Trip Reports – The Delta 767 BusinessElite® Seat

So…I had to take a business trip to Seattle, and when I looked at the options, a 3-letter/number combination caught my eye – 76W. It turns out that at the moment, the 8amish flight from Atlanta to Seattle is serviced by an internationally configured 767. In other words, lots of seats up front that lie flat. Here’s an image of the cabin courtesy of Delta Air Lines. I was excited to try out the BusinessElite® seats on the 767. I booked this flight without hesitation, and as luck would have it….my Sunday morning upgrade cleared at the window as a Platinum Medallion. I was a little too excited given that it’s just a seat, and while the flight was on an internationally configured airplane, the service would be standard domestic service featuring what I have now named “the always reliable Delta First Class omelet.” Things got off to a rocky start because our flight attendants were late in arriving…actually, two of them were late in arriving. Funny thing is, I got a heads up from TripIt Pro before Delta said anything. No idea what the issue was, but soon enough, they arrived and shortly thereafter, boarding began. With the compressed boarding time no pre-departure beverage service was offered. Funny thing – with some AAirlines, it’s a notable event when you actually get a PDB, with Delta, it’s notable when you don’t. There was water, we boarded in a hurry, and soon enough we were pushing back an on our way to Seattle. I videoed the takeoff roll on a dreary day in Atlanta.

Inflight service began shortly after takeoff, and it was here that I noticed one flight attendant seemed to be working both aisles until well into the service when she was joined by another from the back. This made service a bit slow in my opinion, at least until the other flight attendant appeared. Here’s what the always reliable Delta First Class Omelet looks like. And what kind of guy would I be without trying out the seat. Here’s a shot of the legroom. And the IFE. It’s a little easier for me to use this image courtesy of Delta Air Lines to show you the seat in lie flat mode. You’ll notice some blue plastic molding or something similar encroaching on the legroom in this shot. I learned from my buddy, The Weekly Flyer, that row 1 does not have this which adds a bit to legroom, so I chose a seat in row 1. Another note, the odd numbered rows feature the console (tray table, power outlets, etc. separating you from the aisle, and they felt a good bit more private. In the end, all that matters is could I sleep in this seat, and the answer is yes. It was a bit tight when lying on my back, but I sleep on my side, so I found the seat perfectly suitable for sleeping. However, there wasn’t much need for sleep on this westbound domestic flight. Since this was an international aircraft, there is no wi-fi yet. However, something just seemed to make the flight go a lot faster this time as opposed to my last trip to Seattle in coach. 🙂 For good measure, heres a scene from the approach into Seattle. In the end, it was a great flight, with reasonably friendly service, good inflight entertainment, and a comfortable seat. Turns out, I really didn’t miss the wi-fi that much, but I won’t make a habit of flying non wi-fi aircraft if I can help it.

-MJ, July 28, 2014