Booking
I flew home from the last Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix from Amsterdam to Minneapolis, on Delta’s A350-900 aircraft. This one-way flight cost me 63,000 SkyMiles. Not a great deal in general, but in Delta’s currency, it was a decent choice considering the alternatives were either over $1,000 or had multiple layovers. With my Platinum Medallion status, I was able to choose a Comfort+ seat for free. On top of that, about an hour before boarding I got a notification saying my seat had changed. Fully prepared to be demoted to Main Cabin, I opened the seat map just hoping it wasn’t a middle seat. Lo and behold, I was moved to Premium Select! Since Delta does not ‘officially’ do upgrades past Comfort+ on international flights, I never got an upgrade email. I consider this a once-in-a-lifetime upgrade but I have heard it happening to other people, including Delta One!
Aircraft Layout
Delta’s A350-900 layout consists of 32 Business class seats, 48 Premium Select, 36 Comfort+ and 190 Main Cabin seats. Delta currently operates 41 A350-900s, and while I strongly dislike the 3-3-3 Main Cabin and Comfort+ layout (does anyone like it, though?) the aircraft has plenty of headspace, a quiet cabin, and a fairly large aft galley where the Anytime Snacks can be found. (Please don’t stand in the galley while flight attendants are doing meal service, you’ll be told to leave! Think of it as an area to stretch your legs for a few minutes mid-flight). Premium Select is 2-4-2 seating and Delta One is 1-2-1 seat with fully enclosed suites. As of writing, these are Delta’s newest Delta One Suites.
Seat Review: 23G
At booking, I chose seat 31D, a Comfort+ seat, for this daytime flight. After my unofficial upgrade, my new seat was 23G, an aisle seat. I’m guessing they moved me up to Premium Select for a combination of reasons: the need to assign standby seats, few or no non-revs flying, no GUCs waiting to clear, and the fact that I was a solo traveler and there was only one Premium Select seat available. I’m also assuming that any Diamond Medallions were already in Premium Select, Delta One, or were traveling with family/in a group. If you are considering ‘chasing’ Medallion status, I would not put any weight on this situation. This was definitely a rare moment.
Now for the Premium Select seat review. I’ve flow Premium Select before and my first thought is always the same, “They give us way too much stuff and nowhere to put it.” My seatmate had the same thought – her first words to me were “Sorry, I have no idea where any of this is supposed to go.” We were given a bottle of water, Delta Premium Select-specific headphones (that remain on the plane), a memory foam pillow, a blanket, and an amenity kit. The downside is the seatback pocket is far too small to hold more than one of these items, but there is a nook in the armrest to put your water bottle.
Allergen Info
Delta Premium Select Dietary Meals
Delta offers several dietary meal options on their website, including Infant, Child, Asian Vegetarian, Vegan, Lacto-Ovo, Hindu, Halal-Style, Kosher, Balanced Meal, and Gluten Intolerant. A few of these differ when selecting meals in the app. The Balanced Meal refers to a few different options: Diabetic (Low Sugar), Low Cal/Chol/Fat, and the Low Sodium meals. These can usually be requested via the app under “Accessible Services” and “Special Meals” on your reservation.
Allergen Request Process
I did not request an allergen friendly meal since Delta does not have one. I could have contacted customer support to put a note of my allergy on my reservation, and that probably would have been smart. Their website even has a section on Tree Nut and Other Food Allergies. Unfortunately the last few times I tried to inform Delta of my Tree Nut allergy, the agent would put it in as a Peanut allergy. That, of course, is completely inaccurate and entirely unhelpful. But I suppose most people assume a peanut is a tree nut!
On-Board Experience
Even if I don’t contact Delta about my allergy beforehand, I always try to mention my allergy to flight attendants when boarding or when meal service starts. I’m not a fan of giving flight attendants more work than they already have – their main job is safety, not hospitality – but I like to remind myself that informing them of my allergy is better than having to divert a flight for a medical emergency because I went into anaphylactic shock!
I knew before boarding that I probably wouldn’t be able to eat either Premium Select meal option. The choices were Basil Chicken and Thai Green Curry. The Basil Chicken was marinated in pesto, which is usually made with pine nuts, and I was hesitant to try the Curry because I have had reactions to curries in the past (they sometimes have coconut which can be considered a tree nut). When I mentioned this to the flight attendant she offered to look at the meal details. Unfortunately, Delta’s flight attendants have the same exact meal info that you see. I find that really disappointing from one of the biggest carriers. Since the flight attendant and I couldn’t determine if the meal was safe, I ended up skipping the meal. In hindsight, I wish I had suggested getting one of the economy meals like I was offered on a recent Air France flight. Thankfully Delta does have anytime snacks (location varies by aircraft) so I snagged a few stroopwafels, Biscoff, and pretzels.
Despite not being able to eat dinner, I was comfortable enough with having either of the Pre-Arrival meal choices: Tomato and Basil Pizza or a Steak Sandwich. I ended up choosing the Steak Sandwich, but it looked like the pizza came in a deep dish/oven bake type form. I had a feeling the sandwich would come out looking a bit sad – and it definitely did. But I have to say, it actually tasted pretty good! About as good as a microwaved airline sandwich could be. The meat was surprisingly tender. And the tiramisu was fantastic.
As a disclaimer: Delta’s tiramisu description does not mention tree nuts, and classic tiramisu recipes do not call for nuts. But modern recipes sometimes call for hazelnuts or walnuts. I have had Delta’s tiramisu a few times over the years with no issues, but they could change their recipe whenever they feel.
You can look ahead to find your meal options and details at: menu.delta.com
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