Review: Delta One Suites A330-900neo Amsterdam (AMS) to New York (JFK)

Background + Booking:

I just flew on a Delta One Suites A330-900neo flight from Amsterdam to New York. Last summer, fellow bloggers alerted some hard-to-find Delta One award availability, so I booked a trip so I could visit my friends out there. I used 100,000 Virgin Points + $63 in taxes for my roundtrip flight. If you’re curious about how I booked the flight, you can check out my blog post on it here.

As of the posting of this review, there are two daily flights from New York (JFK) to Amsterdam (AMS) on Delta. One of the flights has the A330neo with Delta One Suites, and one flight has the older A330-300 with the classic reverse herringbone product, which I reviewed here if you are interested. Due to schedule changes, Delta had taken me off this flight at one point, but after some persistence and waiting to call to switch back a week before departure, I was able to switch back to my Delta One Suites flight. You can read about that experience here if you would like.

Flight Details:

Delta Air Lines Flight 49
Amsterdam (AMS) to New York (JFK)
Class: Delta One (Business Class)
Aircraft: Airbus A330-900neo
Seat: 5A

At the Airport:

It was interesting when I was doing online check-in 24 hours prior on the Delta website, it said my flight was handled by KLM, and the seat map was locked for airport control. Perhaps because KLM’s hub is in Amsterdam, and is one of Delta’s core partners.

I had a bag to check-in, so I went through the Sky Priority line. There was no line, and I was quickly helped by a friendly KLM associate. The priority check-in area also led to a priority security line, and I only waited about 5 minutes to get through security. The normal security line was showing a 15-minute queue on the Monday morning at 9am, which didn’t sound too bad given the scary summer lines at Schiphol Airport. Perhaps I am lucky to be travelling during the off-season. After security, it probably took 10 minutes to clear customs and then I was off to the lounge!

I had access to the KLM Crown Lounge 52, which is quite a nice and gigantic lounge. You can check out my full review of the lounge here if you would like.

Boarding:

Boarding was scheduled to commence at 11:10am, which was 50 minutes before our scheduled departure. I arrived at the gate 5 minutes before boarding was supposed to start, but they actually already started boarding Delta One and Premium Select. The lines were a bit confusing and jumbled as they were just using one priority lane to board. The line was quite long, and oddly they even started calling boarding for Comfort Plus. At this point, it got really messy with passengers from Delta One and Premium Select still not having boarded yet.

Thankfully a few moments later, I asked a very friendly agent if I was in the right line, and she took me and a few other Delta One passengers to a separate queue so we could board.

First Impressions and The Plane:

We entered from the middle door, and so your would turn left the Delta One Suites Cabin. In my last review of this aircraft, I mentioned how I thought the cabin felt a bit too white and sterile in a way. However, this time, I thought it looked quite nice. The one difference was that there was orange mood lighting, so perhaps that helped made the cabin look more aesthetically pleasing.

The Delta One Suites Cabin contains 29 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration on the Airbus A330-900neo. Rows 1-7 contain 4 seats across, and there’s 1 seat in row 8 on the left side of the aircraft. All seats contain closing doors, which is a great touch.

In terms of choosing a seat, if you are traveling alone you’ll want a window seat so you’re not sitting next to someone. But even the center seats look to have good amounts of privacy, with a divider than can be pulled up in the middle of the seats.

The Last time when I flew on the A330-900neo from Los Angeles to New York, I had an even-numbered window seat, which is situated further away from the aisle. This time, I thought it would be a good idea to try an odd-numbered window seat closer to the aisle to compare. It’s actually not that much less superior in my opinion, because the center seat across the aisle has the console close to you, so their seat itself is more inward. If you have the even-numbered window seat, even though you’re further away from the aisle, the center seat across the aisle is closer to the aisle. So regardless of the window seat, you’re the same distance as the passenger next to you across the aisle.

Additionally, I find it much easier to exit the seat with the even-numbered seat, and it comes with an extra storage cubby that the other seat doesn’t have!

Takeoff Tip:

On the Delta One Suites Airbus A330-900neo, the window seats (A And J) offer the most privacy. As they all have a door, take an odd-numbered seat if you want an extra storage bin, and easier access to leave your seat. Take an even-numbered seat if you want to be further from the aisle (extra private) and closest to the window.

The Flight:

Shortly, after I was seated mimosas and orange juice were offered in glasses.

The captain let us know that the flight would be 7 hours and 41 minutes in the air. On the posted schedule, the whole flight was blocked off for 8 hours and 30 minutes. Our plane left the gate a few minutes before the scheduled departure, and we took off a little after 15 minutes before the scheduled departure.

The Delta One Suites Cabin had a few empty seats, and I was lucky that the seat in front of me, as to the right of me were both empty. It was interesting, as the seat in front of me (4A) had been blocked off ever since I booked the flight. I assumed it was blocked off as a crew rest, but no one used it. The captain did tell the passengers that they had a 3rd extra pilot flying with them today, so I thought that pilot may use 4A to rest, but they never came over.

Amenities:

Each seat had Delta bedding in a reusable bag containing a duvet and pillow. I still think the old Westin Heavenly Bedding was better, but these still got the job done.

