Delta's PREMIUM ECONOMY - WORTH IT? Honest Review of this mix of Business Class and Economy Service

it is Sunday June 25th 2023 and on this week's edition of Sunday sofa time we're talking about Delta's premium select [Music] welcome back to the very unofficial travel guides and welcome actually to the house I grew up in here in Minnesota I am on tour right now at my mom's house so usually on Sunday I sit down in front of my red sofa at home in Hamburg Germany to discuss some kind of travel related topic these are videos that I make in addition to the travel Vlogs that I post on the channel and this week we're in front of this flowery sofa instead of my red sofa at home if you're new here I'm Morgan from the very unofficial travel guides I travel all around the world to popular and not so popular tourist destinations to give you a very honest unofficial look at what it's like to be there I also wrote a book called getting stitches on a cruise ship filled with crazy stories of true things that have happened to me while traveling the world including getting stitches on a cruise ship if you want something short and fun to read on your next adventure and a way to support what I do here on YouTube check out getting stitches on a cruise ship it's available on Amazon now in this video today I want to show you all about this experience I had flying in Delta's premium select economy which is like it's sort of I guess I would compare it to being in between economy plus and business class we're going to look at the seats and the food and all the things connected to it and I know that one question a lot of people have been asking me when I posted about this on Instagram and Facebook is well how much did it cost and I can tell you right now that that is a difficult question to answer because it's different for every flight I went looking at the KLM website one thing I like about the KLM website is that they give you an option of seeing okay it could be a little bit cheaper if you fly a little bit earlier or a little bit later so you can kind of move your journey to fit your budget basically if that is an option for you and you can see by scrolling through here that sometimes it just costs a little bit more and sometimes it costs a whole lot more and another interesting thing to note is sometimes flying business class less expensive than flying premium economy which makes no sense to me one of the things I want to talk about or remind you about in this video and I'll probably talk about it a few times is just like when you're booking a suite on a cruise ship it's not just about the seat that you get and when you book a suite it's not just about getting a little bit bigger cabin a little bit bigger room it's also about the things that are connected to it the perks and the goodies so those are things you have to consider when you're considering if this is going to be something we're spending your extra money on and one thing that made it really tasty to me basically is I'm trying to gain or like up my status level with flying blue which is the KLM Air France frequent miles club and when booking premium select it gave me 40 XP points which are the points that you need to climb up the ladder that's already a big bonus and as far as I'm concerned for why it was worth paying the couple extra hundred over just normal economy so when I got to the airport in Hamburg I immediately realized one of the major benefits and that is you get Priority Access which means there are extra Lines Just for people like you good morning I am now here in the Hamburg airport and I just checked in for my first flight I'm flying from Hamburg to Amsterdam and then the actual seat that I booked in this extra class is for my flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis but I was surprised to find out this morning when I got here and wanted to check in my bag that because I booked it for that stretch that I also have Priority Access even here checking in my bags even though for the first flight I'm just sitting in a normal seat so there is a shorter line that is dedicated for just people flying in like premium economy business class first class class and if things go right you will get checked in much quicker get rid of your bags much quicker and at most airports there's also a Priority Access or an extra line at security but I don't think Hamburg does that for anybody my flight from Hamburg to Amsterdam like I said I was just sitting in a normal economy seat but I did get to board the plane first and I'm in my normal economy seat now for the first flight like I said it's the second flight that I upgraded and not only did I just run into Beyonce's backup dances in the airport but even though I'm in the economy on this flight I have the priority boarding which means I was one of the first people in the brain one advantage of that is all the overhead space is still open so it's not only about getting in a plane sooner but I definitely get overhead space but you know what honestly I actually just put my bag down by my feet because it's easier than if I want to get something out of it anyways but I know people with longer legs not the best option when I got to the Amsterdam airport I had to go through customs to get to the international terminal and then when I was boarding the main flight or the long-haul flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis where I paid for this upgraded seat class I also was allowed to board earlier however first they let people with mobility issues and with little kids then they let people in I think it's called Delta one which is the like the highest of first class and then business class and then the Priority Access with premium select and things like that I still would have been like one of the first I don't know probably 25 people on the plane however I got somehow chose for a random testing and had to go to the side for this extra security check where they swapped