quiet. I managed to load up on podcasts on the way back home. Have several Ken Radios, a TWiTcast, some VON Radios, and a Linux Link Tech Show. More than enough for the trip I’m sure.
