Summary
- Delta Air Lines offers a superior booking process with feature-rich options for frequent flier miles and upgrades.
- Flying the A220-300 provides a contemporary and comfy experience, with touchscreen controls, spacious bins, and free Wi-Fi.
- Baggage tracking by Delta Air Lines is seamless, ensuring peace of mind during travel with the most recent tech features.
I attended the Oregon International Airshow and needed a flight back to Washington State, so I took a Delta Air Lines Airbus A220-300 flight, namely DL 2849, in top notch. I felt I’d use Delta Air Lines’ top notch offering on a mainline jet – namely, the Airbus A220-300, as I discovered while browsing Delta’s offerings.
Previously flown on Delta Air Lines for multiple reasons
I even have flown on Delta Air Lines before – twice on Delta Connection’s Embraer E175 regional jet and twice on the Airbus A220. As an example, last 12 months I compared Alaska Air Group’s Horizon Air and Delta Connection’s Embraer E175 top notch offerings between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and Boise Airport (BOI).
![Nose On With E175 at BOI With Passengers Disembarking](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/simpleflying_nose-on-with-e175-at-boi-with-passengers-disembarking_jak.jpg)
Comparing The First-Class Products On Alaska Airlines’ And Delta Air Lines’ Embraer E-175s
Comparing the Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines E175 top notch products by flying the Seattle-Boise route and back.
I also compared Alaska Airlines’ mainline Boeing 737-700 and Delta Air Lines’ A220 mainline major cabin offerings. This allowed me to check airlines and aircraft to put in writing a novel trip review.
![A220 Taking Off From SEA - 4x6](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/simpleflying_a220-taking-off-from-sea-4x6_jak.jpg)
Flight Review: Alaska Airlines 737-700 Major Cabin vs. Delta Air Lines A220 Major Cabin
Booking is one place where the 2 airlines provide dramatic contrasts.
I even have found Delta Air Lines booking process more feature-rich than Alaska Airlines. As an example, I can transfer frequent flier miles to seating class upgrades – although I didn’t use that incredible feature on this flight, I even have done so previously and can in the longer term. See #5 of below for details:
![KLM and Delta Air Lines aircraft parked on the apron at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/klm-and-delta-air-lines-aircraft-at-amsterdam-schiphol-airport-ams-shutterstock_1542390362-1.jpg)
5 Clever Ways To Use Delta Skymiles?
There are numerous ways to redeem Delta’s loyalty program miles.
Then there’s the matter that Alaska Airlines’ flight attendants’ union president publicly shared on February 13 that after the strike authorization and any further unsatisfactory mediation session, the union could seek authorization to strike from the National Mediation Board. Alaska Airlines’ situation has develop into a deterrent to booking tickets – I prefer knowing my flight will depart on time and is staffed by appropriately compensated pilots, mechanics, and flight attendants so I could make my transit connections. I also hope Delta Air Lines flight attendants can have their unionization election sooner moderately than later.
Pre-flight
On this flight, I could tap with my debit card onto a bus operated by Trimet, Portlandia’s transit provider from Hillsboro, to transfer to Trimet MAX light rail on to the airport terminal with my two bags. As you may see below, the Trimet MAX goes right to the airport.
Photo: Joe Kunzler | Easy Flying
I made a decision on a whim to make use of my top notch perk of two free checked bags and check my overnight bag on the PDX gate. Nonetheless, the PDX gate bag ramp was broken, so Delta Air Lines staff made alternative arrangements with a bag drop-off just before security. My bag could be tracked throughout its journey, giving me peace of mind – something Alaska Airlines doesn’t provide currently.
Nonetheless, going through the PDX security line left much to be desired. Not all lines were staffed that Saturday afternoon and the time thru security was noticeable. Moreover, unlike with SEA, there was no “spot saver” to reward those that make appointments to undergo security, as you may find out about below:
This can be a place for Portland International Airport, not Delta Air Lines, to enhance. Moreover, I wish there was a bit less of a walk to my gate, but once I got to my gate, I had a pleasant place to recharge my phone and watch flight operations. A number of the seats were even branded with the Delta Air Lines logo. I used to be too enthralled by the flight operations to check the PDX WiFi – my apologies. I also was excited at learning I might have a girl pilot watching her do the walk-around of the A220-300 – with more potential for fun.
