I had an epiphany while sitting in Delta 757-200 Comfort Plus on a flight from Atlanta to Detroit recently.
Y’all know that I’ve been known to criticize the Delta Comfort Plus product in the past. They talk a big game (promising things like extra legroom, premium snacks, free alcohol, priority boarding, etc), but it never seems to be worth the extra cost on longer flights.
But on shorter flights (ones that Delta tends to use the 757-200 for), it actually starts to make a little sense. Let me explain…
DL2977
Atlanta, GA (ATL) – Detroit, MI (DTW)
Saturday, October 21, 2023
Aircraft: 757-26D
Registration: N823DX
Duration: 1 hour 27 minutes
Seat: 20A (Comfort Plus)
Delta Air Lines 757-200 (N823DX) side view illustration by NorebboStock.comOur route from Atlanta to Detroit this evening as DL2977.
My full review of Delta 757-200 Comfort Plus from Atlanta to Detroit
I know. I was fairly whiny in my recent review of Delta 757-300 Comfort Plus. Yet here I am about to tell you why Comfort Plus on the 757-200 is kinda awesome. What gives?
Arrival at ATL
I arrived from San Diego just shy of 4 hours before the scheduled departure time of this flight to Detroit. A little bit of eating, a lot of walking, and a ton of people watching was how I prepped myself for this 757-200 Comfort Plus experience.
Welcome to Concourse B at the Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport! This appears to be the proverbial fork in the road.*gulp* Looking straight down the barrel of Concourse B reveals that reaching my departure gate (B6) is going to be a bit of an ordealtotal mother****r.Well that wasn’t so bad. I still have all my teeth!Be still my beating heart. The sight of the 757-200 taking me up to DTW this evening (N823DX) is giving me tingling sensations that I can almost guarantee you don’t want me to describe.I never realized how creepy I look when lost in the trance of a Boeing 757-200. How have I ever not been thrown out of an airport before?Looks like it’s going to be a full flight this evening. Maybe Detroit isn’t as bad as everyone thought?
The boarding process for flight number 2977 to Detroit
The 757-200 is a fairly big aircraft with a capacity for 200(ish) passengers. The gate areas in terminal B at ATL can barely hold half that amount.
My natural instinct was to stay back (out of the crowd) while they rolled through the boarding process. First it was passengers needing extra time to board. Then families with small children and active duty military. Then first class. Then Diamond Medallions. Then Comfort Plus. Yay priority boarding!
Boarding has commenced. I’ll be on my way as soon as all the Diamond Medallions get out of the way (they’re always in the way).Priority boarding is an included perk for a Comfort Plus passengers, but just know that it won’t seem like priority once they get all the pre-boarding taken care of.“b*tch better not take my overhead bin space” (at least that’s what it seems like she’s thinking).See? Her concerns were not without merit. BTW, stepping onto a Delta 757-200 is an experience like nothing else!This pic alone should squash any concerns you had about the Delta 757-200 being old and outdated. Not only do these diamond-stitched Comfort Plus seats look great, the ‘light saber blue’ mood lighting is freaking legit.
Seat overview
If you’ve seen one domestic Delta Comfort Plus seat, you’ve basically seen them all. The ones here on the 757-200 aren’t any different than what you’ve seen in any of my other Comfort Plus reviews, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s a good looking (and feature rich) seat with generous legroom IMHO.
Nice. It’s not that you’ll need this much legroom for a short 90 minute flight to Detroit, but trust me – you’ll certainly want it.The same goes for these large video screens. I like!I’m not sure if this was supposed to be a pic of the power outlet (located down there between the seats), or a well used seat pocket. Screw it. It’s both.I know a headrest pic when I see one tho. #naileditYeah, despite how hard Delta is pushing the “comfort” thing, the middle seat is still gonna suck.… Especially if you’re sitting next to a guy who keeps taking a picture of his junk. I was trying to get another picture of the awesome legroom!I’m really impressed with how nice these updated Delta 757-200 interiors are. So far, this is every bit as a dope as my Delta A321 Comfort Plus experience was.
The departure out of ATL
You win some, you lose some. On one hand, we actually pushed off the gate a couple minutes early. On the other hand, I was on the wrong side of the aircraft (which resulted in seeing absolutely nothing during the taxi out to runway 26L).
Jet bridge detached. Regardless of whether or not Detroit is ready for us, we are on our way.Not a bad view from seat 20A! I especially like the fact that I’m seated far forward enough not to be impaled with fan blade shrapnel during an uncontained engine failure. RIP to the people on the row behind me though.While nowhere near as cool as the time I flew between Detroit and Atlanta in Delta 747-400 business class (Delta One), any opportunity to get a ride on a Boeing 757-200 is worth the effort.World’s busiest airport in my a**!Kicka** aerial pics of ATL in 3..2……1! Never in my life have I taken a pic with this many Delta CRJ’s in it.I don’t believe that I’ve ever taken an aerial pic of the T gates either, so this was an eventful (and productive) departure indeed.A perfect evening for a Delta 757-200 Comfort Plus review!
