I have wanted to try the new Delta A321neo First Class product for some time now for their new seat design, and have never flown it before. My trip was also a head-to-head comparison to JetBlue’s A321neo with Mint in the herringbone configuration.
This was my return flight from Southern California to New York JFK on a Sunday afternoon in October 2023. I chose a routing via San Diego in the afternoon, as that offered a direct flight at the best rate. I actually had two different return trips booked, and chose this one based on upgrade availability.
One caveat to this comparison is that this Delta flight was their Domestic First Class service, not Delta One service.
Overall, the seat has some cool features but also things I really didn’t like. It comes with more storage, increased privacy in some regards, and increased comfort in some ways. There’s far more storage space than other Delta Domestic first class seats.
The downside is that the seat is very claustrophobic, and literally impossible to get out of without disturbing your neighbor in the Aisle. It’s doubly impossible to move, period, if the tray table is deployed and you’re in the middle of meal service. Footwell is partially restricted by the seat supports.
Unfortunately I am not a fan of this product, despite its improvements in overall comfort and storage – and I try to avoid the A321neo on long distance routes on Delta if I can!
The In-Flight-Entertainment is massively improved, with new features that include Spotify and Live TV. However, another note is the WiFi sucked. And, I mean it sucked. It took nearly 15 minutes to upload a 19mb video to Telegram. At least it was free, but I couldn’t even connect on my computer. Coming from the blazingly fast WiFi on JetBlue, that it took about 10-15 minutes for a 19mb file to upload is unacceptably slow.
Booking My Delta First Class Flight
I booked this approximately 8 weeks in advance of journey – using Delta SkyMiles points and a Regional Upgrade Certificate. At the time there were many different flight options starting at ~10,000 points and $5.60.
I booked four of these at various times, as I wasn’t sure of my exact travel itinerary. The choice reservation was the most “expensive,” Delta 837 from San Diego to New York JFK at 20,800 SkyMiles.
I used my last Regional Upgrade Certificate to book myself into Domestic First Class.
Check In (Online)
I checked in online using the Delta App. This is an easy three-step process most times, and you get a QR code for Check In and Boarding.
The Ground Experience
Unlike most journeys where I get to the airport well ahead of my flight, this time I optimized my experience getting to and thru the airport to be as short in total time as possible.
After my Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train ride from Orange County to San Diego, I had over one hour to kill.
Getting to San Diego SAN
I went to coffee shop and finished my review of the train, and then made my way to take a bus to the airport.
The bus came every 10-15 minutes, and was a 15 minute ride in the end due to traffic congestion near the airport.
This bus, Route 992, has luggage racks.
It wasn’t very crowded, but there was a lot of traffic.
As a result, I opted to get off at Terminal 1 instead of Terminal 2
This is only a five minute walk from the closest door at Terminal 2.
I entered on the far east side of Terminal 2, which is the opposite area of where Delta and Check In counters are.
There are two Check In and Security Areas in two separate upper level sections at SAN Airport. The first, east side has Alaska and American Airlines.
Because I only had carry on baggage, and because the security line looked decently long, and because it was already 12:45, I figured it best to enter here. I thus elected not to use the Check-In counters for Delta.
By the time I got thru using the Priority Line, it was already 12:55. I briskly walked to gate 36, which was in the middle of this terminal and around the other bay.
I paused around the corner to get at least one shot of our aircraft.
Boarding
Our flight started boarding promptly early, even before 1:00pm when I arrived at the gate.
By the time I got to the gate, I saw they had already boarded all of First Class! Comfort Plus was starting. It was also so crowded – holy smokes!
It was a completely full flight. I was last to board in First Class, and skipped ahead of the start of Comfort Plus by a hair.
It took a very long time to get on the plane itself – it was very congested on the jet bridge.
There was plenty of space in the overhead storage bays in the First Class cabin. I was seated in 5D today, in the back right of the five row cabin. On this eastbound and odd numbered light, it would mean the orders begin with me.
I found a small bottle of water at the seat as usual, laid on the center console tray table.
There was also a pillow and blanket provided at each First Class cabin seat. These were packaged in plastic and sealed.
Delta A321neo Cabin Configuration
For Delta, this is a new plane type and new seat type in all cabins. The Delta A321neo features:
- Five rows of Business Class in a 2+2 configuration (total of 20 seats)
- 42 extra legroom Comfort+ seats in a 3+3 configuration
- 132 standard economy seats in a 3+3 configuration
This is a beautiful cabin with cool mood lighting! The first thing you notice is the stylized colored ceiling design with almost a Moroccan Arabic style of Architecture.
