To say that I viewed the thought of a transcontinental redeye in coach with a sense of trepidation would be a mild understatement. The flight out wasn’t so bad, but it was daylight, I had “beginning of the trip motivation,” a great hotel room waiting on the other end, and…well…it wasn’t a redeye. One might ask why I would do such a thing? It’s a fair question. First, I had an expiring “buy one get one” coupon courtesy of my Delta SkyMiles Platinum Amex. Second, we needed to get to Seattle, and the coupon helped cover the costs. Finally, the timing just worked.
The details – Delta Air Lines B737-900, row 10, a bulkhead on the ABC side of the aircraft. This was not my first 737-900 ride with Delta, but it was my first in the coach cabin. If you nab bulkhead seats on the left side, there is no partition blocking your feet. You have access to the area underneath the seat in front of you. This would prove handy.
As my backpack was fairly empty, I had some room to work my feet into the space and stretch out. After takeoff, I carefully reclined about 1 inch….nowhere near max recline, and not without looking to see that the person behind me was already out cold. I shut my eyes, and the next thing I knew, we were just over an hour outside of Atlanta. I remember taking off, and that’s about it.
Keys to sleeping on an airplane in coach – picking the right seat that offers a little room to stretch out and being a little tired. I’m sure an hour or so in the Sky Club for a cocktail beforehand didn’t hurt either. In the end, while I found the bulkhead seat a little tight due to the tray table being in the armrest, this might be the one I pick on my next 737 transcon with Delta…. if I can’t manage an upgrade. I hear the rest of the airplane is fairly snug in coach.
-MJ, July 7, 2014
I really like that plane because it actually has AC power at those bulkhead seats, so even if I don’t get upgraded, I can still work the whole flight (I don’t sleep on planes 🙁 ).
@Greg,
I enjoyed it. I hear the seating is tight outside of exits and EC, but hopefully I’ll never have to find out. 🙂
I hate redeyes from the west coast to the not quite east coast cities of Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit etc…. With the west to east tail wind, they often end up taking only 4 hours. Even if you sleep, you dont have enough time to rest and you land with several hours to kill before things start happening in the morning.
@Dan, I hear you. Fortunately, I arranged to be off today. Went home and took a nap.
Coach ain’t so bad sometimes. Even better than the bulkhead on this a/c (IMO) are 21A and F, exit row with no seat in front.
@John, I put those on my list to try next.