Delta A321neo First Class: Stylish, Sort Of Innovative, And Bulky

The biggest issue with the seats is the lack of seat padding. You really notice it on longer flights, and I really can’t believe no one tested these thoroughly enough to notice.

The absolute worst seats for comfort. They are rock hard, akin to sitting on a park bench. It’s amazing no one tested these before launch (at least I hope that’s the reason, because if they did…).

Not a fan of the seat.

I didn't realize all the negativity in regards to this product. I flew it for the first time a few weeks ago and really liked it (but the seats are definitely hard). The most underrated part of the A321 is the bathroom in the middle, between First and Comfort+. I found it to be much more spacious, and it's so nice not having people walk up through the cabin constantly to use the bathroom in the front.

Any reason you chose this, just for review purposes? I thought you preferred MIA over FLL? And AA offers widebody lieflats occasionally on this route. And JetBlue has Mint on LAX-FLL.

How would you compare this seat to the Collins Air Rest on your recent CX A321neo flight?

Flown this plane dozens of times cross country and hadn’t ever noticed the seat being too firm, I guess that is my preference. I’ll take a firm seat over a worn out cushion any day.

My biggest complaint is when the person in front reclines. Almost lost a laptop screen or two with how tight it is. I’d prefer a little less recline to maintain a bit more space in front of me.

But I’ll add otherwise a huge fan of the seat. Does feel very private especially with the rows staggered slightly

These seats are uncomfortable. I've done about 20 transcend in the Delta a321 and I hate these seats. The cushions are too thin, and there is not enough leg room, I am 5'11". I usually chose seat 1D if I can, the pitch is way too tight to sit in the seats behind that with someone reclining into you. The sacrifice is no foot room in the front row. I can't wait for the new 321 transcons with D1 in them, can't come soon enough. Meanwhile, Delta if you are listening those seats need 3" more pitch minimum to be comfortable. If you're gonna call it first class a pillow for lumbar support would be nice. After 2 red eyes in these never again, I sacrifice my Skymiles to fly in Mint on red eyes from the west coast if I can and I've also taken an extra stop through LAX to fly D1 on the 757 instead.

And if I may add which has nothing to do with your reviews, but how is your mom doing along with your family? I haven't forgotten about them since you last mentioned them around the holidays. I hope your mom is taking things day by day cherishing every moment despite the circumstances.

This is why I think Alaska has the best domestic first class recliner seats in the US. On recliner seats, nothing's more premium than the space itself. Alaska has 41" pitch vs 37" of Delta. 4" makes a huge difference. I'd rather take the bigger 41" seat without a monitor than all the bells and whistles in the tight 37" seat.
Alaska also has a footrest and even a leg rest on the latest seats. Not any other US airlines offer these comfort features in the same class.

I recently flew on this plane type RT LAX-Tampa in comfort plus or whatever Delta calls it. At 6'1" I found the legroom to be acceptable - when the person in front of me reclined the seat didn't jam into my knees and I was still able to work on my laptop. The entertainment selection was pretty good and the seats reasonably comfortable. The best seats in the cabin might be the "bulkhead" comfort+ seats up against the mid-cabin lavatory. These seats were a heck of a lot better than what AA has on comfort+ on their A321s between LAX and HNL.

I think I would miss the leg room under the seat in front by having this new storage area. It was always wide enough to put a small satchel in the middle and still have room for big feet.

It has been widely communicated that the seat cushions are being replaced.

One would like to suggest an observation which need to be submitted for consideration:
Many believe that this type seat cannot be categorised as “First Class”. Premium economy or business at best, therefore, just another example that the likes of AA are being unrealistic using such a class designation.
Additional pitch or seat width hardly constitutes such a misleading classification.

I agree, (were we on the same flight ? LOL) DL's comfort plus is quite nice for the modest (to me anyway) price up.

I am usually a DL flyer but I am looking forward to TPA-SAN on AS in F. I've heard good things and you have reinforced that. Thanks.

I'm amazed that Delta flies nonstop between Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale. Who is taking that route? Delta has tried making Miami a quasi-hub. FLL doesn't make a lot of sense.

The glaring omission from your typically comprehensive reporting is the bulkhead seats in this new config - they are so jammed forward that you have less legroom than in economy. Seriously, I can't stretch my legs any more than 90 degrees. It is the worst in any domestic configuration. Avoid bulkhead at all costs.

I think the floor cubby is for shoes.

DL has long been the largest legacy carrier at FLL and more recently at LAX.

They have flown LAX to most of the big Florida cities for years.

And they have so far not chosen to take on AA on LAX-MIA w/ more than a token flight per day at most.

I think one of his parents are FLL area -

Didn't take the kid... probably needed to collect the kid from Grandma

Didn't anyone sit on those seat cushions before they were purchased and installed?

FLL has quite the DL frequent flyer base. Honestly of all the airlines at FLL, Delta has about the best set up that's the least frustrating for a frequent flyer. I'd argue the Sky Club there has some of the best club agents I've encountered at any airline since TWA. One of those places I walked in several years after moving away and was greeted by name as I came in the door. I think DL could make some more one-off routes work from FLL but doesn't have the peak space for it.

While DL is quite large at MIA, it still sort of amazes me how different a market FLL and MIA are from one another. Most people adamantly use one airport versus the other. I chalk the FLL-LAX up to servicing that particular customer base. I would imagine it does quite well for Delta.

