Review: Delta First Class Airbus A321neo (LAX-FLL)

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, and Hawaiian’s 787 business class.

I was looking forward to this flight, as Delta’s A321neo features the carrier’s newest first class product, which has some updated design features, compared to the older versions of Delta’s first class seat. All-in-all, I think Delta’s new first class seat is stylish and has great tech, though the seat padding and “bulkiness” of the seat isn’t ideal.

Beyond that, the most memorable aspect of the flight was that we had a medical emergency for nearly half of the flight, and almost diverted a couple of times. But ultimately we made it without issue. Let’s get into the review.

How I booked my Delta first class ticket

I paid cash for my Delta first class ticket. Specifically, I booked the following flight in first class for $663.48, which seemed pretty reasonable for a transcon flight, all things considered:

3/11 DL477 Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale departing 10:20PM arriving 5:57AM (+1 day)

Let me mention that I ordinarily avoid domestic redeye flights at (almost) all costs, but I made an exception here. Why? Well, because I had just been in Japan for an extended period of time, and given the time difference, I figured that was the best option, since it would be like daytime in Japan.

I’m a terrible airplane sleeper, so my intent was to just stay up on the flight working on my laptop, and then to nap after getting home, and that’s exactly what I did.

Delta first class lounge & boarding

Standard domestic Delta first class tickets don’t include lounge access, but of course there are many ways to access Delta’s lounges. In this case, I basically sprinted from my Hawaiian flight to my Delta flight, which was quite a distance, so I arrived shortly before boarding started.

My flight was departing from gate 28, in Terminal 2, with boarding scheduled for 9:40PM, 40 minutes ahead of departure time. Sure enough, that’s exactly when boarding started.

Delta A321neo first class cabin & seats

The A321neo is Delta’s latest and greatest narrow body jet. The jet features 194 seats, including 20 first class seats, and 174 economy seats (42 of which feature extra legroom). The first class cabin is spread across five rows, in a 2-2 configuration.

You kind of know what to expect in terms of domestic first class, since airlines are only willing to allocate so much space to each seat. For example, the seats feature 37″ of pitch and 21″ of width, which is totally standard.

However, Delta definitely added some bells and whistles to these seats, beyond what’s standard with the Recaro CL4710 platform.

You’ll notice that these seats have some unique features, like large headrest “widgets” along the side of the seats, for added privacy.

I know people have mixed feelings about this feature — on the one hand, they give you somewhere to rest your head, though it also makes it harder to look out the window, and isn’t ideal if you’re traveling with someone.

Delta’s A321neo first class also has some exposed storage options, including a pretty narrow space along the center console, plus some space underneath the center armrest, which even includes a cupholder. You’ll also find a USB-A port and AC power outlet in this area (though there’s no USB-C or wireless charging).

The tray table extends from the armrest, and needs to be flipped over to be fully extended.

Each seat has a 10″ high definition seat back monitor, which can be angled up or down somewhat, to reduce glare. Underneath that is a seat back pocket.

In the center front area between seats, there’s the largest storage area. The shape is a bit unusual in terms of the items you can place there. I suppose you could put shoes there (though taking off shoes on domestic flights is questionable), but I’m not sure what else is supposed to fit there, exactly.

As far as other features go, Delta’s A321neos have the latest Airbus Airspace cabins. So in addition to modern overhead consoles with individual air nozzles, there are also large overhead bins, so that you can place bags on their sides.

Delta’s new A321neo first class is a shiny product, and I appreciate the thought that was put into creating a somewhat differentiated seat, given that we don’t see much innovation with domestic first class. I do like all the features that Delta has added, though a couple of things stood out.

For one, the first class seat padding leaves a bit to be desired, as the seat is on the hard side. Furthermore, I think part of the issue is that adding bells and whistles (aside from upgraded tech) in these kinds of seats is sort of a zero sum game.

