Meandering with Delta
In this post, I will reflect on my favorite airline, Delta. There are many reasons why Delta is my favorite, but the ultimate top reason why is that their airline miles NEVER expire!! That is amazing and has become immensely important especially during the 2020 pandemic which prevented me from traveling. I can save up these miles for a really big trip to help make my trip cheaper or even free! Also, I know that I will never lose these miles.
I did not realize that some airlines have their miles expire until I flew with United Airlines to China for work. A year or two after the trip, I logged into my account and noticed that my miles had vanished! I then read up on their miles and realized they had expired. I was so mad at myself for not checking it sooner! Another reason why I don’t care for United is how they treated one of my friends. I forget the circumstances because it was several years ago, but their employees were rude to her and made her trip miserable.
I do not care for Southwest Airlines. I do not like how they do their seating arrangements. You actually don’t get to select your seat assignment when you book your tickets. Twenty-four hours before your flight, you have to check in online. The earlier you check in, the earlier you get to board the plane. The seats are then all up for grabs. So the earlier you get to board, the earlier you get to pick your seat. I do not like this system. I would rather know ahead of time where my seat is. I also like to pick out my seat. If I know I am going to have a short layover between flights, I try to get a seat as close as possible to the front. I also prefer either an aisle seat or a window seat. If there are three seats in a row, I would prefer to sit in the aisle seat. If there are only two seats in the row, then a window seat is fine. Also, if I am traveling with another person, I would not want to fly Southwest because I would be afraid that I would not get to sit next to my companion. This is why I prefer Delta — you can pick exactly what seat you want to sit in when you book your ticket!
Also, when I was flying Southwest to get from a work conference back home, a Southwest employee almost didn’t let me on the flight! I had thought that I had checked into the flight when we drove up to the curb outside the airport in Atlanta. Even though their employee scanned my ticket, apparently I still wasn’t officially checked in. They had overbooked their flight and at the gate, they said I might not be able to fly. They were still waiting on a few people who had checked in online but who had not shown up to the gate yet. I was flabbergasted by their system. It just did not make sense to me. I had thought I had checked in, and I was physically at the gate, but I had to wait to see if anyone who had checked in would show up. I saw one guy sprinting towards our gate and was able to get on. Thankfully, I was allowed on the plane, and I was able to get home! But that was the last time I will ever fly on Southwest Airlines, even if their flights are cheaper than other airlines.
One time, I flew on Alaska Airlines that was serviced by Virgin Airlines. I was flying from Indianapolis to San Francisco. I had TSA Pre-Check, so I went to the Pre-Check line, but I was told to get into the regular security check line. Apparently, airlines can decide whether or not their passengers get to use the TSA Pre-Check line or not. Alaska and/or Virgin does not allow their passengers to use this service. I had no clue that airlines could make this decision! I had thought that the TSA Pre-Check could be used with every single airline! Had I known this ahead of time, I would have gotten to the airport sooner because I would have known that I would have had to go through the slower regular security check line. Thankfully, I made it to my gate with plenty of time to spare!
I boarded the plane, and my seat was in the second to last row. As I was sitting down, a flight attendant came up to me and said my ticket hadn’t been scanned. She made me get off the plane and scan my ticket again at the gate. I then was allowed back on the plane and had to make my way all the way to the back of the plane to my seat. I will never fly on Alaska Airlines or Virgin Airlines ever again!
I have always had good luck with Delta. Well wait, there was that one time when I tried to fly from Indianapolis to Orlando with a layover in Detroit, and I got stuck in Detroit due to a snowstorm. But other than that, everything with Delta has been good!
I like their mileage program, even though I don’t think I have ever actually redeemed any points yet, but I do like that the miles don’t ever expire! Delta allows their passengers to use TSA Pre-Check. I like the Delta employees; I’ve never encountered a rude employee of theirs. I like their check in process, and I like how I get to pick my seat assignments ahead of time. I also like their website; it is super easy for me to navigate. I get emails and text messages with flight updates too. My mom likes the flight tracker on their website; she says it’s easy to use and gives her great information on where I am and whether the plane is at the gate, on the tarmac, or in the air. They also almost always leave on schedule, except for the snowstorm in Detroit time. I have flown on Delta so many times and have had good experiences for about 96% of those times that I consider myself a loyal Delta customer for life!
