Well, I'm glad I asked; so much for that, then!

Have you considered connecting through LAX? Delta flies a flat-bed-equipped 763 on its 9:15 p.m. LAX-JFK departure.

Thanks for the thought, but it's not in the cards for me, unfortunately. I decided to just book a seat in BE on a DL 752 (latest possible red-eye); hope I can trick myself into catching some rest!

If it's the old international lounger seats, I've not had a problem sleeping in them. Granted, not as comfortable as a true lie-flat, but I actually prefer them to angled-flat seats for sleeping (in my limited experience with the latter). If it's the domestic F type seat, then that's a different story.

I rode BE on the DL 752 on the LAX-JFK redeye in Dec; it was the last-generation blue leather lie-almost-flat seat with the big white pillow and hotel-type blanket ... definitely a cut above your generic domestic F service, but not nearly in the same league as the true lie-flat on the 763 (scored the UG on the 9pm JFK-LAX in Jun, and a VDB UG on an afternoon flight last weekend)

The 752 BusinessElite cabin doesn't have last-generation "lie-almost-flat" (i.e., lie-flat) seats: it has even older recliner seats. While there's nothing flat about them, the seats are definitely much more comfortable and spacious than those in standard domestic first class. The A330s are the only Delta aircraft with lie-flats, and those are in the process of being converted to flat beds.

There seems to be some confusion about the commonly accepted BusinessElite seat terminology:

• Recliner: seat reclines like a La-Z-Boy chair with elevated footrest. Currently available in 752s and the fifteen 763s that have yet to be converted to flat beds.
• Lie-flat: seat reclines into a flat surface, but at a 176-degree angle. Currently available in all but a handful of A330s.
• Flat bed: seat reclines 180 degrees into a flat, completely horizontal surface. Currently available in 747s, 777s, 764s, majority of 763s, and one or two A330s.