I’ve taken several transcontinental flights during the past few weeks, most recently to Boston so that I could preview the new Chase Sapphire Lounge. Before that, I rode to/from Washington, D.C., for the annual Freddie Awards.
Three flights were aboard Delta Air Lines 757-200S series aircraft. They’re equipped with Delta One upfront. So, you’ll find them on routes such as LAX or SFO to JFK, LAX to BOS, etc.
But these planes have a unique row featuring the best coach seats in the Delta fleet.
Row 35 on Delta’s 757-200S
What makes row 35 so special? If you like legroom, you will love row 35 on Delta’s 75S.
There’s a ton of space in front of you. (For reference: I’m about 6’1.” The gentleman in the window seat was about 6’3.” We won the lottery that day: no one occupied the middle seat!)
It also features footrests!
Plus, you have under-seat storage and can still stretch out.
It’s kind of like an exit row — but without the responsibility of being a de facto safety officer. And, you know, you have footrests!
Sure, Comfort+ is fine with its free booze. But I gladly pay for drinks to sit in row 35. (Or I use my Medallion drink tickets — assuming I get them — or use one of my Amex Platinum cards and its annual airline incidental statement credit benefit. After that, I use my Delta Reserve card because I earn 20% statement credit on eligible inflight purchases.)
Want to reserve a spot in row 35? It’s a “Preferred” seat available for free only to Medallion members.
Addendum: I forgot to include in my final draft that these are crew rest seats on transoceanic flights. That’s why they have the extra room and footrests. As Colleen points out, this row isn’t available on transoceanic flights.
The row is a few feet from a lavatory — which is excellent if you enjoy proximity to the facilities. But there are downsides to that, too. (Lines forming by your seat, interesting odors, etc.)
You have maybe a couple of inches of recline before hitting the wall. During my flight to Boston last week, the guy in the middle seat couldn’t complain enough. (And he was the tallest guy in the row.) He said he preferred recline over legroom.
Final Approach
If you’re a Medallion member and find yourself on a transcontinental or “short” transoceanic flight, look for row 35. The legroom makes it worth it.
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I love the 757 but don’t like Delta’s 757s since they were reconfigured around 2016 or 2017 as, for whatever reason, Delta doesn’t use the forward door for boarding and deplaning.
As a result, first-class (or Delta One in the case of lie-flat 757s) don’t get off the plane first. In some of the configurations, several rows of economy disembark before even comfort-plus passengers. Considering the 757s seem to be very much Atlantic-centric, that’s a huge issue for me.
Sitting in row 1 or 2 of first/Delta One on the 757 sucks if you have a close connection and don’t get the Porsche transfer.
That aside, I wouldn’t choose row 35 because of the lavatories. For me, 19-F is ideal. Especially on a longer route when sleep might be an important consideration.
Boarding using the second door is one of my favorite features of the 757, both the domestic FC and Delta One versions. I love boarding early and not having all the economy passengers streaming by, and the flight attendants to a better job with per-flight drinks and taking food orders. Sometimes they offer a second drink before takeoff.
Typo. “… very much ATLANTA-centric …”
Ah yes, the crew rest row for when these planes fly trans-atlantic which isn’t so much anymore, but used to serve West Africa from JFK.
I wonder if these seats are flight attendant or pilot crew rest seats, especially with the footrests. But I can’t imagine what route would be long enough for crew rest that the 757 would fly – deep South America? Because there must have been a reason for them to be equipped with footrests when the rest of the section did not have footrests.
Delta has used 757s for London-Gatwick, Shannon in Ireland, and Iceland. When Tokyo-Narita was a hub, Delta used 757s for some of its intra-Asia routes, including Palau, Saipan, Hong Kong, and Guam.
We used to fly this airplane from JFK to Azores and Malaga. And yes—that was the flight attendant crew rest area!! So if this plane goes transoceanic this row would not be available to passengers!!
In my “offline” draft, I wrote that these are crew rest seats on transoceanics — no idea where it went. I was surprised when I saw all these comments about it being a crew rest area. I thought, “Yeah, I wrote that in the post — oh, look. No. That paragraph disappeared. Ugh.” 🙂
I would mention that the only downside of these seats is that they have tray tables in the armrest. If you’re both tall and a bit wide these seats are probably 1.5-2″ narrower than a standard seat and there’s no lifting of the armrest if there’s no one in the middle. The good news is that they have IFE in the seat-backs vs the 2nd door exit row seats that have IFE in the arm-rest which has to be stowed during boarding/take-off/landing/taxi (nearly half the time of most of my 1.5-2hr flights)
For flights to Iceland, you can often buy a whole row of 757 economy seats for less than price of Delta’s forward-cabin product (whether marketed as Delta One or premium economy). While the leg room is reduced compared to row 35, you get moveable armrests and can, in effect, have a poor man’s business class seat.
Looks like you have double tray tables too? One in the armrest and one in the seatback in front of you. Or did they remove the armrest tray tables?
Armest and seatback tray-tables, yes.
My girlfriend/wife is going to be on DAL157 which is flying from ACC to JFK.
And???
The unmovable armrests are a deal breaker for me.
Absolutely still the best single aisle aircraft in the sky today. Hate and (when possible) I avoid the 737 in all its forms. Love this plane. Wish they were still producing them.
I don’t know. Delta’s reconfiguration of the 757s wasn’t great. I really prefer the A321 in first-class now.
I’m only 5’3 and just chose that row for my flight to Iceland! I chose the window seat to alleviate the people passing by for the restroom. Actually got some decent sleep using the footrest. While not fully reclined it felt more natural as a “laid out” position. The amount of space made it feel luxurious and less claustrophobic without the ridiculous cost of business!
Get me out of Maui now may 16 2023
Sorry, we’re a blog — not an airline or travel booking service. If you want to contact Delta, their phone number is (800) 212-1212.
That row used for crew rest on transatlantic route