There are lots of options when choosing flights to Cancun. But if you’re flying Delta Air Lines, is it worth upgrading from basic economy class or Comfort Plus to first class? In this unfiltered travel video, I give you my first-person airline review of Delta Air Lines and its first class – Delta One service aboard the Airbus A330-300 aircraft.
Flying has changed since the start of the pandemic, and in this Delta Air Lines review view you’ll find lots of details about all of the amenities and services offered to its first-class passengers, including Delta Sky Priority boarding, a roomy, lie-flat airline seats, special airline seat amenities, inflight service, inflight entertainment, airline food options and other tips to help you compare and make the right decisions when buying a flight to Cancun, whether for a Mexico vacation or a business trip.
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Also, if you’re a frequent flyer or a Delta SkyMiles member, you may be especially interested in checking out this first class flight review video. Here are highlights of my flight to Cancun.
THE ROUTE: New York JFK airport to Cancun International Airport
THE AIRCRAFT: Delta Air Lines Airbus A300-300
The seating area aboard Delta One is spacious and has lots of cool features.
THE DEPARTURE: I took the ever-efficient JFK AirTrain to arrive at Terminal 4, which is home to Delta’s largest concentration of gates. First-class passengers use the Sky Priority lane for check-in at JFK airport, but I didn’t need to use it, since I’d checked in via the Delta Air Lines app and wasn’t checking any baggage, so I marched right to the TSA PreCheck security line, which was gloriously short, so I was through in about five minutes and had time to wander the shopping concourse. The Delta concourse is perhaps the longest I’ve ever seen that doesn’t have any kind of rail/tram system, but this time, luckily, my gate was a relatively short walk from the main terminal area.
I was among the first to board, and Delta used facial recognition technology during boarding which was pretty cool and seemed to be quite efficient.
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Yep, it was breakfast in a box.
ONBOARD: The first class cabin on this Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-300 has two seats in the middle and single seats on both sides of the aircraft. The overhead storage bins are larger in the middle than on the sides, so if you have larger carry-ons, you might want to snag a middle storage bin as soon as you board.
I must say that, as someone more commonly stuck in the back of the plane, I grew quite fond of my seating pod aboard this aircraft (and I was thrilled that my Delta SkyMiles status had resulted in the upgrade, since I very seldom get that treat).
The seating area was spacious and comfortable, and I found a lot of handy features — including charging outlets, a retractable table tray, a tiny reading light and a cool pushbutton armrest — although I’m not sure why they make you put it away during taxi, takeoff and landing.
After takeoff, I was able to take advantage of the exceptional legroom and lie-flat seat, which is controlled by a comprehensive control panel in front of the seat.
On these wide-body international flights, the first class service is called Delta One, a service with more amenities than on a domestic narrow-body first-class flight from, say, Dallas/Fort Worth to Burbank. But some features of Delta One were missing on my flight, maybe because of pandemic-related service changes or the shorter length of my flight. There were no pillows or blankets provided, for example.
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AIRLINE FOOD SERVICE: Another feature that wasn’t quite what’s normally advertised for Delta One was the airline meal service — there was a choice of only a fruit and cheese platter or coconut chia oatmeal on this breakfast flight, served chilled in a paper box with eco-friendly bamboo cutlery. It wasn’t fancy but at least it was healthy and tasty (and certainly kept me on a healthier diet than I ordinarily flight like this, so maybe I should thank them for limiting airline food service).
INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT: I appreciated the large, pop-out video screen, which made it even more fun to enjoy Delta’s extensive Inflight entertainment. The Delta Studio headphones, which are plugged in via an outlet next to the seat, offer a high-quality sound experience.
Overall, this was a super comfortable way to arrive in paradise, even if some of the amenities weren’t what you might expect in normal, full-service conditions. I’d love to hear from people who’ve flown first class on other airlines and other aircraft to Cancun, to see how the experience and features compare.
I’m a travel writer, travel blogger and Mexico travel specialist, and I love sharing travel tips to make your next vacation or business trip better. Please feel free to share your comments, experiences and questions about Mexico travel and Latin America travel and vacations!
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