The ultimate guide to Delta One Suites
Every year, the TPG Awards honor excellence in credit cards, loyalty programs and travel. Please click here to read more about our winner selection process and methodology for the 2024 TPG Awards.
For this year's TPG Awards, we've been thinking about the best airline experiences out there. Our winner for the Best Business Class on a U.S. Airline is ... Delta One Suites!
Why did Delta Air Lines take the top prize out of all the business-class contenders? A combination of factors, including closing doors for privacy, stylish finishes, great menus and high-end amenities and bedding, played a part in the recognition. The only thing that could make Delta One Suites even better is if they had more saver-level award availability — but we'll get into that below.
For now, take a look at Delta One Suites and why they won this year's award.
An overview of Delta One Suites
Delta made global headlines in 2016 as the first airline in the world to unveil the concept of an all-suite business-class cabin where each seat has its own closing door for privacy.
Since then, these enclosed fixtures have become more popular with airlines, including Qatar Airways, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, All Nippon Airways and Air France, among others.
Delta installed the suites aboard its Airbus A350-900s and A330-900neos, then began retrofitting a modified version of the suite on other long-haul jets in its fleet, including the Boeing 777, which has since been retired from Delta's fleet. It also refitted its 767-400ER aircraft with a modified version of the suite that is not fully enclosed.
Here's what you need to know about Delta One Suites, the aircraft they're on and how you can use miles to book them.
Aircraft with Delta One Suites
Delta One Suites can be found aboard the Airbus A350-900, the Airbus A330-900neo and some Boeing 767-400ER aircraft. Although the product on the 767 is not technically a true Delta One Suite due to a lack of a sliding door, we'll include it for the purposes of this article. Also note that some of the airline's A350s are refreshed former LATAM jets that have older, non-suite business-class seats on board. You can tell which planes these are by looking at their seat maps since they are laid out in a 2-2-2 pattern.
According to Airfleets.net, the airline has 32 A350-900s, 31 A330-900neos and 21 767-400ERs currently in service. It also has an order for some Airbus A350-1000s that will have Delta One Suites, with expected deliveries of those planes beginning in 2026.
Delta's Airbus A350 aircraft have 32 Delta One Suites, while the A330-900neos have 29 Delta One Suites. Retrofitted 767s have 34 suites (compared with 40 old Delta One seats). On all of them, Delta One is in a single cabin at the front of the aircraft, so your experience should be pretty similar from plane to plane.
Delta primarily flies the A350 and A330-900neo from its various hubs, including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), to an array of destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia. It tends to operate the 767-400 on shorter transatlantic routes between the East Coast and Europe.
What to expect with Delta One Suites
What makes the Delta One Suites so special? These are staggered Vantage XL seats, so each has a large footprint and plenty of privacy, especially those with closing doors aboard the A350 and A330-900neo.
Each is around 20 1/2 inches wide and up to 77 inches long in bed mode on the A350. On the A330-900neo, they are 22 1/2 inches wide and up to 80 inches long. The 767 has the smallest seats, with only 20 inches in width, and a bed that's 77 inches long. All recline to fully lie-flat beds with memory foam cushions.
The suites on the A350 and A330-900neo are very similar, though there are some slight design differences that those with a keen eye will notice.
Here's a quick look at the differences between these planes and what's on board. We found the aisles on the A330-900neo to be cramped, though the Wi-Fi was fast. Also, keep in mind that the A330-900neo and 767 have just two lavatories for business class while the A350 has four.
| Plane | A350-900 | A330-900neo | 767-400 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Delta One Suites | 32 | 29 | 34 |
| Configuration | 1-2-1 | 1-2-1 | 1-2-1 |
| Seat dimensions | 20 1/2 inches wide, 76 to 77 inches lie-flat | 22 1/2 inches wide, 79 to 80 inches lie-flat | 20 inches wide, 77 inches lie-flat |
| Screen size | 18 inches | 18 1/2 inches | 18 1/2 inches |
Delta One seats on the retrofitted 767-400 do not incorporate sliding doors, but they do offer more privacy than their counterparts on the 767-300 and have finishes that bring them in line with the new A350s and A330-900neos.