There’s also a light band between the overhead luggage storage bin, and the overhead lights/controls/vents. There are also light bands along the window.
The interiors are upgraded to a Delta Blue, Red, and White cabin with some black finishes as well. Black with a focus on white are the biggest changes from previous Delta cabins.
The seats have medium sized TV screens and a complex IFE system. Because I boarded late, I was able to get no pictures of the empty cabin, and few pictures in general.
Delta A321neo First Class Cabin
The First Class cabin is five rows in a 2+2 layout.
The seats in this cabin are also staggered. This gives a very private and exclusive feel.
However, sitting along the window you can feel VERY constricted. We’ll go over this below.
Delta A321neo First Class Seat 5D
The new Delta seats are reasonably comfortable with a firm back. On the fourth hour of my flight, this seat felt a bit stiff and uncomfortable. Perhaps it’s the new seat effect?
The gull wings at the seat creates a wide seat effect.
The high partitions and “wings” are a great design for putting your head to rest against.
This seat is good for sleeping using the pillow provided on the flight.
The high partitions of the seat frame give this seat a very private feel straight ahead and to the front aisle side, but still feels very open facing to the aisle itself.
There’s a huge TV in front, I’d say 13” diagonal. Maybe 14”.
There’s a USB and headphone jack in front. Combined with the USB jack at the port plug, this means the seat comes with two USB ports.
The TV pivots on the top side, so that when seat in front reclines the user can still adjust the screen.
The forward center console has a leather “tray,” I don’t know for what purpose. This center partition adds some privacy at the seat.
The seatback also has a document/menu storage area here.
The footwell is partially restricted. The seat support falls right in the middle.
This makes the seat not a good design for underseat storage – my small underseat spinner didn’t fit here. I moved it to the seat mid-flight.
On the flip side there is a lot of storage in this seat! This is a huge change from Delta’s older First Class. The first storage upgrade is in the front center console. There are two bins one for each passenger in the middle.
I put my laptop here, but shoes can also go in.
There’s also storage on the side center console, side of the seat. This is a deep storage space, about 5” deep – and there’s also a water bottle and drinks holder inside this. This storage area allows you to also manage cables better at the seat. The seat only reclines, using a button in the center console.
The center console has a distinct white fixed tray table, for phones and drinks. This non-spillable design is good for take off and landing.
There’s a power and USB port on the back face here.
On the opposite site is an armrest with the tray table inside.
I also noticed the overhead vents and lights are redesigned with three lights and three vents. There’s also one large blue bar that has two buttons – these light up for service requests. There are also Seatbelt and WiFi Active indicator lights.
Window alignment at Seat 5D is nice, as you get one full window for use, with nice views ahead of the engine. The forward window aligns with the “wing” of the seat ahead.
The major downside of this seat is it’s very claustrophobic on the window side, and literally impossible to get out of without disturbing your neighbor in the Aisle.
It’s doubly impossible to move period, if the tray table is active and you’re in the middle of meal service. I have lots of images that show this.
Basically to get out of the seat – the tray table cannot be deployed for your neighbor. And, they physically need to get out of the seat for you to get out. Because the recline of the seat in front, and TV, this restricts any movement. This would be such a pain in the butt if my neighbor was sleeping and needed to be woken up.
Delta A321neo First Class Tray Table
The tray table comes out of the window side.
To access the tray table, you lift the side panel up, and use your finger to lift up the table.
The tray table has two parts – when not folded out, it has a drinks inset.
When folded out, the other end touches the center console.
It’s a stable table and doesn’t dip in the middle.
It only moves front, not back. I didn’t like the lack of movement – because you cannot move it back towards you, the table is pretty far away while you’re eating food.
Delta A321neo First Class Seat Controls
There’s a single button seat control.
The seat can only recline back – however, the base/bottom of the seat moves forward for the recline, so the space of the pax behind is not as affected.
As noted when in full recline, movement out of this area is very restricted.
Delta A321neo First Class Sleeping Provisions & Amenity Kit
Delta provides a pillow and blanket at each First Class cabin seat.
These were packaged in plastic and sealed.
Both the pillow and blanket were very comfortable and clean.
No Amenity Kit was offered on this flight. You’ll only get these in Delta One.
Delta A321neo First Class Restroom
Like on most A321neo narrow body cabins, the restroom for First Class is at the front of the aircraft. The finishes in this restroom are modern and elegant.
The restroom was gross at first!
Oh my gosh, North American airlines need to be better at cleaning these restrooms! It wasn’t nearly as bad as my flight on JetBlue, but still disgusting.
