Delta has been trying to modernize its fleet, from the narrowbody planes you'll largely see flying around the United States and especially on the widebody aircraft that carry passengers overseas. But the work isn't done yet.
Flying Delta One business class these days, you're still more likely to find outdated Boeing and Airbus jets with older seats and little privacy. But two options stand above the rest: Flagship Delta One Suites on the Airbus A350-900 and similar suites on the airline's newest long-haul jet, the Airbus A330-900neo.
I flew Delta One Suites on the A330-900neo recently, so take it from me: The experience blows the typical Delta One experience out of the water. With new technology and fancy finishes, it feels years ahead of what you'll get on many Delta flights to Europe and beyond. And along with the A350, it's the only Delta jet you'll get a business class suite complete with a closing door for privacy – at least when yours works.
Check out my full review of Delta One on the A330-900neo from a recent flight from Amsterdam (AMS) to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to see why this is one of the planes you should seek out.
Related Reading: The Best & Worst Planes for Delta One Business Class
How to Book Delta One Business Class Flights
When it comes to actually booking a business class flight with Delta, you'll have a few options … and some are better than others.
Book with Delta SkyMiles
If you're trying to use Delta SkyMiles to book a flight in Delta One business class, it's going to cost you – and cost you a lot.
Thanks to the airline's dynamic pricing when setting award rates using SkyMiles, you can almost always book a business class seat using SkyMiles … it's just rarely a good deal. Unless you luck out with the occasional Delta SkyMiles flash sale that extends to business class – which we find for our Thrifty Traveler Premium members a few times a year – you're likely to see rates of 300,000 SkyMiles or more each way to Europe or Asia.
Don't do that.
Here's an example from the exact flight I took, with Delta charging over 300,000 SkyMiles each way. Delta's TakeOff 15 benefit for cardholders barely makes a dent.
Related Reading: Want to Fly Business Class? Forget About Delta SkyMiles
Book with Virgin Atlantic Miles
If you're looking to use miles to pay for a Delta One business class ticket, using Virgin Atlantic miles can be a great option. The airline offers a crafty workaround that allows you to book Delta One flights to and from Europe for just 50,000 points each way … and sometimes even less!
But this workaround to book Delta One to Europe can be much easier said than done. It hinges on finding the award availability to actually book those seats through Virgin, and Delta can be quite stingy with releasing bookable award space through Virgin – especially lately.
Still, we're always digging for when these flights pop up and alerting our Thrifty Traveler Premium members when they do, like this unicorn alert we recently sent via email (and text message, too!) for wide-open award space between New York City and Munich as well as Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) and Dublin (DUB) this summer!
These seats are gone now, get the next award alert for open Delta One seats to Europe with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
While you can't transfer Delta SkyMiles over to Virgin's mileage program, earning the Virgin points you need is even easier: If you've got points on cards like the *chase sapphire preferred*, *venture x*, or the *amex gold*, you've got what you need.
Sadly, this option wasn't available for my flight.
Book with Cash (or Through a Travel Portal)
Last but not least, you can always book Delta One with cash instead of miles – and that's exactly what I did for this trip to Europe … kind of.
By starting a search with Google Flights, I was able to find a cheap, multi-city flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) with a quick stop in New York City (JFK) and flying home from Amsterdam (AMS) directly to Minneapolis. The cost? $2,500 for the roundtrip flights – not the cheapest business class flights of all time, but a pretty good price.
But we're Thrifty Traveler. There's always an angle to find some additional savings.
Instead of forking over the cash and booking with Delta directly, I instead booked the flight through American Express Travel. Since I hold *biz platinum*, I get a 35% points rebate on any premium cabin tickets booked through the travel portal – for up to 500,000 points back each year.
So while American Express Membership Rewards points are worth 1 cent each when redeemed through Amex Travel – meaning the $2,500 flight cost me 250,000 Amex points upfront – that 35% rebate brought the final cost down to 162,500 points or 81,250 points each way.
While it wasn't the cheapest way to book a Delta One business class seat, it was the path of least resistance. I didn't have to worry about finding award space through Virgin Atlantic. Plus, I also earned a ton of SkyMiles as well as credit towards Delta Medallion elite status when I actually took the flight.