On all of the jets except for the aforementioned A350s Delta bought from LATAM, the suites are arranged in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration. The suites on the sides of the cabin alternate between being closer to the aisle and closer to the window. Those in the center of the cabin shift either right or left of the preceding row to maximize seat pitch.
Passengers can illuminate "Do Not Disturb" indicators, adjust their own lighting and take advantage of numerous personal stowage areas.
The suites have 18 to 18.5-inch high-resolution touchscreens, high-powered USB ports and universal power outlets.
Business-class passengers can enjoy hallmark Delta soft touches, including amenity kits (the current ones are sharp Missoni designs with Grown Alchemist skincare products), over-ear headphones and sustainably produced and packaged CoZzz bedding.
Menus created by celebrity chefs like Jereme Leung and wines chosen by the airline's sommelier Andrea Robinson are all presented with the airline's Alessi glassware, plates and cutlery, lending the meal service an elevated ambience.
Delta One Suites award tickets
Since Delta stopped publishing award charts and switched to a dynamic pricing model for award tickets several years back, it's become harder and harder to find decently priced award tickets in Delta One. Long-haul flights can cost several hundred thousand miles in each direction. For the most part, Delta prices flights in suites at exorbitant levels, ranging from 280,000 to 765,000 miles each way. Yes, you read that correctly.
That said, you can still find some rare saver-level awards — including a recent deal between Seattle and Taipei, Taiwan, for around 84,000 SkyMiles each way earlier in 2024.
To help you do so, Delta has a few useful award-search tools that make the process of finding award prices easier. You can use the flexible dates calendar to look for awards five weeks at a time. And if you're just searching routes where you know an A330-900neo, A350 or 767 with the suites is in service, select the option for nonstop flights so you can narrow down your query quickly. You might also look at city pairs that have you passing through non-hubs since some of these options will be available at lower paid and mileage prices.
On dates when you see noticeably less-expensive awards than surrounding days, you might be able to book them using partner currencies like Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles or Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points.
Using points and miles to book Delta One Suites
If you want to use miles to book Delta One Suites, you have a few choices.
Delta SkyMiles
First, you could use Delta's own SkyMiles. The program is a 1:1 transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards if you have a card like The Platinum Card® from American Express or the American Express® Gold Card.
Or, consider applying for one of Delta's cobranded credit cards to rack up award miles quickly both on welcome offers and everyday spending (terms apply):
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Virgin Atlantic switched to dynamic pricing earlier this year, so it's harder to find bargains using Flying Club points for Delta One awards. However, it's easy to rack up Virgin Atlantic points since Flying Club is a transfer partner of every major transferable points program, including:
- American Express Membership Rewards (at a 1:1 ratio)
- Bilt Rewards (at a 1:1 ratio)
- Capital One (at a 1:1 ratio)
- Chase Ultimate Rewards (at a 1:1 ratio)
- Citi ThankYou Rewards (at a 1:1 ratio)
- Wells Fargo Rewards (at a 1:1 ratio)
- Marriott Bonvoy (at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-point bonus for transferring 60,000 points; expect a 48-hour transfer time)
That said, expect to redeem well over 100,000 points in each direction (and sometimes much more than that), depending on where you want to fly.
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
Another good option is Flying Blue. This program is a transfer partner of:
- American Express Membership Rewards
- Chase Ultimate Rewards
- Citi ThankYou Rewards
- Capital One
There are two major caveats, though. First, you'll only be able to use these miles to book saver-level awards on Delta, so expect extremely limited availability. Second, you will typically pay more taxes and surcharges on these tickets than you will when using Delta SkyMiles.
Bottom line
Delta changed the game with its all-suites business class. Closing doors (on the A350s and A330-900neos), up-to-the-minute tech and signature soft amenities all ensure a comfortable and memorable flight on the airline's newest Delta One products.
However, the exorbitant award pricing of many flights with these suites means they're out of reach for most flyers looking to redeem miles to book them at all but the most inconvenient of times. Hopefully that will change, but in the meantime, the more flexible you can be with your travel plans, the better your chances of experiencing Delta One Suites for yourself.
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