There’s a mirror above the sink with facial lighting as vertical lines. The trash disposal to the right of the sink includes a foot release for cleanliness – something I haven’t seen before.
Delta restrooms on this route feature hand cream by Grown Alchemist, as well as disinfectant cream.
There’s a full sized rectangular fold down table above the toilet. Next to this, there’s a large flush button on the side above the table.
There’s also one full length mirror on the back side, along with disposable toilet seat covers.
When I checked this restroom a second time mid flight, it was cleaned – I think! I couldn’t tell if the gross liquids had just dried in the flight, or actually been cleaned, but everything looked better. I definitely appreciate Delta’s moves to clean up after the next person. Delta cleans the bathroom more than JetBlue, for instance.
Delta A321neo Technology
The A321neos provide the latest in technology across both In Flight Entertainment and apparently also WiFi. However, the WiFi was a massive disappointment for me – perhaps due to the heavy use by the full flight.
In Flight Entertainment
The Delta A321neos offer an upgraded Delta IFE system experience.
The IFE system on this aircraft offers very clear video and great audio.
A new feature on the A321neo’s is to be able to connect your own Bluetooth headphones into the IFE system.
I spent more of my time exploring the In Flight Map, my favorite new upgrade in Delta’s technology.
There’s so much to explore here in the In Flight Map.
Delta also has a new section that talks about Airports and Aircraft. I think this could use more nerdy information as a travel-geek.
Back to the main menu, you have Movies, TV shows, Live TV, and even Spotify audio available for use.
Another new upgrade is the ability to watch Live TV!
Unfortunately I tried ESPN, and it disconnected early in watching.
I also tried the NFL network.
While it worked, the quality was grainy, pixelated, and choppy. I still appreciate the Live TV, which is on par with JetBlue.
Along with Live TV, you also have access to Delta’s massive selection of movies and tv shows in flight.
I spent the end of the flight watching The Fast and The Furious.
There are good subtitles options and display. I appreciate the size and flexibility of the TV screen.
Headphones
Delta hands out a packaged set of headphones prior to departure.
These are sufficiently suitable for audio use in flight.
WiFi
The WiFi sucked on this flight. And, I mean it sucked.
The only positive is at least it was free, but I couldn’t even connect on my computer.
Every time I tried to login to SkyMiles, it errored out on my account.
I was able to connect for free on my phone only. First I had to watch an ad, and then it was connected – so that was fairly easy. I still could not log in to my Sky Miles account.
Then on top of this, the WiFi was unacceptably slow. It took nearly 15 minutes to upload a 19mb video to Telegram, which is not that much data.
At least it was free. Coming off my JetBlue flight – the WiFi system on JB is much better.
The Flight
This eastbound transcon carries a 4h30m flight time. Our flight was perfectly on time.
Pre-Departure Service
A water bottle was included at each seat. There were no menus offered or included at each seat.
There were pre-departure beverages offered. I requested and received a coffee, in a paper cup. I could still drink this during take-off.
Take Off
We left the gate perfectly on time.
We were behind a long queue of planes going to take off that afternoon.
It was a perfectly clear day to fly. The A321neo engines are super quiet on take-off all things considered.
The captain also had a fantastic demeanor.
He came on at the beginning of the flight and thanked us for flying Delta. He explained we’d have a long taxi to the runway and a full flight, but we’d have a smooth ride after a bumpy takeoff.
Our flight was smooth after the initially bumpy ride.
We flew east on a mostly clear day, and hit sunset in the middle of the flight.
Service
On my flight was a really friendly crew, which I’ve come to expect out of Delta and where the carrier really excels.
We received professional, prompt service, delivered with smiles and courteously.
Post Departure Service
After takeoff, I was again asked if I wanted another drink.
I again chose a coffee, and this time it came in a real coffee mug.
Meal Service
Meal service is offered in domestic Delta First Class – I was asked if I wanted a late lunch, and said yes. The choices were a Cheeseburger, a Chicken Stew, or a Salad. My neighbor chose a salad, and I chose the cheeseburger.
About one hour into the flight, meal service began. First the coffee came out – served separately. The FA came a few minutes later with a table mat, which I placed on the table myself.
Meal service came soon after on a tray with proper glass, silverware and plates.
There were also condiments included on the table for the burger – pickles in a side dish (which I added), mustard, mayo, ketchup in small packets.
This also came with a salad on the side and some olive oil. The salad had greens and olives, but was a haphazard arrangement of flavors.
