For the final segment of the return portion of our winter trip to Tokyo & Niseko, I flew Delta’s Airbus A321neo first class on the 4hr10min redeye flight Los Angeles (LAX) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL). It had been a long journey from Japan, as it also included ANA’s 737 Premium Class, ANA’s A380 first class,…
Continue reading: Review: Delta First Class Airbus A321neo (LAX-FLL)
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This is a transcontinental flight. It's a route where lie-flat seats would sure be nice. If ITA can do lie-flat seats on Rome-Cairo, surely Delta could do lie-flat seats on Fort Lauderdale-Los Angeles or Miami-Seattle.
That aside ... I have to ask: Who is flying Los Angeles-Fort Lauderdale? Maybe I could see Miami, which at this point for Delta is somewhere between a focus city and a hub, but Fort Lauderdale.
isn't the bigger question how unpleasant red eyes on nonpremium planes are? what a painful flight. Yes, it may be time-saving and efficient, but very tiring. plenty of people would prefer to wait until the 8am flight, or possibly sleep on a proper LAX-JFK and then take a 7am JFK to MIA
@ Aaron -- I wouldn't say the bulkhead legroom was great, though it has the advantage of not having anyone recline into you. In the other seats, it sure looks like it can get pretty tight when the person in front of you reclines, so there's some advantage to that.
@ mark -- Agree 100%. Like I said, I avoid them for good reason, and under normal circumstances, I don't even consider them.
They only typically make sense if you're someone who can sleep anywhere, if you're in a huge rush to get to your destination no matter how uncomfortable, or if you're just looking for the best deal. Based on how full the flight was, I guess a lot of people fall into those categories.
@ FNT Delta Diamond -- Of course it would be nice if they do lie flat seats, but competitively, it's just not needed. It's the same reason European airlines also get away with intra-Europe business class being as bad as it is.
Regarding the passenger profile, it's heavily leisure oriented, with a lot of people either vacationing in Florida or going on cruises. Many people view FLL and MIA as being substitutes, so I suspect a lot of people on this flight were headed south of Fort Lauderdale.
LAX-FLL on DL has been around for a while. I remember flying it over 15 years ago. I think it went away / was swapped in favor of MIA for a few years but then came back (I could be wrong on the particulars there).
Given all the money in the Miami area these days I can't believe a Los Angeles-Miami flight wouldn't be considered a premium route with people who would pay for Delta One. Even SFO. There are so many tech bros in Miami. Plus, Hollywood types too.
But that aside, FLL and MIA are considered co-terminal by Delta for purposes of same-day change. It's nice flexibility to have. Same with IAD and DCA and also JFK, EWR and LGA.
Style > substance. Typical for the new DL. Only a fool would pay the FC premium for this lipstick on a pig.
If people were WILLING to PAY for Lie Flat Seats for Domestic Longhaul Flights then maybe the Airlines would provide them......everybody wants and expects an Upgrade. The Airlines know the data and how the Market reacts. Just because a particular area have residents with disposable incomes doesn't mean those people intend on taking the wallet out to PAY for them. Nowadays everyone is a Critic and has an Opinion.....all comes down to Money Talks and BS Walks. The "Should have, Could have, Would have" doesn't pay the bills for ANY Company.
As a Delta flight attendant, I can say we do offer a pre-meal snack. The FA was supposed to offer a four snack option in a smalll silver basket with a drink before meals are delivered.
I think the seat in and of itself is not the problem. Like all discussions around whether we're allowed to recline, the culprit is tight seat pitch, not the seat, not fellow passengers. This would be a great US domestic F product, if only the pitch was 42-45 inches.
My opinion of this configuration, on this aircraft, over that distance is: Delta should be sued under the Trades Descriptions Act, for having the audacity to call this First Class.
Business Class at best, Premium Economy would be more appropriate.
Mike, not wishing to take anything away from your FA roll, perhaps you can explain to a resident of the Right Side of the pond, why Delta call this a First Class product?
You really don't know what you're talking about. Airlines have use this marketing in the US for years. Decades. First class is the first cabin, main cabin is everything else. We do things differently in this country.
US airlines have always called their premium cabin flying domestically "first class." Literally going back to the earliest days. The term "business class" is a relatively modern innovation.