At Thrifty Traveler, we don't accept freebies. We use our own points, miles, or cash to pay for every single flight or hotel you see reviewed here – including this one!
Checking In & Lounge Access
I arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport (AMS) about three and a half hours before my scheduled departure time of 1:15 p.m. and headed straight for the Delta Sky Priority check-in desk, which was staffed by their SkyTeam alliance partner KLM.
After getting checked in and getting my boarding pass, the KLM agent informed me that my Delta One business class ticket granted me access to the KLM Crown Lounge. Since I had plenty of time and was traveling by myself, I went about 15 minutes out of the way from my departure gate to visit the lounge, located between concourses E and F.
It's tough to miss: The entrance is adorned with a wall full of KLM Delft Blue gin houses – a signature amenity KLM has been giving to business class passengers for decades. At this point, they're bonafide collectibles.
Once inside the lounge, you'll find a very modern, European design with lots of great seating options.
Past the main seating area, you'll also find a coffee bar serving made-to-order espresso drinks as well as a full buffet.
Since I was in the lounge in the late morning, they were still serving breakfast: eggs, fruits, vegetables, pastries, and lots of different cured meats and cheeses. But I had just eaten breakfast at my hotel before heading to the airport and I wanted to save my appetite for the flight itself, so I skipped the lounge food altogether.
Here's a look at the spread.
Overall, the lounge was a great space. If you're flying Delta, KLM, or any SkyTeam airline in business class out of Europe from Amsterdam, it's worth a visit. If you're departing the U.S. on a Delta One or business class ticket from another SkyTeam airline business class ticket, that will also grant you access to the Delta Sky Club.
About an hour before my flight to Minneapolis-St. Paul was scheduled to board, I started making my way to gate D53.
The Delta A330-900neo Cabin
According to the Flighty app (my favorite travel app), the Airbus A330-900neo that would be flying me to Minneapolis took its first flight on March 3, 2020 – making it one of the newer long-haul planes in Delta's fleet.
That was quite evident the moment I set foot on the plane as it still had that new plane look, feel, and even smell. Outside of Delta's Airbus A350s, the Delta One suites you'll find on the A330-900neo are the nicest and most comfortable you'll find in the airline's fleet.
The cabin itself is laid out in a 1-2-1 format, meaning every seat has direct aisle access. Better yet, each seat has a door that makes your seat a fully enclosed suite.
In total, there are 29 business-class seats. Every seat is more or less identical – with one important difference to be aware of.
The seats along the window will alternate where the console and storage unit are located. The window seats in rows 1, 3, 5, and 7 will have seats closer to the aisle while the seats in rows 2, 4, 6, and 8 have seats positioned closer to the window, providing a bit more privacy.
Thrifty Tip: Booking a Delta One Suite? Use Aerolopa to Find the Best Seats
Even though all 29 seats were occupied on our hop across the Atlantic to Minneapolis, the cabin still felt very intimate. Once we were airborne, almost every passenger shut their suite door, which made the cabin feel even more exclusive and private.
Delta One A330-900neo: The Suite
I was traveling alone, so I selected seat 2J along the window. And since it was in row two, the seat was positioned closer to the window. There was just one problem with seat 2J: The door on the suite – its signature feature – was broken. It wouldn't actually close.
I didn't realize this until we were airborne. The head purser, Michael, came by to try to help me shut it to no avail. He was very apologetic, and while it was a bit of a bummer, all of my immediate neighbors had their suite doors closed so it still felt plenty private – especially being closer to the window.
As for the seat itself, it was quite spacious. At 22 1/2 inches wide, it felt much bigger than the Delta One seats onboard the Boeing 767-400ER I had flown to Europe earlier in the week, which are just 20 inches wide. I am not the smallest person in the world so those extra 2 1/2 inches made a big difference.
Not to mention, when the seat is in lay flat mode, it is 79 inches – about two more inches than you'll get on the Boeing 767-400ER. I am 6 feet tall, and the 79 inches of legroom was plenty for me to fully stretch out when I wanted to get a few hours of sleep. The footwell didn't feel cramped either.