It’s nice to have this extra storage space and (in theory) a bit more privacy, but the problem is that it all starts to feel a bit bulky, and you find yourself often bumping into things, and it also complicates accessing the window seat, communicating with the person next to you without leaning forward, etc.

So yeah, I’m a fan of these seats, though I wouldn’t say this is anything revolutionary compared to what we’re used to in domestic first class.

Delta first class amenities

As usual in Delta first class, there were bottles of water waiting at each seat upon boarding.

There were also pillows and blankets, which were decent quality. This isn’t offered on most domestic flights, but at least it’s offered on transcon redeye flights, so that’s appreciated.

Beyond the bottle of water, pre-departure drinks of choice were also offered, and I selected a Diet Coke.

Earbuds were distributed later during boarding, for use with the inflight entertainment system.

Delta A321neo first class entertainment & Wi-Fi

Delta’s entertainment situation on the A321neo is stellar, between the seat back entertainment and Wi-Fi. Each first class seat has a 10″ monitor, giving you access to the massive Delta Studio selection. This includes over 500 movies, 90 series (most with many episodes), over 130 audio options, live TV, a map feature, and much more.

Delta also offers bluetooth audio pairing on its A321neos, which is a positive development we’re increasingly seeing, especially since airlines rarely offer high quality headphones on domestic flights.

Delta also offers fast and free Viasat Wi-Fi on its A321neos. You do have to be a SkyMiles member to take advantage of this, though you don’t have to credit your flight to SkyMiles (for example, I was crediting my flight to Air France-KLM Flying Blue). In the event that you’re not a SkyMiles member, and don’t want to sign-up, a plan costs $5.

Delta A321neo departure from Los Angeles

Boarding was reasonably efficient, at least when you consider how big of a narrow body jet the A321neo is. There was one funny thing during boarding.

I had assigned myself seat 5B (I’m usually a window seat person, but chose an aisle since I didn’t intend to sleep, it would be dark the entire way, and I wanted access to the lavatory). Toward the end of boarding, a woman showed up and took seat 5A. She gave very strong OnlyFans vibes (nothing wrong with that, I’m just trying to set the scene!), and started talking in a very flirty way. Then she continued “hey, so I have a bigggg favor to ask,” and gently touched my hand. Long story short, she wanted to see if I would switch seats with her friend in 1B, so they could sit together.

Lady, you’re barking up the wrong tree, but sure, I’ll switch seats, since it’s not like I was planning on sleeping anyway. So I ended up moving to seat 1B.

Around 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled departure time, the captain stood in front of the cabin to make his welcome aboard announcement. It’s always such a nice, personal touch, when pilots do that. He explained our flight time of 4hr10min, and an anticipated smooth ride.

The main cabin door ended up closing at 10:10PM. At that point the flight leader, James, welcomed us onboard, on behalf of the Fort Lauderdale based flight attendants. A moment later, the safety video was screened.

We pushed back at 10:15PM, and then started our taxi shortly thereafter. It was quite a long taxi out to runway 7L, on the opposite side of the field. We ended up being cleared for takeoff at 10:30PM, and began our gradual climb to our cruising altitude. The seatbelt sign stayed on for around 25 minutes.

Delta first class food & drinks

Despite this being a redeye flight, Delta had a proper meal service in first class. Meals could be pre-ordered online, so that’s what I did. As you can see below, the three options included the following:

• Slow roasted beef short rib with red wine jus, stone-ground grits, roasted carrots, and gramolata
• Roasted chicken breast with smokey tomato sauce, white cheddar-scallion mashed potatoes, and green beans
• Three cheese manicotti with tomato mascarpone sauce, nut-free basil pesto, and roasted cherry tomatoes

My meal was served just 20 minutes after takeoff, and I decided to order the chicken option. It was served with a side salad and some sort of a berry cake.