Now Jason, accusing someone of not knowing what they are talking about is fighting talk in some parts of the world laddie. However, I’m only joking now, as I was when I posted the comment which you have taken exception to. Clearly your American definition of “First Class” is hard to understand by those with different standards.
Thank you for your explanation FTN.
One is minded to enquire if it is not time for the U.S. Domestic Airline community to join the rest of the world in the twenty first century?
Only joking FTN, it is too nice a day here in the Shires to cause offence …. 🙂
Interesting observation re: food and aligns with what others have been saying elsewhere of late (and my own experiences - the short rib I had recently on ATL-ABQ was more akin to a Lean Cuisine mystery meat meal both in portion and quality…). Sad because DL used to be known for relatively good F catering, wonder if there have been quiet budget cuts in catering that just haven’t been publicized.
The 37” seat pitch seems indeed tight. For western carriers the standard pitch for first / premium economy seats is 38”. Asian carriers usually offer several inches more.
@N515CR I think if you really want to get into the weeds, LAX-FLL was actually a Song route back in the day!
Ha! And give up feet and inches and pounds and ounces? Well that's just crazy talk...
Are Americans really so afraid of taking off their shoes? I mean, this is a nearly 5 hours flight 😀
As long as your feet don't stink and you wear clean socks.. go for it? Especially, if there are blankets provided it's kind of gross leaving shoes on..
There are millions of people in the world who would advocate such things Justin, however, I could not possibly comment.
Curious why you chose LAX-FLL given your disdain for FLL airport, not to mention the agonizing commute from FLL down to MIA. And the cherry on top was that it was a red eye domestic. Are you okay, Ben?
@ 9volt -- Hah, I chose a redeye since I was connecting from HNL, and the flight was perfectly timed for that connection. I chose FLL because I wanted to review the Delta A321neo, and because the pricing for first class was reasonable. Fair question, though!
@ Flyer -- "As long as your feet don't stink and you wear clean socks." For many travelers, the problem lies with this assumption. 😉
@ Daniel -- To Alaska's credit, the airline has an extra 4" of pitch in first class compared to the competition. 4" goes a long way!
Seems the bar is pretty low in every category for us domestic carriers, especially for first class.
Your picture of the snack basket is a perfect example of my hatred of such a basket.
WHAT'S IN THERE?
If you aren't a frequent survivor, you don't know what color package has what..
Look at the presentation, barcodes out ahead, few actual products labels exposed, presented jammed in a basket, in a darkened cabin, in a hurry.
Rant off. Bobo
The demand for SEA-Florida lie flats is so high that Jet Blue hasn’t flown a Mint-equipped plane on SEA-FLL for years.
LAX-FLL on DL isn’t going to be a lot better, sorry. Heck, DL doesn’t consistently fly lie flats on SEA-JFK.
Just because it’s transcon and a redeye doesn’t mean the market will support taking a lot of Y seats out and charging extra for J.
I do not have much cushion on my back side. These new hard first class seats, after about the 3rd hour of flight, I find to be uncomfortable. I get by with a blow up pillow for the bottom cushion of the seat from Amazon.
Robert, if that is what an American carrier provides in so called first class, what must economy be like? Maybe Ryanair economy passengers are being treated better than U.S. first after all?
A lot depends on the station: BOS, DTW, JFK, and MIA are catered by Do&Co, so the food tends to be pretty good from those. SEA and to a slightly lesser extent ATL are OK.
Good point, Bob. Shows how lazy the FAs are, don't even bother to pack the basket nicely.
Wow real air vent nozzles...Yeah... love them.. I do west to east coast red-eyes monthly ( for years) ... I have never had a meal served even tho the flight is over 5++ hours.. amazing. My husband was on a 8:40 pm flight SFO to Atl and no meal service,, maybe this is a brand new thing??
I'd say the newest gen first class seats are getting to be tighter, since they are adding in these features and a hard shell. I had the latest iteration of United's first class recently, and it suffered with the tighter pitch. Even though the seat itself with superior with better storage options and the ability to recline without affecting anyone else.
One thing I found to be the most useful here from the pictures is actually a very small detail. The garbage container in the lav with a floor button to press to open. Brilliant! Always annoying that after you have just cleaned your hands, you now have to push the dirty garbage cover in.