Background:
I was going to meet my family for Memorial Day Weekend in Las Vegas and needed to find the best flight from the New York area. I was debating between JetBlue and Delta, as I do have entry-level status perks for both airlines (American Gold and Delta Silver). I ended up choosing Delta to Las Vegas due to the schedule and the fact that there are more lounge options in the Delta Terminal 4 at New York (JFK) than Terminal 5 where JetBlue operates.
Flight Details:
Delta Air Lines 321
New York (JFK) to Las Vegas (LAS)
Aircraft: Boeing 737-900ER
Cabin: Main Cabin
Seat: 17C
Scheduled Duration: 5hr 59min
Before the Flight:
The flight price dropped a few times from the time I booked my flight, to the departure date. Thankfully Delta makes it quite easy to change online and get an eCredit for the fare difference. However, on one of my changes, the eCredit didn’t issue on the change, and I had to call customer service to get it reissued. So just make sure after a change that you get an email about your newly created eCredit, or see it in your SkyMiles wallet.
Silver Medallion Upgrade Statistics:
I ended up 34/35 for a First Class Upgrade, and 18/19 for a Comfort Plus Upgrade. I’m really starting to think it’s not worth working toward Silver Medallion status as there are so many Delta elites.
At the Airport + Boarding Delta to Las Vegas:
On Thursday before Memorial Day, the airport was quite crowded. Thankfully, TSA PreCheck was quite fast (less than 10 minutes). After clearing security, I visited the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, which is one of my favorite lounges.
Boarding was scheduled 40 minutes prior to our departure time. I got carried away and spent too much time at the Clubhouse, and got to the gate 10 minutes after the start of boarding. They must have started early or something, as they were already boarding Basic Economy!
Love the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse (JFK)
Thankfully, there was still overhead bin space next to my seat, so all was good! Next time, however, I’ll probably leave the lounge a bit earlier as the walk was a decent trek from A5 where the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse is to my departing gate which was B42.
Boarding was completed about 20 minutes before our scheduled departure time. I’m not sure if they were waiting for late guests, but we sat on the ground for a while. They then closed the boarding door five minutes after our scheduled departure time. It was a pretty full flight, and the gate agents kept checking if the middle-seat passenger next to me arrived, but they hadn’t.
Delta Boeing 737-900ER Cabin
Meanwhile, a flight attendant came down the aisle to pass out complimentary headphones for the seat-back entertainment which was nice.
We pushed back from the gate eight minutes after our scheduled departure time. Lucky me! The middle seat next to me stayed empty on a full flight. Woo-hoo!
Takeoff:
The captain informed us that the flight would be 4 hours and 39 minutes in the air. We ended up taking off a little over 30 minutes after our scheduled departure, for a total taxi time on the runway of about 25 minutes.
The Seat:
The Delta seat in the Main Cabin was a bit on the smaller side legroom-wise. SeatGuru says the pitch is between 30-31 inches and a seat width of 17.2 inches. The seat is definitely a bit narrow, and it helped immensely that there was an empty middle seat. In terms of legroom, at 5’9 I had a bit of room to wiggle, but for a 6-hour transcontinental it seems a bit squished.
Main Cabin Legroom
In-Flight Entertainment and Wi-Fi:
The 737-900ER that I was on had a nice updated 9-inch seatback screen. There were numerous movie choices, prerecorded tv shows, live DIRECTV, and playlists by Spotify. This is plenty of content for a six-hour transcon.
DIRECTV
Since this was a domestic plane, free Wi-Fi was offered on this flight. All you have to do is log into your SkyMiles Account for free Wi-Fi, or if you don’t want to it’s a $10 flight pass. I had no problems accessing it on two devices. The speeds were decent, but not super fast.
There is a power plug below the seats in front of you, as well as USB charging on the seatback screen.
In-Flight Service:
About an hour after takeoff, we had a beverage and snack service as the pilots wanted it delayed a bit due to turbulence at the beginning of the flight. For snack selection, there were almonds, lemon coconut granola bars, biscoff cookies, and cheddar sun chips to choose from.
Additionally, a food-for-purchase cart came out and there was a chicken salad sandwich, snack boxes, or a fruit + cheese plate available.
About 30 minutes later, they came down the aisle with coffee. Shortly after, they came with water which was a nice touch.
Before our initial descent, the flight attendants came through the cabin with water again. But, I wish they did one final snack + beverage service before landing as the flight is decently long.
We ended up landing in Las Vegas early and got to the gate about half an hour early which was nice.
Lavatories:
Similar to the Alaska Airlines 737- 9 MAX I just flew on, there aren’t any mid-cabin lavatories which is a bit annoying. Being in Row 17, it was not the worst trek to the 3 lavatories past row 36. But, I do feel bad for row 10 Comfort Plus having to waddle to the back. I did notice some passengers who were mid-cabin going to the first class lavatory. The lavatory felt quite small, and I did go towards the tail end of the flight so it wasn’t the most clean at that point.
The Verdict:
Overall, my experience flying Delta to Las Vegas onboard the 737-900ER was pretty solid. The nice modern TV screens, empty middle seat, and decent service made for an enjoyable flight. I know it is very rare to have an empty middle seat these days with planes so packed, so I definitely lucked out!
Have you flown on Delta’s 737-900ER or flown Delta to Las Vegas? How was your experience? Feel free to share below!
Happy travels,
Ty
Have any questions? Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. I’ve also started working with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays or planning trips. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!
