Delta Airlines - What Am I Missing

375Fox said:
No one wants to bring up what’s going on in Middle East? Comparing to United would be a more fair comparison. Emirates and Qatar are trying to maintain some market share while travelers regain confidence in their routes. I wouldn’t fly through Middle East at moment. It will be interesting to compare pricing next year.
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Emirates has always been cheaper than Delta going back to at least 2014. Qatar used to be equivalent to Emirates, but not any more. They’re in between Delta and Emirates. United strands more passengers in Newark than either of the ME carriers have during wartime!
 
375Fox said:
No one wants to bring up what’s going on in Middle East? Comparing to United would be a more fair comparison. Emirates and Qatar are trying to maintain some market share while travelers regain confidence in their routes. I wouldn’t fly through Middle East at moment. It will be interesting to compare pricing next year.
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I thought of that, but Emirates and Qatar have had good rates for those routes well before the current conflict.
 
Both Qatar and Emirates are heavily subsidized by their govt.
 
Russ16 said:
That’s great if South Africa is your final destination. If going to Zimbabwe Johannesburg is a bigger pain because you can’t check your bags through. You have to clear customs twice.
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I’ve done it 3x in the last 12mo with my bags checked though to my final destination and only once did I need to confirm serial numbers in JNB. I also didn’t have to take my guns out of the police station on any of the 3 trips. 3 different destinations & 2 different points of origin same result.
1) Livingstone Zambia
2) Bulawayo Zimbabwe
3) Beira Mozambique

@Doug3006 your itinerary might be a little short on the ORD leg. It’s very possible you’ll have to reclaim your guns and recheck with Emirates in ORD since they’re not affiliated. Even One World to One World sometimes makes you reclaim/recheck if switching between different metal. Personally I dislike flying through ORD and avoid it at all costs.

For me it’s about the least number of baggage touches by airline employees where my guns can be lost. Your Dubai route has an extra stop + more time. For me, the reason to pick Dubai or Qatar on a longer flight is because I can avoid JNB and it’s the same number of stoped. You used to be able to flying Dubai and Qatar straight into Harare giving you the same number of stops as the JNB Route. In this scenario I’d take the longer flight time. If going through JNB anyways I’m also ok with the overnight in JNB because I can spend $120 sleep in a comfortable bed, shit/shower/shave, and eat real food. I can get a hotel at a Middle Eastern airport and do the same (slightly more) but now I’m still getting off a 8+ hour flight, to board another plane instead of being rested and ready to go right out the gate.

I say this as someone who flies economy and relies on points/status to upgrade my seat. I’ve raw dogged more than one cross Atlantic flight in a middle seat to save a couple grand and spend it on another animal.
 
Im doing Chicago-Dubai-Joburg-Harare in 2 weeks. Delta business was $19k when Emirates was $6k. Many others were still half than delta, business and cattle class Included.
This isn't the first thread on Delta's current pricing. Considering other ME airlines aren't much different from prior to the Iran conflict, one might assume Delta is definitely capitalizing on the situation intentionally or not.

Savings however did buy more animals...easy decision in the end.
 
Mtn_Infantry said:
I’ve done it 3x in the last 12mo with my bags checked though to my final destination and only once did I need to confirm serial numbers in JNB. I also didn’t have to take my guns out of the police station on any of the 3 trips. 3 different destinations & 2 different points of origin same result.
1) Livingstone Zambia
2) Bulawayo Zimbabwe
3) Beira Mozambique

@Doug3006 your itinerary might be a little short on the ORD leg. It’s very possible you’ll have to reclaim your guns and recheck with Emirates in ORD since they’re not affiliated. Even One World to One World sometimes makes you reclaim/recheck if switching between different metal. Personally I dislike flying through ORD and avoid it at all costs.

For me it’s about the least number of baggage touches by airline employees where my guns can be lost. Your Dubai route has an extra stop + more time. For me, the reason to pick Dubai or Qatar on a longer flight is because I can avoid JNB and it’s the same number of stoped. You used to be able to flying Dubai and Qatar straight into Harare giving you the same number of stops as the JNB Route. In this scenario I’d take the longer flight time. If going through JNB anyways I’m also ok with the overnight in JNB because I can spend $120 sleep in a comfortable bed, shit/shower/shave, and eat real food. I can get a hotel at a Middle Eastern airport and do the same (slightly more) but now I’m still getting off a 8+ hour flight, to board another plane instead of being rested and ready to go right out the gate.

