Review: Delta First Class Boeing 737 (MIA-MSP)

It's unfortunate you didn't get a chance to check out the new MSP SkyClub on arrival. It is one of my favorite newer SkyClubs in the system, and much better than anything they have at Atlanta.

Delta uses DO&CO catering out of Miami (along with Detroit, Boston and JFK). So the food quality out of those airports is the best you can get domestically.

You mention that "lighting" at Mia delayed your departure. I think you meant lightening.

This is not accurate:

“Delta doesn’t offer any sort of pillows or blankets on standard domestic flights. That’s the same as at American, though I sure do miss those, and we haven’t seen them since before the pandemic.”

Delta still has pillows and blankets in domestic Delta One flights. Delta also provided at least pillows in domestic first-class on red-eye and late night routes.

As for Miami, I assume Delta has improved catering there. Until maybe a year ago, the flights departing Miami were catered ahead of time out of the inbound aircraft’s departure airport. This was an issue. There are still a lot of airports with unpublished and undisclosed exceptions, meaning no real food.

@ Anthony -- Yeah, I was bummed I didn't have time. Hopefully next time...

@ Ted -- That explains it... thanks!

@ Jason -- Fixed, thank you!

@ FNT Delta Diamond -- I said "standard domestic flights," which was specifically intended to exclude premium domestic flights like Delta One (which is marketed as business class anyway, and not first class). 🙂

It still isn't correct. Delta provides at least pillows on red-eye flights in first-class, which is a standard domestic flight.

Shouldn't it be lightning with no "E"?

I know people have made this complaint before, but BoardingArea needs to do something about the ads on this site. I couldn't even load this page on my phone because it kept crashing due to so many ads.

I had a vegetarian avocado-in-omelet breakfast on BA Club Suites in 2021, but wasn't a big fan as the avocado tasted overly warm and mushy and a little past its expiry date.

Actually, no. Lightning.

Told you. This is the greatest product any airline has ever offered. Glad you got to experience it Ben.

I think that the biggest drawback is your constant comparison to only American. There are many of us like me who fly United in FC most of the time and have never in over 50 years flown Delta.

@ cbchicago -- I hear you, but there's a reason for it. It's tough to compare any product to United domestic first class, since it's so inconsistent. You basically have three generations of seats -- the nice and modern United "Next" interiors, the previous relatively modern interiors without televisions, and then the ancient interiors with televisions.

Unless half of my commentary in the review is about United, it's hard to make a simple comparison there. By comparison, American's domestic first class might not be much to get excited about, but it is the most consistent in the industry in terms of hard product.

Ditto. I nearly gave up.

But you can at least compare it to the food and service.

For many, including for religious reasons eggs aren't supposed to be "vegetarian " funny but guess the meal options had nothing truly that or for that matter vegan

Will be interesting to compare this flight to the MSP flight

We recently flew Boston to Ft.Myers 1st class on Delta’s 737. No bits fell off (that we noticed). Service was superb, breakfast was delicious. (Could it have been the box of truffles we gave the attendant?) We both enjoyed the Swiss Omelette and accoutrements. It took almost half the flight before the seat monitor booted and was useful. I simply read the book I brought. We will be returning soon and expect no less.

I am fortunate to be retired and do not fly from anyone's hub city ( Tampa ) and I DO go out of my way to fly Delta. I have actually chosen connections over AA nonstops simply because of the consistency of Delta's service. Again, I realize this is not the norm but hey ! It's my money, my experience right ?

You all need to accept the fact that Ben is just a person, rather than a de facto hub of all airline knowledge and information.

He's based in MIA, which means he heavily skews AA for domestic. It's just the reality of it.

If you're a frequent United flyer, then why can't you extrapolate your cumulative experiences on it and compare to the relatively objective facts shared in the article? It's pretty easy to tell that the food is of notably higher quality than United.

I totally agree with you. Flying from SAN to EWR, I would rather take Delta via DTW or ATL over the others with nonstops. The service and Sky Clubs are always the best. Tim Dunn is correct and Ben confirmed it!

Since when? I flew last night lax to jfk. No pillows or blankets.

Though I have lifetime AA elite status and I'm very loyal to them, I can't deny that DL is fantastic.

Ironically my first few DL experiences was when AA re-protected me onto DL F when weather issues were happening at ORD & DFW; e.g., AA had no responsibility to do anything other than the basic efforts for me.

I never asked to be re-protected on DL or any other airline, but though I had booked Y (as I am always upgraded to F, so why buy the F ticket), AA put me from a Y to F on DL a few times...and DL amazed me with their service. DL is an awesome airline, regardless of my loyalty to AA. They both came out winners in those circumstances.

When I finally did buy a ticket on DL, and they had a maintenance issue/delay...I had to print and send an urgent document so paid lounge access at SEA, but I didn't stay in the lounge as I was with coworkers (okay, and with my boss), all AA loyalists...the DL lounge staff somehow found me in the airport (I have NO idea how), and just walked up with new boarding passes for the entire group on a different flight.

SOOO, yes, I am AA loyal, but DL amazes me. This review does not surprise me.

I live in Chicago and still give the vast majority of my business to DL over UA, AA, and even WN - all of which offer plenty of nonstops options. For my money, DL is just worth the higher fare.

I think you should review domestic premium economy or economy fares. May be not basic fares, but at least regular economy or premium economy. I think you should consider the reality. It cost over $700 one way in domestic first class which is nothing so special and given the price difference many people would probably not fly in the front. Those who are upgraded or those that are flying on the company's dime may be more likely to pay. I think the reviews should not be always aspirational but for people to look at as they plan their travel.

I think you're looking at the wrong blog. There are others that will do what you want.

@ben DL started bringing back pillows and blankets on domestic overnight flights in F. I don’t know what the minimum length is, but I often fly the ANC-SEA DL red eye and was excited to see them back awhile ago!

Also, surprised that the F lav didn’t have a lotion dispenser. It’s one of the little perks I love about DL is most of their F lavs help me keep my dry skin from hurting after flying and washing my hands with a nice brand of lotion offered!

The flat air vents on the 737's are useless... very sad hardly any air comes out no matter what you do with them

Ich weiss nicht, wie man solche Sitze als First Class Sitze bezeichnen kann, für mich sind das Business Class Sitze älteren Jahrgangs