There was also a water bottle, amenity kit and slippers. The amenity kit is from Someone Somewhere, and the bag is made from artisan communities in Mexico, using natural and recycled materials. Inside there was an eye mask, earplugs, a small pen, lotion and lip balm from Grown Alchemist and a toothbrush + toothpaste.

The Seat:

The main console at the seat has a power outlet, two USB ports for charging, the headphone jack, and the seat + lighting controls. The open console has a cup holder, headphone holder and an empty area to store some items. Since it’s all open, I would have preferred a cabinet that you could close instead.

Additionally, there is also a small control panel on the side of the console next to the seat. It is easier to use when the seat is in bed mode and allows you to change the suite lighting, do not disturb button and make the seat upright. This odd-numbered seat also has extra storage that even-numbered window seats don’t have.

If you don’t want to use the touchscreen, there is also a remote control in the armrest to control the IFE.

Lie Flat + Door:

I really enjoyed the suite door for additional privacy. After asking the flight attendant to initially unlock it so that it would close, it was quite easy to open and close the door.

In terms of the lie-flat, I tested it out during my nap, and it was pretty comfortable in the lie-flat mode. I particularly liked how it wasn’t angled so you were actually lying down straight forward. In lie flat mode, SeatGuru states that the seat is 76 inches long.

First Meal Service:

Thirty minutes after takeoff, the lunch meal service began. It started off with a cold nuts/cheese/dried fruit plate, similar to what I received on my inbound flight. I enjoyed the dish.

Then, the main course and starters all came out on one plate. Everyone receives the soup course Fennel and Leek Soup With Croutons. Also, you get the Endive and Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Dutch blue cheese, walnuts, cranberries and sweet onion dressing. I thought the soup was interesting as it had an applesauce texture. But, I did enjoy the salad very much!

For the main entree choices, I preordered mine and I am glad I did. There were three choices on board. The first was the Braised Beef Short Rib, the second was the Roasted Guinea Fowl and the last option was the Moroccan Vegetable Tagine. If you preordered 24 hours or more from departure, you could additionally choose from the Roasted Pork Loin or the Pan Fried Sea Bass. I chose the Sea Bass, and I thought it was quite tasty. The fish was a good texture and was flavorful. Additionally, I liked the spinach and mushrooms that were in the dish.

Dessert:

For dessert, the flight attendant brought out a plate with 3 items. An Apple and Pear Petit Beurre Cake with Vanilla Sauce, Ice Cream Sundae and a Fruit and Cheese Plate. I took the ice cream sundae and enjoyed it. It had chocolate chips and a berry sauce at the bottom. I think it would be cool if they had a customized sundae option, and if it wasn’t already on a plate sitting, as my ice cream was kind of melted already.

After the meal service, I got to play around with the IFE and the seat some more. As it was a daytime flight, I didn’t sleep much apart from a half an hour nap. So, I ended up watching a few movies, and really appreciated the 18.5-inch IFE screen which was very clear and had a responsive touch screen. It’s probably my favorite airplane IFE screen system.

Wi-Fi:

Wi-Fi was provided via Intelsat on this flight. The flight pass was $21.95, or $6.95 for 1 hour which seemed fair to me. Additionally, if you just wanted to use messaging apps such as iMessage, Facebook Messenger & WhatsApp, they were provided complimentary. T-Mobile customers also get free WiFi which was great for me.

Lavatories:

There are two lavatories, one in the front and one between the Delta One Cabin and Premium Select Cabin. The front of the cabin is on the left side of the plane, and the back one is on the right side of the plane. Since I was seated on the left side of the plane, I ended up using the front one exclusively. The lavatory had automatic sinks, and Grown Alchemist soap + lotion. The front lavatory is actually quite small, as the ceiling is quite slanted. When I flew on this exact plane from Los Angeles to New York, I was on the right side of the plane and used the lavatory located in the back before the Premium Select Cabin. I didn’t think that one had such slanted ceilings, so it felt less claustrophobic. 

Second Meal Service:

For a pre-arrival meal a little over an hour before landing, there was a choice between a Cheese and Caramelized Onion Burger and a Roasted Green Apple and Dutch Goat Cheese Salad. I opted for the burger and just wow! It was very tasty, and the dijon mustard was great. A very nice pre-arrival meal, and probably the best burger I’ve had on a plane.

They had a snack cart set up in the forward galley and had a selection of snacks such as whole fruit, cookies and chocolate.

In terms of service, the service on the flight was standard. They didn’t seem overly friendly or helpful, but they got the job done. We ended up arriving at the gate 20 minutes early, which was much appreciated. There was no line for Global Entry, and our bags came out 20 minutes after parking at the gate, so I was on my way back to the city relatively quickly which was nice.

The Verdict:

Overall, my onboard flight experience aboard the Delta One Suites A330-900neo for the second time was quite good. As long as Delta doesn’t keep equipment swapping, or just install suites on their other aircraft, it will be a solid way to fly.

 

Have you flown on the Delta One Suites A330-900neo? What were your thoughts? Comment below!

 

Cheers,

Ty

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Have any questions? Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. I’ve also started working with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays or planning trips. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!