I have only flown FC a handful of times and it's always been solo and it's only been on the flatbed seats. I have decided to upgrade one leg of our upcoming trip to FC for the family. I really cannot justify upgrading my kids, but it was something my husband wanted to do as a treat for them. So here is my question which flight should I upgrade, tickets are booked already, its a matter of upgrading the specific legs? If it matters the kids are 9 and 14 .

SEA - MCO - direct flight - 2549 miles / 5 hours 44 minutes. Departing at 8am. 737-900
OR
MCO - SLC - SEA. 1927 miles / 689 miles. First leg 4h48M A321, 50 min layover, then 2hr 11M 737-900. Departing 5:41pm get in to SEA 10:25pm.

The price is $20pp less on the direct flight than it is for both legs coming up. We will go FC all the way there, or FC all the way home.

I really am doing it for the experience for the kids. I want the drinks and food and skyclub but it seems the sky club will not be available for us.

I'm confused. Are you asking which child to pick? I'm guessing you mean which flights. However, the displayed options are for opposite directions and your phrasing seems to indicate you're trying to decide on nonstop vs connection.

SEA-MCO is a very long flight, and the 737-900 isn't the best first class seat DL offers. (Most consider it the worst)

If you can get an option that has a wide body (767,A330, A350) or a 757 with lie flat seats, that would be best. The most likely options to find these are connections SEA-ATL-MCO and SEA-JFK-MCO. There is depending on dates/time of year sometimes 767s on SLC-MCO.

I have to upgrade the whole family, I wish I could just put one person up there!
I am either selecting the flight there or the flight home (which has a connection) The flights are already booked, so it's a matter of doing the upgrade and deciding which ones. We are used to these flights, so really they aren't that long for us in Seattle, normally we do the red eye which adds a layer of fun to it.

I corrected my original post, I can see how it can read like I am asking what kid to upgrade! LOL

Upgrade pricing is almost always by segment, and not by direction - so if the longer eastbound direct flight upgrade is at a lower cost than the westbound shorter segment from Orlando to SLC, that makes it a much better deal. Also, speaking for myself, from a psychological standpoint I would be bummed out by flying 2/3 of the way up front and then having to suffer in steerage for the last 2 hours.

If somehow your upgrade cost is by direction, I would still do the eastbound leg if I were spending my own money.

Two schools of thought here.

On one hand, giving them the upgrade on the way to MCO builds a little "excitement" for them, especially if they've never flown first before. So you start your vacation with a sense of lavishness (even though we all know it's nothing spectacular per se).

On the other hand returning home is always a downer and half time time after a week with the kids I feel like I'm traumatized, so the benefit of boarding first (twice) helps make life a little easier.

(Granted, my kids are 4 and 6 so any extended vacation has a 50/50 chance of being stressful. LOL.)

Thanks for this, I priced out both legs together westbound when comparing it to the direct eastbound flight.

THIS is my exact thoughts too. I was hoping someone would say something that would give me an ah-ha moment. Since our layover is short, we won't have much of a benefit of boarding first and getting settled.
I am leaning towards coming home in FC since it would look like we had it twice :-)

if you upgrade the connection on the return, you’ll be able to do a same-day-confirmed (SDC) change at 24 hours before your ORIGINALLY BOOKED departure time to any connecting flights with available F seats … if there’s a wide-body on JFK/ATL-SEA with four open F seats, that might be worth looking into (note however that SDC costs $75 for anyone who isn’t Platinum (Gold?) Medallion or higher status)

I agree with you and the posters below. Upgrade the way back. jrl767s post about SDC is another reason to do it.. While $75x4 is $300, you'll be able to change, confirmed, to any available routing with F seats for sale (no need for same fare class) on same day. Especially if can find routing with lie flats, it'll be an even more remembered and relaxing end to trip.

Also while in Y on way down, you're on the way to the Mouse. There'll be too much excitement to care if in Y or F.

Lastly, check upgrade price in multiple places.. Call and ask, pull up reservation on delta.com and it may show an offer to upgrade for $X, similarly check by pulling up in DL phone app.

Lastly using either app or delta.com, pull up the seatmap. However, note the seatmap will give two price options for your return as it has a connection. A)price to upgrade both segments,, or B)price to upgrade just the segment you have seatmap showing for. Option B will not give you the benefits of SDC that have been discussed. Also its generally more expensive on a per segment basis than the option to upgrade all (both segments of return). Ie $150 to upgrade all, but $100 to upgrade segment 1 and also $100 to upgrade segment 2. Thus costing $50 more than if you had selected upgrade all.

How packed is coach? I d upgrade those segments where for example empty middle is unlikely. In general westbound flights are longer so all things being equal I d upgrade those.

This is likely to change as departure time approaches.

I generally like the idea of upgrading on the way home, but I wouldn't count on being able to SDC four people together in FC.

Another consideration might be which flights have which meals. IMO dinner >> lunch >>>> breakfast.

We sit 3 and 1, my oldest sits by himself normally and is often next to people. In saying that, our eastbound flight is at capacity in economy already and we are 60 days out, so I think you are on to something there. We'd probably do 2 / 2 (which is available in all segments).

For meals - looks like eastbound it says: For flights over 2,300 mile, you'll find a fresh meal service 24 hours a day and a selection of snacks. Westbound we'd get dinner and then a meal box.

I'd venture to guess that the cost to upgrade will not go down much if at all from where it currently sits, so OP will probably be better off to make the decision sooner rather than later ... might also look at F availability on all MCO-XXX-SEA flights that day, in case there's a "better" choice in terms of price/timing combination (note that OP is the *only* one who gets to define that value proposition, however)

that said, a late July evening routing thru SLC carries a significantly lower risk of weather disruptions compared to ATL/JFK/DTW/MSP