Inconsistent Delta Comfort+ Experiences
 

Hi All. I am noticing my Delta Comfort + seats are often just as uncomfortable as the main/economy experience. Particularly frustrating is I keep getting upgraded to Comfort + window seats with no window and at the crease of the plane where there is a seam of the wall that protrudes and doesn’t allow me ANY shoulder space. My leg space is also angled. Essentially, I’m sitting in a middle seat because of the protrusion doesn’t allow me to lean in any direction. Furthermore, it feels like the row where this happens is different on each plane. Today it was row 12. Sometimes, I get a Comfort seat with immobile armrests and or limited recline. None of these should be called “Comfort+” in my opinion. It is not comfortable at all. Any thoughts or advice on this?

What level of Medallion are you? My suggestion would be to pay close attention to your seat assignment around your C+ upgrade window, as you can immediately change into a different/better seat as soon as you're upgraded. If you're an FO, or even a Gold, there may not be many other seats left at that point, unfortunately.

That said, I'd still watch the seat map up until boarding, as some of the better C+ seats will open when higher Medallions get upgraded into FC. I've improved my seat many times right before boarding using this method. You pretty much have to watch the seat map religiously, though.

OP - SeatGuru is your friend - look up the flight you'll be on to see comments on the specific airplane model/series (ex:737-800) you'll be flying.

OP, welcome to FlyerTalk!

Or the C+ FAQ threads or the "interior mods" thread for any given aircraft on FT, which are more likely to have up-to-date info.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delt...t-seating.html

Just to be clear the physical bones of the C+ seat are exactly the same as the main cabin seat. There is a red line on the seat cover and more room between rows but it’s not a different seat.

So the comfort of the seat shouldn’t be more or less comfortable than Main Cabin, but the extra legroom / pitch should make things more comfortable (e.g., your knees don’t go into the seat back in front of you)

Remember that C+ is not some form of premium economy. If you are a taller person, a bit of extra legroom is nice and if you want some booze, it's nice not to pay. But, there is no special hard or soft product for C+ domestic.

I was in the second row window of C+ on an A320 recently which is where the sidewall bulged out and it impinged a bit on my shoulder space. It wasn’t particularly great. I don’t think Seatguru is a particularly good source for this type of info unfortunately, and I’m not sure what really is.

Comfort+ was created to make elites feel like they are getting something special for free even though it is literally 92% marketing (I do realize there are seats where C+ is much more legroom).

I've found that SeatGuru is good for this type of info when they have it. Disappointment arises because SeatGuru, and any other site for that matter, can't possibly have info on every seat on every aircraft type flown by an airline the size of DL, let alone the scores of other airlines that they cover. It's best to treat the info on SeatGuru as a bonus. And I totally agree with you - I'm also not sure what is a better source of this type of info.

I agree here. SeatGuru seems notoriously unreliable, and also outdated.

You state this as if there are a considerable number of C+ seats the no not have "much more leg room". Is this true?
(Serious question... I've only flown in C+ a few times, either on a 757 or a 767, and always in an aisle, and always right before a boarding door... Otherwise I'm upfront. So I haven't experienced the whole gamut of C+)

Hard to make a blanket statement but the best C+ seat on almost all planes is better than the best main cabin seat. That said there are a few select seats in the fleet where the exit row seat is just as good (but not better) as the C+ seat (except you don't get a drink). In all cases as I noted above the actual seat is the same so it's just the legroom that changes. For example on the A321 the exit row on the A321 which is just as good as the row 13 C+ exit row).

FWIW, I've flown in C+ on the CR7, CR9, E170, E175, A319, A320, A220, A321, MD-88/89/90, 717, 737-800, 737-900, 757-200, 757-300, 763, 764, A332, A333, 777 (aka the entire DL fleet except the A339 -- and I've flown the A359 but of course it doesn't have C+ today) and the 737-900 is the only plane where I would decline a C+ and choose the exit row instead.

For all the rest I'd be fine with a C+ aisle seat (I don't do middle or window seats unless I'm in J) though in many the exit row is a suitable alternative to a C+ aisle and has similar or sometimes even more legroom.

It's harder to have C+ seat choices as an FO unless you buy it outright. In my experience there are very few times when I get a choice of C+ seat once I get upgraded within the T-24 window; it's usually just assigned and all the other seats in the cabin are shown as taken on the seatmap. And oftentimes it ends up going to the gate for an upgrade and assignment. Not surprisingly, the "better" seats have already been filled by that point, and I generally get upgraded into middle seats or a window seat in a window-less row. (Strange as it may be, I found myself getting the windowless row C+ seat a couple times, leading me to set my upgrade seat preferences for middle and aisle.)

Thanks! I’m just Platinum.

Yeah, Seatguru seems to have stopped updating.

In 2011 Expedia spun off Tripadvisor (which included Seatguru) into a separate company. That's about when things went to pot.

Still, it can often be helpful. Don't necessarily follow their recommendations, just use it for detailed seat maps.