I say this as someone who flies economy and relies on points/status to upgrade my seat. I’ve raw dogged more than one cross Atlantic flight in a middle seat to save a couple grand and spend it on another animal.
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My intenerary has one stop. Just in Doha or Dubai. I fly straight out of Dulles then straight to Harare. Yes it lands n Lusaka but I don’t get off the plane.

Last time I flew Qatar it was very reassuring. They found me in the lounge to tell me my gun had arrived in Doha and someone came on the plane to tell me it had been loaded. Gave me a lot of confidence in the airline.

I can’t fly straight to JNB from DC so it would be an extra touch to go through JNB and every itenerary I could find would have required me to overnight there as well.
 
I live 2.5 hrs from ATL airport. It's an easy one to get in and out. The direct to JNB is hard to beat. It makes me 17-19 hours away from JNB.

To use Emirates, which i'd be interested in, I'd have to fly from Atl or Columbia SC then transfer etc in Orlando. (If there is another option LMK).

I did hear that Emirates was going to start serving ATL. If so, I'm in.

I'm headed to RSA to hunt birds on Aug 13th. Using comfort+.

I anyone on that flight, I'll buy you a beer beforehand.
 
SCLawyer said:
I live 2.5 hrs from ATL airport. It's an easy one to get in and out. The direct to JNB is hard to beat. It makes me 17-19 hours away from JNB.

To use Emirates, which i'd be interested in, I'd have to fly from Atl or Columbia SC then transfer etc in Orlando. (If there is another option LMK).

I did hear that Emirates was going to start serving ATL. If so, I'm in.

I'm headed to RSA to hunt birds on Aug 13th. Using comfort+.

I anyone on that flight, I'll buy you a beer beforehand.
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You could fly Columbia or Atlanta to DC and get on Emirates. Rather than Florida.
 
I took the United route in premium eco for August 7th to RSA, mainly because I usually manage to score an upgrade on points/status as I use them alot for business travel. Getting out of state is always required but there was a direct to Newark, so will see how those dice roll. I won't fly delta as I know their safety record and policies when it comes to flying into adverse weather.

US airlines are definitely profiteering off the middle east debacle, their prices on domestic routes are up 30+% especially on longer term bookings (international closer to 50%), and they've clearly stated they are doing it. Government regulation is non-existent at the moment, so they have no fear. Out of curiousity I looked at booking out of Toronto for the same sort seat, and found the prices to be far more normal, so its a US thing.
 
Russ16 said:
Emirates biz class also includes a car service to the airport which saves me about $200 in uber fare. Their top lounge access and if you’re in the A380 the stand up bar in the back.

No comparison to delta.
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I have my wife drop me off at the airport. It's free. And that way when I land I get to see her that much sooner. As far as the other stuff - I think were just in a different place in this world. I am retired Army. Don't know what lounge access or an A380 is. I'm happy with a Bud and a bag of peanuts.
 
Russ16 said:
My intenerary has one stop. Just in Doha or Dubai. I fly straight out of Dulles then straight to Harare. Yes it lands n Lusaka but I don’t get off the plane.

Last time I flew Qatar it was very reassuring. They found me in the lounge to tell me my gun had arrived in Doha and someone came on the plane to tell me it had been loaded. Gave me a lot of confidence in the airline.

I can’t fly straight to JNB from DC so it would be an extra touch to go through JNB and every itenerary I could find would have required me to overnight there as well.
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This is my preferred route to zim using Emirates or Qatar via DFW or IAH. The reason for Delta on my March flight was Middle Eastern airspace being closed. I was booked on Qatar and had to cancel/rebook with Delta.

The Mozambique route was different. There’s no flight from Harare into Beira. JNB as the layover was much easier. Zambia was a timing thing. I’d have had a layover in Lusaka then flown to Livingstone, when meeting my hunting partner, times didn’t sync so I picked Delta and we were on the same Airlink flight together. Convenient for the outfitter.
 
Russ16 said:
You could fly Columbia or Atlanta to DC and get on Emirates. Rather than Florida.
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I'll look into that next go round.

I am also a skymiles man and accumulate a lot of miles on my card and flying my bride and four kiddos here, there, and yon.