Flying top notch in a newish Canadian-designed Airbus airliner
I used to be already excited to fly in a Canadian-designed airliner again, as I used to be excited to fly in a De Haviland Dash 8-400 (aka Q400) and an A220. Without an overlong review of your entire history of the A220, the A220 was originally designed and designated by Bombardier because the C-Series. Nonetheless, development troubles made Bombardier sell this system to Airbus in 2018 and rebranded because the A220. One can watch a Easy Flying YouTube history of the matter:
The A220 does include a brilliant modern cockpit and incredible fuel efficiency. A few of Delta Air Lines’ A220s, just like the one I flew on in N325DU, an Airbus A220-300 model, were assembled in Mirabel, Quebec, and a few in Mobile, Alabama. Below is an Airbus infographic in regards to the A220:
Graphic: Airbus
Moreover, the A220-300 comes with a fuel burn of between 10.11lb/mile and 11.01lbmile. Which is significantly better than the 737 family. As you may see, the A220 is an acceptable aircraft for the SEA-PDX route when demand exceeds the 76-seat Embraer E175. For all of those reasons and more, the A220 is incredibly popular with Delta Air Lines as you may watch below.
Moreover, the A220 comes with a photogenic exterior design and an interior with the most recent in comfort. As an example, there’s a touchscreen for flight attendants to regulate lighting. There are also larger luggage bins and free wi-fi available and not using a minimum altitude – unlike Alaska Airlines, which requires 10,000 feet sometimes, and Alaska Airlines seatback in-flight entertainment. Nonetheless, I had difficulty this flight working the seatback equipment to trace my flight, unlike with previous flights. Moreover, the Spotify option on the IFE only allowed for pre-curated playlists – no Sophie Ellis-Baxtor available!
But regardless that the flight boarded early, our incredible lady pilot reassured us that we were delayed because of air traffic control capability issues. Regardless, we landed ahead of schedule.
I also liked the large 11 by 16-inch window to take pictures from taxing to landing, especially more significant than the nine by 12.5-inch window on Boeing 737s. To be honest, I might not wish to fly and not using a window seat, as I enjoy aerial photography. But I might recommend fellow window seaters refrain from photographing vertically, as you will notice throughout this story this caused problems. I also used a silicone lens hood one can get from Amazon or a camera store to scale back glare.
While waiting in my pictured top notch seat, I got to enjoy Coca-Cola in a refrigerated can. Through the flight, I got a pleasant Coca-Cola in a glass while having fun with the flight. Sadly, clouds blocked the view of Mt. St. Helens on the forty fourth anniversary of her May 18, 1980 eruption. One can review the events of that eruption via the below Twitter/X account, with tweets like one covering then-President Jimmy Carter’s flyover post-eruption:
But as a substitute, I had a fun ride with some light chop/turbulence. It was protected enough for me to make use of the clean, spacious, top notch restroom and wash my hands. Sadly, the top notch restroom lacked a window, but one is speculated to use the washroom quickly and return to their seat anyway. See I also really appreciated feeling the turbulence. As a flight simulator hobbyist, I like feeling the actual flight but I also acknowledge that some readers would favor silky smooth. Easy Flying also documented that the stronger feelings of turbulence is towards the back of the aircraft.
With that, the flight was flown in a way that felt like we were just browsing above the clouds. The flight then had a fun descent through cloud after which a solid landing concluding with some water kicked up by the landing, which was a rad thrill to photograph from seat 03D. Some passengers cheered and clapped at landing, and a couple of gifts were left for the pilots and flight attendants. I also got to go to the very modern cockpit before getting some last gate photos, as one can see above.
Baggage tracking by Delta Air Lines
Finally, this review should note that Delta Air Lines bag tracking worked throughout the flight. I used to be capable of retrieve my luggage on the stall where I used to be told it could be. That is just one other nice tech touch matched by the grit and professionalism of many Delta Air Lines employees involved.
Yes, your phone can get push notifications also advising of your bag’s status.
Bottom line
When you want a top quality experience with seatback IFE, the most effective app, and a state-of-the-art latest ride within the A220-300, you can’t go fallacious with booking a Delta Air Lines flight in an A220. Moreover, the A220 is an environmentally friendly ride operated by an airline with a road to sustainability alongside a method to get to net-zero emissions.
Does this review make you desire to fly in a Delta Air Lines A220? Please share your thoughts within the comments.