Review: Inaugural Delta Flight from Seattle to Taipei (A330neo Premium Select)

Today (June 6th, 2024) Delta Air Lines is inaugurating their service from Seattle to Taipei, the second US carrier to service the island nation. The service is on an Airbus A330-900neo that we were lucky enough to be on for the first flight to Taipei.

Booking

I managed to book this flight with SkyMiles, spending 83,300 miles and $5.60 in fees for my seat in Premium Select. I think a pretty decent value for money as Delta One was going for over 200,000 SkyMiles and Economy was around 50,000 SkyMiles one-way.

Check-In

Everything started at check-in where there was a dedicated line for passengers traveling to Taipei, it looked as if they were doing training for the entry requirements to the country. I ended up not being able to check-in online because of my one-way ticket and had to show proof that I was going to leave the country.

At the gate, there was a large celebration and signs everywhere for the inaugural flight. There were speeches by representatives from Delta and the Port of Seattle, who all took great honor to be connecting a US carrier to Taipei.

There was even a table with some goodies that included cookies and milk tea.

Boarding

Boarding started on time at gate A10, even with all the fanfare and extra people crowding around the gate, everyone got onboard early.

While boarding we were given extra goodies to take home which included bag tags, key rings, and pins.

The Seat

Delta's Premium Select cabin on the A330neo is in a 2-3-2 configuration. As I've mentioned before, I believe the best seats are the bulkhead seats. I scored the bulkhead window seat on this flight and I found it the easiest to get in and out of the seat as well as not having anybody to lean their chair back into my face.

At the seat there was a nicely weighted blanket, firm pillow, amenity kit, slippers, and a pair of headphones. It was everything you could honestly need on a long 12-hour flight like the one we were going to be on today.

After boarding, we were handed a single card with meal choices, however I had gotten an email a week earlier to pre-select my choices.

Service

As you can expect for an inaugural flight, everyone was a bit more abuzz and excited to make a good first impression. All the flight attendants were sweet and eager to help out.

Meal service started promptly after departure with drinks and an appetizer of some cheese biscuits.

And shortly after the main meal arrived, the braised beef was delicious and juicy and tender. The rice was also not overcooked.

About midway through the flight, we were given a pizza twist that is usual for flights like this.

And finally, about an hour and a half before landing, breakfast was served (before our 3pm landing in Taipei). I ended up going for the "baked" French toast and was not pleased, it was very sweet and a little mushy in the middle. Out of all the meals I've had on airplanes, that was by far the worst.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the inaugural flight was quite the success. It was a fun atmosphere all around and everyone seemed genuinely excited to have another carrier providing service to Taipei.

It will certainly be nice to have another options from Taipei to the United States and not having to connect through San Francisco. In talking with others, the main reason they were excited seemed to be the price of tickets to the United States. They explained that EVA Air tickets are usually quite expensive.

There was not really a welcoming party, but there were plenty of people around the ramp taking pictures and news crews all around.

I find it always exciting for an inaugural flight and I can't wait for the Brisbane inaugural flight towards the end of this year!