If there is one knock on these newer Delta One business class seats, it's that the padding isn't nearly good enough. They can feel rather hard and even uncomfortable, especially in lay flat mode when trying to get some rest.
While Delta does offer mattress pads on some of their ultra-long-haul routes to Asia, Australia, and South Africa, you won't find them on flights to and from Europe. Instead, you'll get just a pillow and a blanket – more on this later.
The Airbus A330-900neo is a larger aircraft than the Boeing 767-400, so having more space isn't a big surprise. But having flown both jets in a relatively short span, I was surprised at just how much larger the Delta One suite on the A330-900neo felt.
If you're seated in the center section and don't know your neighbor, there's a partition you can raise for more privacy. But if you are traveling with somebody else, the partition can be lowered, making it easier to chat with your companion.
One of my favorite things about the suite itself was the amount of storage space. On the back side of the side table and just behind the power outlets and seat controls, you'll find a large, well-designed compartment with a space for a bottle of water, a rack for the complimentary headphones, and plenty of additional space for whatever else you want to store here.
It was a great spot for my laptop and some of my cords. I also put my food and drink menus and my amenity kit back here.
The side table was also very well designed, a great spot to put beverages and anything else you needed to store while using the tray table.
I loved the design of the tray table as well. It didn't feel flimsy at all, which is often the case with larger tray tables on business class seats. Plus, it was easy to take out and store away.
At the back of the side table, you'll find a few USB-A power ports, a headphone jack, and a 110V power port. You'll also find the control panel for your seat, which allows you to not only control the position of your seat but also the in-suite lighting.
There is a “Do Not Disturb” button, which is a great feature to use while you're sleeping so the flight crew knows not to bother you.
Amenities Flying Delta One
No matter where you're flying with Delta, all Delta One business class passengers will get an amenity kit. The kits you'll currently find onboard are from the Mexico-based brand Someone Somewhere.
Delta first launched these amenity kits back in 2022, saying it was part of the airline's effort to reduce its carbon footprint. Delta says these handmade kits will help reduce its annual plastic use by up to 90,000 tons.
Each kit comes with a QR code you can scan to learn more about the specific artist who crafted your kit.
Inside the amenity kit, you'll find the basics: a sleep mask, a pen, a toothbrush, a pair of earplugs, and a lip balm and hand cream from Delta's skincare partner Grown Alchemist. It certainly isn't the best or biggest business class amenity kit you'll find in the sky, but it was perfectly adequate for the eight-hour flight across the Atlantic.
At every seat, you'll also find a premium headset with active noise cancelation to use with the seat-back entertainment system. While they aren't the best headphones you'll find in the sky, they're comfortable and solid enough for me to leave my Bose 700 noise-canceling headphones at home and save space in my carry-on.
Every passenger in business class also gets a pair of Delta-branded slippers which I wore for most of the flight. As far as I am aware, there is only one size available: if your feet are on the larger side, these likely won't fit.
Pajamas aren't available on any long-haul Delta flights.
Finally, every Delta One passenger will get a blanket and a pillow when it is time to rest. I found both to be pretty good quality, but what is really lacking on these Delta One flights to and from Europe is a mattress pad to soften the unbelievably hard seats.
While Delta started offering mattress pads in Delta One on some of the airline's longest flights last fall, you still won't find them on any flights across the Atlantic. It's hard to complain about any lie-flat seat overseas, but these newer Delta One seats are undeniably quite stiff and not the most comfortable.
Dining & Service
One thing I appreciate about flying Delta One is the ability to pick your meals in advance.
About a week before your scheduled departure, you'll get an email from Delta allowing you to select your meal for your upcoming flight – guaranteeing your choice won't run out on your flight. I selected the flat iron steak, which Delta described as having a demi-glace sauce with oyster mushrooms and broccoli over a potato puree.
There are typically a few “limited selection” meals that are only available if you select them via pre-order.
To start the meal service, the crew brought over a tray full of starters including a mixed green salad with feta cheese and a spicy lemon dressing, a dill-cured salmon, and a butternut squash soup.