Thanks
 
Russ16 said:
Both Qatar and Emirates are heavily subsidized by their govt.
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Just like United and Delta. (all major US airlines really)

No one seems to notice that the US airlines stopped bitching about the gulf carriers receiving subsidies after they received a collective $62 billion in taxpayer dollars during Covid, most of which they never have to pay back.

Also, they don't pay a penny in income tax most years, which is a massive subsidy in and of it self.

The airline CEO's have openly stated during their earnings calls that they are taking full advantage of the situation to line there pockets. Its 100% this:

CloudySkies said:
US airlines are definitely profiteering off the middle east debacle, their prices on domestic routes are up 30+% especially on longer term bookings (international closer to 50%), and they've clearly stated they are doing it. Government regulation is non-existent at the moment, so they have no fear. Out of curiousity I looked at booking out of Toronto for the same sort seat, and found the prices to be far more normal, so its a US thing.
Click to expand...
 
sgt_zim said:
It's been about 25 years since I've flown Emirates, but for business class, no way would I choose Delta over Emirates. Yes, a longer total trip time, but you get their lounge as part of your fare, you can always take a shower, rest up a bit in one of their massage chairs, then nap and snack as you like.

I know there are a lot of guys here who've had no issues flying EWR or ATL to JNB, but more than enough have that there's no way I'm risking 1 year's worth of planning to get canceled entirely or miss hunting days.

I talked to a number of locals at JNB when I was there for my first trip in '24, they all said the same thing about UA and Delta, and it was most ricky-tick unflattering.

For that alone, Emirates and Qatar both are worth it even if they were more expensive.
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For my Moz hunt next year I may try Emerates, we will see
 
MacJenkins said:
And delta buisness class is no comparison to Emirates. You said Zim or Moz. You can go direct Dubai to Harare on Emerites which is a huge plus to not have to bother with Joberg at all.
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That’s right. I should have mentioned that my Zim trip will probably be to Bubye….so need to get to Bulawayo.
 
Doug3006 said:
That’s right. I should have mentioned that my Zim trip will probably be to Bubye….so need to get to Bulawayo.
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In that case go through JNB to avoid the internal flight in Zim. Customs in Bulawayo is better than Harare but not as easy as Vic Falls from my experience.

If you’re not flying Business/FC I’d take the shorter delta route and overnight layover at JNB. That’s what I flew in March. Zero issues would fly again.
 
OT, checked Turkish Airlines and biz next April, midweek out of Dulles (IAD) round trip was 6138, layover in Istanbul.
 
Doug3006 said:
I’m in the early planning phase for my next Safari. I’m looking at options to get me to Johannesburg. From there, I will be flying to either Zimbabwe or Mozambique. For this post, I’m focusing on the legs from St. Louis to a hub and then to Johannesburg.

Comparing Delta airlines to Emirates makes me wonder why anyone would choose Delta….unless they have a boat load of Delta miles to apply. The following is for a May 2027 booking.

Delta
Class: Delta One (their version of business class)
Itinerary: STL-ATL-JNB
Total Travel Time: 19 hours (including a 2 hour layover in ATL)
Cost: $11,700
Misc: DL arrives in JNB at 7:40pm which necessitates an overnight hotel stay

Emirates:
Class: Business
Itinerary: STL-ORD-DXB-JNB
Total Travel Time: 25 hours (including a 2 hour layover in ORD and another 4 hours in DXB )
Cost: $7,000 (including $350 for the American Airlines flight from STL-ORD)
Misc: EK arrives in JNB at 5:30am which allows me to catch a flight to Zim or Moz without a night at JNB)

Pros:
Delta - One less connection and 6 hours less total travel time
Delta - The new Delta One service is supposed to be nice
Delta - Guns can be checked straight through to JNB. Emirates makes me claim my guns from American in Chicago and recheck with them. Hassle.
Emirates - nearly $5K cheaper than Delta
Emirates - Dubai International beats the hell out of Atlanta-Hartsfield
Emirates - Newer planes, friendlier service, better food
Emirates - Early morning arrival in JNB gives you an option to skip the overnight in JNB

I’ve flown both routes and I’m amazed that Delta fills their planes while charging far more. Thoughts from those who’ve done the same?
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one thing to think about if you are taking a suppressor and you have to claim your bags in Chicago and when you recheck your gun case and have a suppressor in it you could be in BIG trouble as they are illegal in Chicago
 
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