my hands and my belt buckle and stuff so that allowed a couple extra people in front of me one thing I've learned also from from reading your comments is that this is a little bit different on each different airline model and there were only I think 21 of these premium select seats it was an individual little section right behind first class and I was sitting in the bulkhead so I was like right by first class and you could immediately see the difference between these seats and a normal economy seat they're a little bit wider they're a little bit cushier and the colors I think are a little bit different the materials are different and one of the things that makes them so special is they have an extra little foot rest and they recline a little bit further this is something that was kind of hard to show you because I was traveling alone there's strangers sitting all around me and a lot of times people don't want to be filmed and I understand that but let me do my best to try to show you what this little foot rest was like and how far the seat reclines this is definitely more than you get when you fly in a standard economy and another thing is in standard economy in the back of the plane the rows were 2 4 and then two and in this section it was just two three and two so definitely more space between you and the person next to you and definitely more space Also although it's kind of hard to tell from these recordings between you and the person in front of you so I'm a short person I'm only five five leg room is usually not a problem for me I know in the Facebook comments a lot of people were saying that there are over six foot some people are like six foot three six foot five so definitely a good thing for you if you are a extra tall person the buttons in the armrest control the foot rest there's a button that makes the foot rest part go out like this and then there's another button for the thing that you actually put your feet on to make it go down or up and then there's a button for the recline as well you have your own remote control although the screen is touch screen and it took me a second to figure out the table which was hidden in the armrest for the bulkhead seats there's a little lever that you have to pull up to get it to pop up and then it kind of comes up and you push it forward and then you can unfold it and then move it forward and back as well the back of the seat also has a sort of cushy thing here at the top that you can fold forward and back to kind of make it like your own travel pillow and speaking of pillow there was a memory foam pillow and sort of an upgraded blanket as well provided in the seat as well as and this might be one of the biggest noticeable differences between normal economy and this premium select is these headphones were pretty darn nice and I got to keep them too in fact I don't know if I got to keep them but I did there's also a cute little goodie bag that included a lip gloss some socks uh eye mask some earphones and a little toothpaste and toothbrush kit which I think is really great because on a long distance flight when you arrive in the morning or the evening your mouth is funky funky funky so it's nice to be able to just sort of freshen it up before you get picked up another difference over normal economy is the menu for the food came on paper and on the back of this paper there were also directions on how to use the seat and the online menu also another thing I noticed is we were all greeted by name so when the flight attendant came to us they said here Mr O'Brien here's your menu and the directions for the seat and I'll be back with some sparkling wine or sparkling water and then shortly after takeoff they came and offered us sparkling wine or sparkling water here's one major difference over or even other airlines economies all the drinks that you get on some other airlines even in economy the drinks are served in Glass glasses and here they were served in plastic glasses at least these drinks were this is just being nitpicky but a plastic glass doesn't feel really fancy to me I think a normal glass and real silverware seems fancier but speaking of fancy shortly before it was time for lunch they came and they put a little white tablecloth on our table which you know I guess that is a very simple thing you can do to make it seem very fancy we also got a like sort of a an upgraded towel to clean our hands with this was like an actual cloth towel and not a wet wipe it was a real fabric thing and it smelled good too I honestly can't tell you if the food that we got in premium select was different than the food that was offered in the back of the plane because I wasn't gonna get up and go back there and ask somebody but there was a sticker and writing on it that said premium select which makes me think that it is made somehow differently by the way when dinner or lunch was served we did get actual silverware and I ordered a glass of wine and that did come in a glass glass so that did seem a little bit elevated the soft drinks and the alcoholic beverages were included in the price of premium select but I think on international flights it's also it's always included isn't it and the online menu showed which ones were available and then there were also I guess a selection you could ask for as well by the way because I was sitting in the bulkhead and the bulkhead is when you look at a plane you know there the sections of the plane are divided by these walls and those walls I guess are called bulkheads and so I was sitting in the seat where there was no seat in front of me and this has advantages and disadvantages of course it's nice that nobody's seat is reclining into your face you also have a little bit more leg room but in premium select everybody has a little bit more leg room I really prefer to have my bag under the seat in front of me and in the bulkhead you can't do that and I I don't know now that I sat there I think two or three