Well That Sucked – The Entertainment Screen on My Mom’s Delta Flight to Europe Didn’t Work (And Here’s What She Did About It)

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My mom ran into a bit of a hiccup during a recent trip to Europe.  She flew from Minneapolis to London and (GASP!) her entertainment screen was inoperable.

Now, I’m fully aware this is a First World problem.  But we had worked hard to save up enough miles for a Delta Business Class ticket (by using many of the best credit cards for travel, of course!) and spent a lot of time looking for available award seats.  The trip was to celebrate her retirement, and I wanted the flight to be extra special.

After the trip, the more I thought about the screen, the more frustrated I got.  It wasn’t really about the screen, specifically, but more about the annoyance she’d had to deal with.  I wanted my mom’s first lie-flat Business Class experience to be perfect!  I mean lie-flat seats are the things dreams are made of, right?

So, I encouraged her to write to Delta and let them know what happened.

I helped her write the complaint and we kindly let Delta know about the situation.  She explained the reason for the trip and the fact that it felt like she’d paid for a benefit she was ultimately unable to use.  She mentioned it was an especially big annoyance because it was a 10-hour flight!  The flight attendants had attempted everything from resetting the screen to using a remote, but the system wouldn’t respond.

Submitting a complaint (or compliment!) to Delta is easy.  You can log in to your account and send them an email.  Just be sure to have your flight details handy, as they’ll ask you to provide that information.

Of course, she didn’t let it ruin her vacation – it wasn’t THAT big of a deal.  But being able to watch the in-flight entertainment is, technically, part of what you’re paying for when you purchase a ticket.

Has anything like this ever happened to you?  What, in your opinion, would be fair compensation for an inconvenience such as this?  I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!