This past week, I flew to and from Boston to meet a friend for a guys trip that included two Pearl Jam concerts, a bike tour of the city and other fun activities. Coming up, I’ll have a post about our trip activities, a review of the Boston Sky Club and a review of our hotel, the Hyatt Regency Boston, but since I flew first class both ways on Delta, I wanted to compare the service on both flights. It’s definitely interesting to see how service can vary on what is essentially the same flight and the same class of service.

I booked one way using SkyMiles. It was about 28k vs 22k in main cabin so I figured it was worth the minimal difference. I booked the other way using Amex Membership Rewards and the business platinum card as with the 35% points rebate it was actually fewer points that way. It pays to compare all these options before you book.

I’ll compare the flights in a number of categories: Pre-Departure Service, Drink Service, Meal Service, Snack Service, and Flight Attendant Service. I was quite surprised by the differences in the two flights. Both flights were on a relatively new A321 (not the neo version).

Pre-Departure Service:

ATL-BOS – After boarding, First class passengers each received a nice greeting by the flight attendant who introduced herself by name and in my case, recognized my Delta Platinum status. During general boarding, Savannah provided a beverage service (I ordered a club soda with lime).

BOS-ATL – After boarding and just before we pushed back, the flight attendant came around and confirmed our meal order, but did not offer a pre-departure beverage at any point. She also didn’t introduce herself or recognize any status with Delta. The flight was on time and there were no boarding issues that would have caused the lack of pre-departure service other than laziness.

Drink Service:

ATL-BOS – Savannah came around as soon as she was able and took beverage orders. She also distributed tablecloths. I ordered a Woodford on the rocks and the drinks were served promptly. She provided all of the service in the 20 seat cabin herself throughout the flight.

BOS-ATL – Our flight attendant took drink orders and it became apparent we would get our drinks around the same time as our meal and not before. In fact, a second flight attendant brought the drinks just before meals were served.

Meal Service:

ATL-BOS – I ordered the fisherman’s stew from the pre-order menu which I received a week before the flight. The other options included a short rib open-faced sandwich and a chicken salad.

It was actually very tasty. The salad was also fresh and served with a good dressing. The stew consisted of several large pieces of fish, potatoes, celery and a tomato-based broth. The dessert was some sort of cheesecake, but it was a bit bland.

BOS-ATL – Meals were brought out fairly promptly. This was a 3:30pm-6pm flight and I received my meal at 4:15pm. Frankly, they could have waited a bit longer, but I realize not all passengers have lounge access before the flight, even first class passengers. As the flight attendant was taking orders, I heard her tell someone they were out of the short rib as she moved closer to the front of the cabin.

I pre-ordered the salmon poke bowl when I received the pre-order email. It was served with a watermelon salad which was OK, and some sort of raspberry vanilla cake for dessert which was better than the cheesecake on the outbound flight.

Snack Service:

ATL-BOS – I ordered another beverage after the meal and Savannah came around with the snack basket as well.

BOS-ATL – I ordered another beverage after the meal and our unnamed flight attendant did not offer the snack basket at any point during the flight.

Flight Attendant Service:

ATL-BOS – Savannah was very friendly and pleasant throughout the flight. She went above and beyond in providing good service (without help) for the whole flight. I had a couple of Above and Beyond certificates in my bag. These are for Delta employees who do a great job (either airborne or ground-based). I gave her one and she was very grateful. Apparently, employees get points toward rewards from these certificates.

BOS-ATL – Even if I knew our flight attendant’s name, she would not have received one of the Above and Beyond certificates. While her service was functional and sufficient, the lack of a smile or introduction, no snack service and needing help to provide the drink service differentiated her from my outbound flight with Savannah.

Overall, I enjoyed my flights. The meals were good and the seats were comfortable. Wi-Fi worked well for both flights and I was able to stream NFL Red Zone on my outbound flight. Next up: I’ll have a summary of our activities in Boston.

If you have questions about this post, let me know in the comments or send me an email at emptynestermiles@gmail.com. If you are thinking about opening a new credit card, please use one of my links.