Both the salad and the salmon were great, but the butternut squash soup was my favorite, even though the presentation was a bit sad.
Once I was done with the first course, the crew brought over my preselected meal: the flat iron steak. It wasn't at all what I expected when I chose the dish, but I had no complaints. The steak was cooked perfectly and the sauce was very good.
After my main course, I had an ice cream sundae with a chocolate sauce and crushed graham crackers that was also tasty.
About an hour and a half before we landed in Minneapolis, we were offered a pre-arrival meal. There were two options available: a beemster cheeseburger served on a brioche bun with caramelized onions, mustard aioli, and served with coleslaw salad and mini pastries; or a a roasted apple and goat cheese salad with mixed greens, almonds, figs, caramelized onions, and a spicy lemon dressing.
I ordered the cheeseburger and it was a big swing and a miss. The burger was way overcooked – and oddly, the cheese on the burger was melted to the bottom of the bun instead of the burger itself, which was quite strange. Not even the mustard aioli, strangely served on the same tray as a pastry, could save it.
I also ordered a glass of red wine with my burger as there were two different options available on the menu: A cabernet sauvignon from Jordan Vineyards in California and a Vivanco Reserva Rioja from Spain. Yet the flight attendant working my row informed me that they were all out of red wine. She did offer to go get a bottle of what they were serving back in economy, but I went with a Heineken instead.
Overall, the service from the Minneapolis-St. Paul-based flight crew was very good and attentive. They made sure I had what I needed and made sure to not let my beverages get too empty … even if it wasn't the drink I wanted.
While my suite door was broken, that was out of the crew's control – and they were apologetic for the mishap, making sure to document it for a fix once the aircraft was back on U.S. soil.
Entertainment
Entertainment is a standout on Delta's latest long-haul aircraft.
The screens themselves are state-of-the-art and low profile, with a crisp display measuring in at over 18 inches. The touchscreen display was responsive and easy to use. And the welcome screen counted a total of 648 movies, 100 TV series, and 127 audio selections, so there should be something for everybody.
There were quite a few new-release movies available, but I went with one of my favorite movies: “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Some of Delta's newest planes allow you to connect a pair of wireless headphones via Bluetooth straight to the seatback screen, but you won't yet find that functionality on Delta's A330-900neo – at least not yet. Back in 2022, Delta said that the A330-900neo and the Boeing 767-400 aircraft will be next up for this upgrade.
Delta has made a big push over the last few years to start offering free Wi-Fi on all of its planes. For the most part, if you're flying on a Delta plane domestically, getting online will be complimentary.
But if you're flying Delta on an international flight, that isn't a realty just yet. So I paid $22 to connect to Wi-Fi for the duration of my flight. While that's a fair price for a full flight, it's hard to beat free, so this will be a big improvement for Delta One international flights once it is available.
Fortunately, the speeds were very good on my flight. Running a quick internet speed test, I was getting download speeds of almost 40 Mbps and upload speeds of about 4.13 Mbps.
Those speeds were plenty fast enough to get work done on my flight without any sort of interruption. I didn't stream any videos while connected, but with almost 40 Mbps download speeds, that should be an option if you're interested.
Bottom Line
It's not the best business class experience in the sky by any measure, but Delta One Suites on the Airbus A330-900neo are as good it gets flying business class with Delta – or almost any U.S. carrier, for that matter.
These suites are still new and incredibly private, equipped with some of the best and up-to-date in-flight entertainment you'll find. While the broken door at my suite was a bummer, that was a fluke. The seats themselves, however, are undeniably on the hard side. And a lackluster second meal combined with a shortage of drink options brought the experience down some more.
Still, this is easily among the best Delta planes to book if you're flying business class overseas.
Thanks for the detailed review, Nick. I was booked both ways on the 764 JFK-FCO. They had a later flight on this plane and I was able to switch. I am a large guy too, and I was concerned about seat width on 764. This info was very helpful. Hopefully there will be plenty of the Jordan Cabernet on my flights.
Thanks for reading, Franco. Enjoy your flight! The A330-900neo is a much better product.