A flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to New York-Kennedy (JFK) provided me the opportunity to (finally) sit in Delta’s premium economy seats on a 767-400. And, wow, I really liked the experience.
Premium Select Seats Acting as Comfort+
This might get complicated, so stay with me. I’ll do my best to explain it.
- During international and some domestic flights, the premium economy cabin (currently rows 20-23) is marketed and served as Premium Select.
- But for most other U.S. domestic hops, it’s marketed and served as Comfort+.
- The Comfort+ seats (rows 30-33) in the coach section of the plane are considered Main Cabin. A few people who purchase Main Cabin get a couple of extra inches of legroom. But they don’t receive Comfort+ benefits such as free alcohol and premium snack basket.
- The normal Main Cabin seats (rows 34-57) are, well, Main Cabin. Nothing to see here.
So, I booked a Main Cabin ticket for the flight. Then my Medallion status got me an upgrade to Comfort+ — which was in the premium economy section of the plane.
We good?
Delta Premium Select Cabin — But Comfort+ Service
Because I sat in the Premium Select cabin’s seats that were considered Comfort+, that meant I didn’t get either a:
- Premium Select amenity kit or
- meal
Those come with the Premium Select service. But I was happy enough getting to sit in the Premium Select seats. Especially from a transcontinental fight.
The Premium Select cabin is arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration on Delta’s 767-400s.
I selected seat 22C: the aisle seat on the left (facing forward) side. (In the above picture, it’s the third of four aisle seats.)
There’s virtually no underseat storage in premium economy/Premium Select. A divider is placed just left of center in all of the non-bulkhead seats.
Not to fret, though. Everyone gets their own overhead bin!
Delta Premium Select seats are 19.5 inches wide and feature 38 inches of pitch. For reference, that’s about an 1.4 inches less wide than most Delta domestic First Class seats. But it’s on par — or even better — than most First Class seats in terms of pitch.
The seat is quite comfortable. While it’s not as wide as a domestic First Class seat, it’s still great — and an upgrade over anything behind the curtain to standard coach.
The Premium Select IFE is bright. Like most Delta IFEs, there are a USB outlet and headphone port. Just to the side is knob in case you want to hang your coat.
Our plane’s tires were barely off LAX runway 24L when the lady in front of me slammed her seat back as far as it could go. And I knew darn well she’d stay that way for all five-and-a-half hours. (She did.)
But you know what? I wasn’t as crunched in as you may think.
Each passenger has AC power and USB outlets. Those are located in front and center of the seats.
Below the inner armrest is where you’ll find several features:
- an area for storing bottles
- IFE remote control
- footrest controls
- a small storage pocket perfect for the headphones Delta supplies
The outer armrest holds the tray table.
My 16″ MacBook Pro fit perfectly on it.
The tray table also holds plenty of snacks and beverages. 😉 . Naturally, I went with my favorite onboard beverage: Delta’s Old Fashioned in a can!
Shout out to the cabin crew who worked this flight. They were fantastic.
I got plenty of work done during the trip. There was enough space for my computer and I was comfortable.
Final Approach
Delta Premium Select seats are very similar to the airline’s domestic First Class seats. They’re quite comfortable and offer customers the opportunity to get some work done. If you can score one under the Comfort+ service, I highly recommend going for it. You’ll live without the amenity kit and meal.
Have you sat in the Premium Select seats? What do you think?
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Recline is a huge reason to get these seats / pay for them. Not sure why you make it sound like the person in front of you shouldn’t have used it. Flying sucks for many people, every bit of comfort helps.
I generally don’t like it when people in front of me recline but understand it’s their right. What I don’t appreciate is when they suddenly (as opposed to gradually) recline their seat all the way. My point is that I was pleasantly surprised how much legroom I still had after the passenger in front of me reclined. I’m glad you enjoy it when people recline into your space —- I wish I had your attitude! 😉
Stupid take.
Tell me how you really feel. 😉
….if I do recline, which normally do not, well maybe one click, I always ask the person behind me if the have enough room.
Great take!
Why do seats recline then??? Are you that stupid. You pay for seats that recline then you have the right to recline!
Where did I say people don’t have the right to recline?
By the way, you should have ended “Are you that stupid” with a question mark instead of a period.
I will NEVER waste money on Premium Economy again. It is SO far below biz and only slightly better than economy. Not worth it at all, maybe 50 to $100.
agree Chris,I do hate when the guy in front reclines his seat in warp speed!! And all the way to my knees,,making it hard to watch the screen!
Not a fan. On a recent trip from AMS to DTW, the tv did not work the whole time (8+ hours), NO snacks were offered, the food was nearly inedible and the same food as coach. I did like the wider seat but not worth the upgrade in cost.
I recently took an international flight in those seats. No space under the seat in front is an understatement–and not advertised. We also had to share our overhead bin with others. So, I had to wedge my small bag under the seat which in doing so kept the leg rests from properly expanding. To get up from a window seat to make a bathroom trip, we had to remove our two bags from the floor, stand up, turn around to face the rear of the plane, lean forward while shimmying out to the aisle using near gymnastic skills because the middle arm rest is immovable (in contains that cool tray that pops up for your food or laptop). I’m 30 pounds overweight for my height, but not a 200 pounds overweight like you are probably picturing! Looking behind the curtain to the peasant seats, they had plenty of leg room…. I’m only 5′ tall and need the footrests for long flights (feet don’t touch the floor). I pay for some level of upgrade as a result. Unfortunately, this was not an upgrade in any way. Ultimately, the uncomfortable seats, lack of ergonomics, and gymnastics-like gyrations required to get in and out of my seat during a 13-hour flight put such a strain on my back that the next day after landing, I couldn’t even walk. After seeking medical help, four days into a 14-day vacation, we flew home (of course after upgrading to those laydown seats since it was now an absolute requirement for me). Are these Premium seats worth it? For my money, no. I’ll save up or use airline miles points schemes and just get the laydown seats for all longhaul trips in the future to save myself the medical expenses, agony of months of recovery, the loss of money on vacation-related events that could not be refunded–not to mention totally messing up a long awaited and anticipated vacation (and break from work) to enjoy our 30-year wedding anniversary.
I flew from JFK to Tel Aviv this summer and sat in premium select. While the seating is very comfortable and spacious, the service going both ways was pathetic. After the flight attendant served our meals, they all went to sleep for the night. We didn’t see them until it was time to serve breakfast. This was the worst service I’ve ever received on Delta. They should be ashamed of themselves. I could see the gentleman in first class serve all of the patrons in that area all night. If you were behind the curtain, there wasn’t a flight attendant to be found for at least 8 hours.
This article was interesting because I just took a flight this weekend. Was upgraded to Comfort + but our service was just like Main Cabin. Two months ago when I traveled in Comfort +, we got the same snacks and we were offered complimentary alcoholic beverages on both of my flights.
Maybe Delta isn’t consistent enough with their services?
It’s sad that so many people traveling seems to want the same space and service you get at a Bed and bath. The high prices are everywhere for little or no change in service… when we fly witch was recently I was only hoping our bags wasn’t lost (they wasn’t) so everything else was gravy,God bless the flight attendees in these hard day’s of people wanting everything and beyond.
I’ll be taking a Seattle to Paris flight overnight in Delta PS in two weeks– 10+ hours in *anything with more recline and amenities than coach is going to feel like luxury to me. Glad someone posted about the underseat storage issue too, (eyeballing my carryon situation, since I never check a bag, e v e r )
I have the same class on a day flight back CDG to SLC, so I’ll definitely take some notes on the experience.
Love your reviews, as always, thank you!