From suites with closing doors to inflight meals to better bottles of bubbles from fancy French champagne houses, Delta and United are in an all-out arms race in “premium” travel. Now, Delta is turning to help its business class passengers snooze more soundly.
The Atlanta-based airline announced Tuesday it's upgrading its bedding by stocking lie-flat Delta One seats with a new duvet and pillow set from the luxury Italian design brand Missoni. Perhaps even more importantly, the airline will begin stocking all its business class flights with mattress pads – a (much-needed) amenity that was previously only available on ultra-long-haul routes. Flights of 12 hours or longer will also soon get a “memory foam cuddle pillow” in addition to their normal pillow for bedtime.
Delta One passengers flying long-haul international will begin seeing this new bedding onboard sometime this summer, eventually expanding to marquee transcontinental domestic routes by the end of the year. After partnering with Missoni last year for some fancy amenity kits, refreshed goodie bags are also on the way along with new slippers, socks, eye masks, and more.
Why is Delta so keen on upgrading its bedding? As Delta and United duke it out for the crown of the country's “premium” airline, they're both turning to buzzy brand partnerships to wow travelers … and convince them to pay more.
And that competition is fierce.
While United Polaris business class might get low marks for inflight meals, its Saks Fifth Avenue-branded bedding is second-to-none, including a mattress pad, duvet, and not one but two pillows – one made with cooling gel. Nearly a decade after introducing its current business class pods, United just unveiled its upcoming upgrade: Suites with closing doors and a select few “Polaris Studios” with even more space and additional amenities, including a caviar amuse bouche.
Just this year, the airlines went tit-for-tat – or should we say tit-for-Taittinger? – to upgrade their champagne. Shortly United announced it would begin exclusively pouring Laurent-Perrier, Delta upped its own game by announcing a partnership with Taittinger.
Delta previously partnered with the hotel chain Westin for its “Heavenly” line of bedding for Delta One passengers before axing that a few years back in a cost-cutting move, swapping in a white-label bedding set that was supposedly more eco-friendly. Now, the airline is turning back to a luxury brand for bedding.
These kinds of partnerships are a win-win for airlines: They get to tout a big name that might impress passengers … and likely buy all the bottles they'll need at a discounted price as a result.
Bottom Line
Delta One passengers are in for an upgrade in the months to come.
Sometime this summer, Delta One passengers flying long-haul international will see Missoni-branded bedding onboard, along with refreshed amenity kits – plus, a mattress pad on every flight. It's just another instance where Delta and United are battling it out to impress passengers with fancier amenities onboard.
Lead photo courtesy of Delta
