Originally Posted by
kjnangre
Don't forget that there are two more premium levels above this. If space is what you want, space is available
I'm well aware of both of those things. DL is maintaining 35" (as far as can be determined at this time from seat maps) for all other longhaul aircraft. 34" is okay, but it's certainly not leading the industry.
Originally Posted by
jdrtravel
While I agree that loosing that inch is not ideal, we should be glad they've kept C+ in the long-haul fleet after bringing in Premium Select. Much of C+ long haul is probably being given away to medallions so it's probably not a huge money maker. They want people like you to buy Premium Select. Remember that PS only has 38" of pitch and they need to differentiate between the products to make the buy up have value.
There must be money to be made (as well as elites to keep happy), since DL is investing in adding C+ back to the 777s and A350s. If it was mostly a freebie given medallions, DL may have been smarter to do a five row C+ at 35". That they think it's worth squeezing and IMO diluting their product strategy on longer segment a/c, to fit 7 rows at 34" says to me it makes revenue sense. Does it make PaxEx sense? Maybe not, as I believe Delta has generally been wise to focus on brand consistency. If people try C+ for the first time on this brand new aircraft, they may actually shy away from C+ upsells in the future if they think all DL C+ longhaul is such a meager space improvement. Can be risky to not align your product for consistency. People will remember the time it felt most cramped and 'not worth it.'
I did sample PS on the A350 and I thought for the price I paid, it was a good value. That will vary from trip to trip and how it prices out. I've even paid up to J a couple times. I'm always flying on my own dime so it's got to hit the value mark (which is of course subjective and personal).