I've flown it once. I think DL took the mindset of trying to make the seat as much like a suite as it could in existing footprint. I found the window seat a bit claustrophobic especially trying to eat a meal with the person in front of me reclined all the way to the stop. I have the same complaint on that ratio of recline to seat space on United's new A321neo (in addition to having basically zero usable underseat storage space for anything larger than a small messenger bag or a purse).

For a transcon, I'd still rather have seats like Alaska with more legroom. That's just my personal preference. I agree the screens on DL (and UA) are nice and make the cabin look sharp, plus the bluetooth capability is just one more thing to not have to worry about taking off or unplugging when you let your window seat neighbor out. I personally don't use them for anything other than the flight map which with the points of interest that they have as a feature on the latest map display (that has a blurb about some random church or courthouse you're flying over - or in the case of my town, as I finally saw on a recent UA flight, a note about being the hometown of Food Lion). Combined with wifi and wikipedia I end up down one of those rabbit holes for half the flight. So I guess maybe the TV does help provide me entertainment...

Delta calls these first class on A321? then how the business class looks like

Echoing many of the other comments, these seats look really cool in photos but not so great in practice. The window seat feels quite hemmed in.

Are they harder than AA’s domestic F seat? Hard to believe.

"For example, when you try to get up from the window seat (especially if the seat in front is reclined), you have a really tight space to navigate through, and it’s easy to bump into that center storage area, and more."

I'm only 5'3" and this is exactly my experience.

I have a flown several times on the A321neo from LAX to MSP and LAX to ATL. Both were red eye flights. Agree with the review. The seats are not very comfortable and could use some additional seat padding. And when the seat in front is reclined, it feels very tight. I hope Delta makes some refinements as they roll out these new seats on other aircraft.

What people fail to realize is that Delta is #1 in seat stiffness. And United will be #2 forever. And United executives love to talk how stiff they are, when the reality is that they shouldn’t have to be talking if they had real stiffness to show.

I'm surprised you didn't mention how uncomfortable they are, they have NO padding, I much prefer the older seats.

Interesting hearing the differences between Jeb Brooks' review vs this review

Just face it, even if a US airline were perfect, it would be bitched about and the slightest irrelevant details would be picked apart and frowned upon. The US based airlines will be compared to the airlines with bottomless pockets and government support. They’ll never win over the American traveler. So why bother reviewing these airlines over & over & over?

CRS, please be advised that the American airline passenger is not the only world traveler. Not all followers of Ben’s blog are inwardly thinking US citizens, many like Ben, actively seek new experiences with international airlines. Many, many readers appreciate this approach and are enriched by Ben’s reviews and experiences.
‘Every day is a school day’, we can all choose educate ourselves, or not, as the case may be. Surely even you would agree that this blog would be an extremely dull offering if Ben only featured US carriers, yes?

This looks to me like some of the recent Premium Economy seat roll-outs on other airlines. Especially the wings.
The cramped pitch reminds me of the here today, gone tomorrow Premium Economy perches Air NZ put into 777s some years ago. The seats immediately attracted criticism for several reasons, not least their cramped pitch. The airline responded initially by removing an entire row and boosting the pitch of the rest.
Then they soon saw demand exceeding supply and tossed the entire new cabin for one with a larger number of completely new seats.

Sitting in them for the first time right now. They do look nicer but I instantly noticed the cushions are harder. The head wing things are nice to lean my head against. I echo the author in wondering about the storage spaces.it seems like the seat in front of me is closer than the old first class seats on my way out.

I’ve flown in this new first class seat several times in long haul flights and hate it. There is no padding. It’s like sitting on a park bench. Extremely uncomfortable. Very disappointing.

Delta has been crowing about how they are upping frequencies, to MIA, from many other hubs, except SLC. ALOT of traffic through the Salt Lake hub ( if you can call it a true hub), desires 2/3 flights to Miami, daily, but is stuck with a single red eye flight. Miami is a MAJOR cruise port, and connector to South America, and with next to no non stop service from the west coast airports, customers are stuck connecting through ATL,which is a nightmare.

I HATE THESE NEW SEATS -- ALL THE POINTS OF BEING CRAMPS AND BULKY ARE TRUE. I WAS VERY UNCOMFORTABLE AND I ACTIVELY RECONSIDER SITTING IN FIRST CLASS BECAUSE I FEEL THAT THE VALUE HAS BEEN LOST

Always thought the idea that you had to have your carry-on pushed all the way under the seat in front of you was so the exit path wouldn’t be blocked… this new bulky middle section extends to nearly cut that space in half! Also we travel with a pet, they have completely eliminated either person’s ability to place the carrier under the seat in front of you. These seats are completely impractical…modern but bulky and claustrophobic.

The new seats are designed for people 6' or taller. They are a torcher chamber for shorter people bec the headrest hits at the biggest part of the skull in the back and pushes the neck forward. It can be raised but not enough to resolved the issue. I requested a pillow for behind my back but the cabin steward said there were no pillows or blankets on the flight! How thoughtful of Delta.

A321 Seattle to Fort Laudedale got the bulk head seat in first class zero leg room! Avoid at all cost! Seat is uncomfortable and tight!