International

DELTA DIGS AT LONDON HEATHROW. Delta and its SkyTeam partners have completed their move into the recently renovated Terminal 4 at London Heathrow. I was there late last summer during construction, which was a mess, but this Flickr photostream from SkyTeam shows a really nice, fresh new look to the place…Especially the SkyTeam lounge. (BA used to house most of its operations here, but has moved over to its spiffy, spectacular new digs at Terminal 5.) In a related note, Delta says that ALL its flights to/from London Heathrow now have lie-flat business elite seats.

WORTH REPEATING: SINGAPORE-DELTA NO MORE. We mentioned this in a previous post, but it bears repeating: Delta and Singapore Air will dissolve their frequent flyer partnership on May 15. After that program members will not be able to earn or redeem miles in each other’s programs. However, if you BOOK your trip by May 15, you can still travel on Singapore Air using your Delta miles through May 15, 2011.

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LESS BIZ CLASS INTRA-EUROPE. Have you ever flown short-haul business class in Europe? Most of the time, business class simply means you get to sit in a 3-abreast coach seat near the front of the plane with the middle seat empty and get better food. Seemed like a high price to pay for a minimal service differential. Well, it seems the recession is taking care of that. Recently, British Airways said that the market for short haul business class in Europe has declined precipitously as companies cut back on premium class travel. The carrier is looking at cutting out the service altogether at all airports except Heathrow, according to the Times of London.

TICKET READER TRIP REPORT: DELTA JFK-LHR-ATL. In the past two weeks I flew Delta from JFK to Heathrow, and then back from LHR to ATL, both of the flights in economy. Going over was mostly sleep, so it didn’t make much of an impact on me. But coming back I have to say that it was the best international flight I’ve ever experienced. It started out as usual at boarding, walking through the new lie flat seats, jealous that I didn’t get an upgrade. But it turned out there were only about 50 of us in economy, meaning I got my own three seats in the middle section, so I was able to spread everything out. Then came meal service (it was fine), and the announcement that all beer and wine was free throughout the flight. We were fed snacks three more times, and drinks throughout. I had a 120-volt electrical outlet at my seat, and an on-demand TV with about 40 first-run movies to choose from. I worked, watched three movies, slept a little, but never found myself saying, “Oh man, three more hours!” Instead, I was almost sorry when we were about to land. I’m sorry there weren’t more people on the flight (obviously a negative for Delta), but I have to commend them for making international travel more than just a bearable experience. Other than a larger TV and a lie-flat seat, I’m not sure what could have improved things “up front”. Thanks Delta–don’t backtrack! –G.M., Atlanta