RaflW

Just flew in a 75D last night, in seats 19A&C. I am fairly sure he wouldn't like 19A. I'm 6'2" and a bit wide in the middle. I take 19A because I want direct aisle access and a window, but I find it tight and might try something else for segments longer than 3 hours. The emergency slide box eats a good bit of left leg space, and the tiny antiquated TV looks even worse on a worn out, floppy stalk than in the seatback in front (ie: 19DE). I am sort aghast at how bad the 757 IFE seems now days.

19C is pretty good once boarding is complete. The seats have the same space above the armrest as general Y/C+ seats do, and I don't find the tray table to be that bad a tradeoff in reduced butt space, so if you are OK in 19A or B, and hubby in 19C, that could be the way to go. Haven't sat in 19 D+E, but looked it over while on board, it's basically like other C+ seats but with the benefit that your seatmate in 19F may well chose to access the aisle via the route around 18 DE (seen that several times on various flights). Nice not to have to get up for someone not in your travel party.

I would avoid 18DE as the foot space behind the lav wall seems restricted to me, esp since you say hubby is tall (add in occasional traffic from 19F). I can't comment on row 15 on the 75D. I think I've seen some say that the space can feel tight when F pax fully recline, though foot space should still be good - and there is underseat storage unlike 19ABC.

Happy travels!

fred_bear

Thanks RaflW! My rationale for choosing 19 D&E rather than anything in 20 was that if 19F is occupied they may well exit via around 18D&E. I appreciate your thoughts!

sethb

This is why agent roulette is a thing. Since they were forcing the change, they can be a lot nicer than if you decided on your own to make the change.

RaflW

There hasn't been much C+ info here about the A321 since it was added to the Delta fleet.
I flew in one yesterday, and offer some observations (I also added an entry to the WiKi up top. As time permits I'll go back and see if I can find some earlier seat comments).

-- 13EF: I sat in 13F and partner in 13E. We thought it was great. These seats are somewhat narrower than the standard Y/C+ seat, but not bothersomely so (and I am not by any stretch petite). Legroom is excellent, and there is not a slide in the door. FAs on our flight had no issues with properly stowed smaller bags under 12EF, though you can't really reach them when belted in.
IFE screen (w/ USB) is armrest mounted swing-up, so must be stowed below 10,000ft. Tray tables are in the armrests, also (slightly) reducing seat width. 120v outlet and second USB under the seat. Window view is OK, by the right shoulder but not neck-craning.
FA jump seat is set forward several inches so 13E has good left elbow/shoulder room. It felt very private for a couple. On this new airframe, door seals are still good, so not cold/drafty/noisy. Note that the o.h. bins run along the whole C+ cabin, so both my partner, and someone across the aisle hit their head standing up (assuming, I think, that an exit row with this large-ish door shouldn't have a bin over it).

-- 13ABC: This triple is set forward a bit more than 13EF, still excellent legroom (and no boarding at this door). Window view from 13A is more of a neck swivel. PTVs/trays are in the armrests. Seatbacks may be a bit narrower because of the thickness of the door vs regular fuselage section/seat width in rows 10, 11, 14.

-- Row 12: Seats 12A/12F I would rate avoid, from how crammed the pax in front of me looked. No window, and they have very narrow seat backs due to the fuselage space taken up by the exit door frame - These might be the seats the DL web site lists as being 16.3" wide? It looked like 12BC/DE were somewhat narrower than standard. Since the std A321 seat is 18", 12BC/DE (and 13EF) might be like a typical 737 seat - guessing 17.2" or so. I'd say 12C/D are acceptable aisle C+ seats.

-- 14ABC: Looked excellent. Didn't get to try them, but because of the offset of 13ABC, the pitch looked extra generous, and nice window alignment. 14DEF should be standard C+ seats.

-- Row 10: Didn't get much of a look, but there is just the F cabin little divider below the bins, so leg room should be good. Didn't notice anything good/bad about row 11, but didn't linger to really look.

**

A few other A321 cabin notes & thoughts, not C+ per se:
- 26BC has no window (just the tiny porthole in the door). I think 27A has an OK window view, and of course excellent leg room.
- 39A has one window, but fairly far forward. At least it didn't appear like the sensory deprivation zone of the new last row on the A320.
- The 'spaceflex' lav at the tail that is closer to the galley is tolerable. It seemed slightly bigger than the similar positioned lav on the modded 320, which was laughably small. My partner described the lav at row 25 as a tiny port-a-potty, I didn't try it.
- We happened to connect to a 75D on the same trip leg. I've always been fond of the 757, much more so than the 737. The 75D interiors (despite mods) are showing their age, especially on the PTVs, and the tighter seat-set widths and lav in the middle of the 75D C+ 'cabin' make the 321, in my first ride anyway, a more pleasant experience. I hope DL eventually orders some of the longer range 321neos, frankly. I could see doing a transcon, Hawaii or short TATL in C+. Certainly better than a 739!

bergamini

From the Wiki:

1. The first row of regular economy seating after EC IS NOT recommended. The last row of EC has the EC recline and members have reported that there's no extra space between this row and the first row of regular Y.