times in bulkhead seats I appreciate having that extra room and no seat in front of me but I also like having the television screen in the actual seat in front of me I like that angle I feel like it's more comfortable for my eyes to have this the screen like at eye level and not sort of down and when you have these screens that flip out of the armrest and they're always like lower and something about that angle of my neck and my eyes makes it harder to watch for so long also the screens in all the seats in premium select that were in the back of the seats were much bigger than the ones in economy but the ones that flipped out of the armrests for us in the bulkhead they were like economy size screens they're still really big screens I don't know if the money that I paid was worth you know having an extra like five centimeters of screen but just thought I'd mention it we got a snack shortly before landing as well but I think that they probably got the same snack in the back too and then we touched down in Minneapolis-St Paul Airport right on time and it was 92 degrees Fahrenheit and when we landed in MSP I could have been the first person off the plane because like I said I was sitting right there but they blocked off the back of the plane to let everybody who was in business class and first class leave first but still I was probably the first person not in first class off of the plane that really helps if you have a short connection or if like I had to if when you get to wherever you're going you have to go through customs and immigration sometimes that line can be really long and if you're at the back of the plane then all 200 300 however many people that were on your flight are going to be in that line in front of you so also kind of a bonus so now coming to the the big question do I think this was worth it and would I pay for it again and this is something that we're going to get into right after this commercial break did you get one what was it about write it in the comments below please all right was it worth it would I pay for this again is this a good deal and I have to be honest with you all this is a question that I definitely can't answer for you and also when you think of the difference in prices you know I can't say well this upgrade only costs this much so that makes it worth it because it seems to be different on on every flight do I regret doing it no but I think the thing that makes it the most attractive for me would be getting the XP points to climb up in my status and not necessarily the bigger seat or them calling me by name or them putting a white tablecloth on my tray like I said I'm not over six feet so the leg room is not something that I really need and honestly yes the seat does recline more and yes there is this leg rest but I personally didn't feel like it helped me get in a more comfortable position for sleeping than just the plane economy seats the leg rest is really kind of a joke if you ask me and for most of the time I think I actually had it down just because I I don't know having my feet instead of having my feet here having them here I didn't need it I would love to fly in business class or first class where you're almost completely laying down or some of them have these beds where you are completely flat then I can sleep but if we're talking about a difference between my back being at this angle or this angle it's not really going to help me the things that I really appreciated about it were the faster lines being the first person on the plane so I know if I wanted to put my bag on top I definitely would be able to put my bag on top getting the extra points and of course the goodie bag and the headphones are pretty cool too but for three four five hundred dollars which is what the difference in cost is a lot of the times you could just go to the store and buy yourself some pretty cool headphones too with a budget of 500 you can buy yourself some cool headphones some socks and a pretty cool pillow so I'm not saying I wouldn't do it again but it's not something that now that I've done it I'm thinking oh it's going to be so hard to fly in normal economy again because that was just so amazing so amazing it was really really nice and I think especially probably repeating myself again especially if you need more leg room because you're very tall or maybe a little bit fluffy I think these seats would be fantastic for you but for me it's kind of a hmm I guess you know the next time I book a long flight I'm gonna look at the price see how much it is see how many points I still need speed for the next level and I think that will really help me consider doing it or not but just for that little bit of reclining the extra leg space the tablecloth and being called Mr O'Brien I feel like I don't really need it let me know what you think about this in the comments and I hope I could help sort of open your eyes to what this was like I think on the way home or back to Germany I'm gonna try to check out the economy plus I think on Delta or KLM or Air France there's like economy and then there's economy plus and then there's premium select and then business class and then first class so maybe on the way home I'll try the one step back between premium select and economy and see I don't know what that's like and I will be able to bring the information to you here as well I hope you're having a great Sunday or whatever day it is you choose to watch this video thanks for spending your time with me in front of the kind of red sofa I hope to be back here next week also with a fun travel related video for you but I honestly don't know right now we have a lot of things planned I don't know when I'm gonna get to it but if I do you'll see me here bye bye everybody

Channel: Very unOfficial Travel Guides

Views: 120,404

Keywords: cruise, cruise ship, cruise line

Id: 6nzU4O0iQfg

Length: 18min 56sec (1136 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 25 2023