In addition, Delta serves a Seattle-made Pink Cookie from Bell’s Cookie Co. in Seattle.
I’m not much a sugar and sweets guy, so I didn’t try this! From previous experiences, these are incredibly sweet and sugary.
Cheeseburger
The cheeseburger…. it was a total mess! I mean, it could be considered elegant, but the cheese had fallen over the plate and boiled over.
It was almost glued to the plate. I had to open the burger and put it back, along with the condiments.
The bread was not soggy, but the meat was a greasy mess. This caused my hand to become all greasy. Perhaps Delta should take a cue from Japanese carriers and offer a wet towel before or after service.
On the flip side – the burger was so good! It was spicy and tasty in the right ways. The meat is fresh, not overdone or overtly well done either.. It was served at perfect hot temperatures and good meat consistency.
Snacks
Two snacks services were offered after the primary meal service, in the middle of the flight.
Snacks include:
- Miss Vickies potato chips,
- Biscoff cookies,
- Pistachios,
- Fit Joy pretzels,
- healthy gummy bears, and more.
- Sun chips.
- Healthy shortbread snack.
I always think Delta crew excel at great presentation of their snacks basket.
Drinks
The drinks for each passenger in the cabin were regularly refreshed. The FA walked the cabin taking new drinks orders at least three times.
Landing and Arrival
The pilot came on at 8:58pm with an awesome announcement, it was very detailed and friendly. Notified us that we are early arriving into JFK, but our gate might not be open. It had also been a wet weekend, and thus temperatures cooled down and with a windy evening on our arrival. That means the landing might be bumpy.
At 9:00pm the turbofans powered down into landing mode. We came in from the northwest and then swung to the southeast below Manhattan and over the Verrazano Bridge. I saw views of Newark from my side, on the landing approach. Then we swung into JFK from the ocean side to the SW runway (coming from SE side), and flew in over the Long Beach, New York. It was a very bumpy, rocky landing. At one point I thought we were going to do a do-over – but the captain rethrottled and dethrottled for a second attempt on the same try, successfully.
We landed at 9:38pm, much earlier than scheduled arrival time. The pilot announced our gate was open, but our taxi time might be a bit longer.
No one told us what gate we were going to – it turns out this is the furthest gate in T4!
Gate 55 is far, far away in T4 – it’s always a long 20 minute walk to get out of the terminal!
I stopped at Delta SkyClub on the way out for some coffee. If you have access, you can use the lounge on arrival. At the time I still had my Delta Diamond Medallion status.
After using the SkyClub, I took AirTrain home.
I was lucky it came in just one minute, otherwise I’d be waiting for 24 minutes or taking the longer Howard Beach A train home!!
Final Thoughts
My North American domestic Delta First Class flight provided the service and quality I expect out of Delta, with major upgrades on the technology front.
The In Flight Entertainment system has been massively upgraded, and has Live TV, Spotify, an amazing in-flight map, along with the massive entertainment selection you can expect from Delta. I cannot say the same about the WiFi, which was frustrating and disappointing on the flight.
Overall, the seat has some cool features but also things I really didn’t like. It comes with more storage, increased privacy in some regards, and increased comfort in some ways. There’s far more storage space than other Delta Domestic first class seats.
The major downside of this seat is it’s very claustrophobic on the window side, and literally impossible to get out of without disturbing your neighbor in the Aisle. If you’re a person that enjoys sitting in the Aisle, this might be a great seat.
Unfortunately for this reason I am not a fan of this product, despite its improvements in overall comfort and storage – and I try to avoid the A321neo on long distance routes on Delta if I can! Maybe the first row on this aircraft is the lone exception.
Pros
- Excellent, prompt and friendly cabin service. With Delta, you don’t really need to ring your call attendant button.
- The new A321neo seats come with more storage, increased privacy in some regards, and increased comfort in some ways. If you’re sitting in the Aisle seats or the first row, the experience is a nice upgrade over what Delta has previously offered.
- Delta’s IFE system was already one of the best, and has now improved.
- Power and 2x USB charging available.
- Headphones provided.
- The cheeseburger meal was delicious!
Cons
- The seat design really locks you in if you’re in the window seat – there’s no way to escape without disturbing your aisle neighbor. Good luck to you, if your neighbor is sleeping!
- WiFi is Awful – slow, difficult to connect. It took about 10-15 minutes for a 19mb file to upload, which is unacceptably slow. LOL.
- Cleaning was bad at first (in the restrooms), but improved in the middle of the flight.
- The cheeseburger remains a hard meal to pull off on a flight – it tastes good, but it’s a total greasy mess!
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