I was in 33G on a 772LR DTW>PVG last weekend. I had researched on Seat Guru and didn't see anything unusual about it when I realized a C+ upgrade was not likely to clear. I felt miserably cramped all flight and don't normally and couldn't figure it out. It was difficult to adjust the screen and for my seatmates to get in/out. I couldn't really use my tray table for my laptop. On the way home it was PVG>SEA in a 767 and I was in the 2nd row of economy. It felt like I was in the back of a limo comparatively. So much more room and comfort. DO NOT book row 33 on a 772 or the first row of E on any plane with expanded recline in C+. It was a really bad choice. I notified Seat Guru and hope they update the seat maps.

ethernal

This is probably a dumb question (and I searched through this thread but couldn't find an answer) - but how do you buy Comfort+ seats after booking a ticket?

I am a diamond but upgrades to Comfort+ only clear maybe 30-50% of the time on the routes that I fly (especially if I book less than two weeks prior to the flight which is usually the case).

Normally I don't even try to upgrade to Comfort+ when I can get an aisle seat somewhere on the plane (as I usually get "upgraded" to a middle seat when it does clear and I'd rather do aisle than middle Comfort+), but I frequently can't get aisle seats either and I'd rather go ahead and pay up to a Comfort+ middle seat than sit in the middle of regular Y and not clear an upgrade.

There are Comfort+ seats available per the seat map, but I can't ever find a way to buy an upgrade via the website. I'd figure there would be an easy way to do this, but all I ever see are crappy first class upgrade offers (usually $400-500+) with no offer to buy up to Comfort+. Is this something you have to call in to do?

bergamini

If you are DM and a seat's available, you get it for free. If you aren't automatically upgraded, then no seat is available and thus you can't purchase it either.

ethernal

This is just not true (maybe it was true at one point). Maybe my experience is anecdotal but I feel like Delta definitely does revenue/inventory management on their Comfort+ seats now, or at least reserves some for day of departure - or it least it looks like they do anyways. For a flight I have next Monday, I can go and buy a new Comfort+ ticket via the Delta website right now (or at least I could yesterday when I posted - it looks like it's sold out now). This has also been the case in the past where I could not find a buy-up offer (and did not get upgraded instantly as a diamond). And I know come Monday morning there will be 2-3 Comfort+ seats available for "day of" upgrades (but I usually do not get them as I do not have a reserve card nor do I have an MQD waiver so I usually rank pretty lowly even with a relatively high fare class).

bergamini

Unless there’s an active upgrade list for it, which I think I starts ~ 24 hours before departure, then it is true or has always been true for me. I booked DL1344 MSP>LAX this Saturday (on Tuesday) and it showed 1 C+ seat for sale at purchase and I bought regular E. I immediately was upgraded and then/now it shows 0 seats in C+ for purchase. If you are buying last minute and there is an active upgrade list for it and seats open then maybe that’s true but before they start waitlisting C+ they just give it to you.

pvn

This is correct, to get a medallion upgrade to comfort plus there has to be inventory in the SU bucket. Often the SU bucket will have as many seats as the actual availability on the plane, but not always.

sethb

Fare class far outranks reserve card and MQD waiver. Are you sure your account is set to request C+ upgrades? Many people don't because they prefer the C aisle or window they booked over an "upgrade" to a middle seat.

ethernal

Yes - of course - but there are always at least 10+ other diamonds on the Comfort+ upgrade list - and that usually means they bought relatively late too (generally high fare class) and at least a few will have the MQD waiver, corporate travel priority, and/or reserve card. I've been as low as #15 on the Comfort+ upgrade list as a diamond (although on average I end somewhere around 3-7 on the list after everything clears).

The routes I fly most are ATL->West Coast (PHX, SEA, SFO/SJC, LAX) during peak hours. There's usually 100-130 people on the first class upgrade list. There's enough people that that a lot of times they board PREM, then Platinum (separately), and then SKY. By the time they finishing boarding sky, the plane is 75% full. So even getting a Comfort+ seat is tough. I fly middle seat in Y very frequently. It is what it is.

xliioper

I booked a DTW-LAX flight about a week out and there was no SU inventory to upgrade to C+. I think there were only a couple C+ seats left for sale. I usually don't book that close-in, so don't really have any other data points. It just seems a bit silly to go to all the effort of creating a C+ upgrade bucket if they didn't ever actually use it.

sethb

They do use it, just well before a week out. I typically book over a month out, and just about always get C+ immediately.

Shinji4u