While I guess it’s nice that Delta serves meals on redeyes, the quality was lacking. The chicken just tasted so cheap and rubbery, the type of chicken you’d only be served on an airplane. I regretted that I didn’t order the vegetarian option.

I also understand this is less important on a redeye, but I also wish Delta would serve some sort of pre-meal snack, like you find on American and United. It doesn’t have to be mixed nuts (like they have), but something…

The crew did a great job offering drink refills throughout the flight. I mostly just sipped on coffee while I worked on my laptop (I wish Delta had cold brew, like United!).

The crew also made several passes through the cabin with the snack basket, which had chips, pistachios, cookies, and more.

James did a great job constantly checking on passengers, to see if they needed anything.

Delta A321neo first class lavatory

Delta has one first class lavatory on the A321neo, located at the front of the cabin, by the flight deck. There was nothing particularly memorable about the lavatory, other than that it was modern, and at least a little bigger than the typical 737 MAX lavatory.

As is standard on US airlines, the lavatory definitely got a bit dirty toward the end of the flight, since the crew isn’t responsible for cleaning the lavatory.

The only special amenity was hand cream from Grown Alchemist.

Delta redeye all-night drama

A little over an hour after takeoff, the cabin lights were suddenly turned on all the way, I figured one of the flight attendants accidentally pushed the wrong button, but a second later, the reason became clear — “if there are any doctors onboard, please press your call button.”

Long story short, there was a passenger in economy who became unresponsive. Fortunately there were several doctors onboard, and they all did their best to help. Since I was seated in the first row, I could hear some of the galley conversation, and at one point, they were on the phone with the captain, with the plan being to divert to El Paso.

However, then the passenger regained consciousness. so those plans were scrapped. A doctor kept an eye on him for a while, and things seemed good… but then 30 minutes later he became unconscious again.

Long story short, the whole medical incident ended up lasting for around two hours, and during that time, the lights in the cabin stayed on.

Fortunately the man was okay in the end, and was able to walk off the aircraft in Fort Lauderdale. Furthermore, the crew did a fantastic job handling the situation. Since I didn’t intend to sleep on this flight, lights being on for that long also didn’t disrupt me at all, though I’m sure it was more frustrating for others (though it was for good reason, of course).

Delta A321neo arrival in Fort Lauderdale

At 5:05AM Fort Lauderdale time, just as we were over the west part of Florida after crossing the Gulf of [take your pick], the captain was on the PA to announce that we’d be landing in around 30 minutes. Around the same time, the seatbelt sign was turned on.

We had a smooth descent, and then flew out over the Atlantic Ocean, prior to turning back and landing into the west, on runway 27R. As expected, we touched down at 5:35AM.

We taxied for around five minutes, and got to the area of our gate at 5:40AM. However, at that point the captain announced that our gate was still occupied, and that we’d have to wait for some amount of time. I couldn’t help but look up those details, and it appears that we were awaiting on the 6AM Delta flight to Detroit to depart, with our 5:57AM scheduled arrival time.

I get airlines want to maximize their schedule and gate space is limited, but that seems less than ideal, no? Anyway, we ended up waiting for around 20 minutes, and at 6AM we pulled into our gate, just a few minutes behind schedule.

Bottom line

My flight in Delta’s A321neo first class was pleasant, all things considered. On the plus side, Delta has excellent entertainment and free Wi-Fi, and the crew working this flight was friendly. Delta’s new domestic first class seats are also modern and have quite a few bells and whistles, but feel a bit bulky, and lack padding.

I can’t say the meal was very good, though, as the chicken just tasted low quality and rubbery. The only other eventful thing about the flight was the medical emergency, which lasted for around half the flight. Kudos to the crew for how well they handled that, and that a diversion was ultimately avoided.

This is the first domestic redeye I’ve taken in the lower 48 US in a long time, and it’ll also be my last for a long time, I hope. Fortunately since I was coming back from Japan, it was basically like a daytime flight for me.

What’s your take on Delta’s A321neo first class?