In-flight entertainment
With the coming of free Wi-Fi, in-flight entertainment is going to be getting even better than it already is here on the Delta 757-200. These aircraft already feature the always awesome Delta Studio video entertainment product, with video screens at every seat. FYI, the video screens here in Comfort Plus are the exact same size as the ones up in first class.
Who needs video screens when the mood lighting is this freakin’ awesome?I have a sneaky suspicion that I am alone in my feelings about mood lighting vs video screens. The next few pics (starting with the welcome screen of the in-flight entertainment system) are for you. Not me.You see pics of the always awesome Delta Studio video entertainment system (and all of the movies, TV shows, audio, games, and podcasts it contains). All I can see is that awesome blue mood lighting. A total win-win!This flight information screen had my full attention though. Remember the creepy pics of me looking at this 757 through the terminal windows earlier in this review? I’d bet everything that I have that my expression at this moment was exactly the same (if not worse).I think we’re getting to the point where some of these screens are starting to look dated though. The flight tracker / map thingy seems a bit old school (at least compared to what other airlines are doing these days).Earbuds (that are yours to keep) are still complementary – even on flights as short as this one. I think they do this on purpose to make you feel less perturbed about the forthcoming snack service.
Food and snacks
Cabin service (and food) is where I find Comfort Plus to be a better an acceptable value on shorter flights. The “premium snack” is anything but (consisting of a little package of snacks that are hardly more premium than what you would get in basic economy). But that’s fine. A substantial snack probably isn’t important on shorter flights anyway.
Although I didn’t have very many good things to say about what was essentially the very same “premium” snack in my Delta 767-300 Comfort Plus review, it seems somewhat more acceptable (and appropriate) for a 1.5 hour flight.I know! It’s taking every bit of strength I have not to berate them for calling this a “premium” snack, but…< whispering > I probably could’ve survived a flight to Detroit without this. < / whispering >Remember that moment when the Grinch discovered the true meaning of Christmas? It was almost the same as me realizing that Comfort Plus is a much better value on shorter flights (because of how lame the onboard service is). #lightbulbmomentComfort. Plus a puny snack.
The good news is that they don’t skimp on the free alcohol. Not even on shorter flights. I would assume that most people would prefer a stiff drink over a substantial snack anyway, so no biggie I guess.
Seat comfort
Again, on shorter flights, the extra legroom in these Comfort Plus seats is just about perfect. You’ll hardly even notice how hard the seats are. You probably won’t even care about the lack of decent recline. But that extra legroom? Oh baby!
For the record, my expression is the result of the weak a** snack. It is not an indication as to how comfortable (or uncomfortable) the seat may be.I (a scrawny 5′-10″ chap) am able to cross my legs in these seats without much fuss. I therefore deem them to be comfortable (for shorter flights at least).
The descent and arrival into Detroit
Flying into Detroit always hits me square in the feels. I grew up about an hour north of DTW – so this is basically home for me. It was such a nice feeling that I wouldn’t have even cared if we were late. But we weren’t (as long as you don’t count being 3 minutes behind schedule as “late”). Thanks Delta!
Detroit at 11 o’clock!Well…it’s actually only 8:09 PM, and we’re 3 minutes behind schedule. Close enough.Whoa big girl! Whoa.What I didn’t show you was the 15 minute taxi time it took to get to this point. But! At least I now have the data to tell you that these Comfort Plus seats are fairly comfortable bouncing along on the ground as well.I also have enough data to tell you that you will very likely be arriving at your destination hungry. I say again: premium snacks my a**!Speaking of my a**, it’s going to feel really good to stand up again. I started in San Diego over 9 hours ago and I do believe that I’ve had my fill of airplane seats for today.Perhaps the most interesting part of this entire experience was exiting through the forward boarding door. I’ve never done that on a 757 before! Again, they probably did that on purpose to take our minds off the fact that the premium snacks weren’t all that premium (and it worked).
Pros and cons of the Delta 757-200 Comfort Plus experience
The TLDR of this entire review is that you’ll probably enjoy Comfort Plus on the Delta 757-200 more on shorter flights than you will on longer flights. The food sucks. The seats are hard. But the legroom (and in flight entertainment) is excellent.
Interesting! I’ve always thought that the benefits of a product like Comfort Plus would be better felt on a longer flight rather than a shorter flight. Oh well, it’s still a hard Economy seat with a limited onboard service, so I get what you mean about it being better (more tolerable) on flights like ATL-DTW.
Also, I have to say that there’s nothing like mood lighting on a redeye flight.
Finally, I have a question: given that you flew on both 757 variants in the same day, did they “feel” any different? I’ve heard that 753 takeoffs are noticeably shallower and longer (basically, less “sporty”) than those on its shorter (and more successful) sibling. Is this true?
Yeah, I would enjoy it a lot more on longer flights if the food was better. I don’t see that happening anytime soon though.
Interesting question about how the 752 compares to the 753! To be honest, they feel exactly the same to me. I suppose it depends on where you’re seated, but I don’t think I’ve ever been able to feel a difference between these two aircraft.
That said – the interior of the 752 was much more modern than the 753. That made a world of difference in regards to the overall experience IMHO.
Peter
Interesting! I’ve always thought that the benefits of a product like Comfort Plus would be better felt on a longer flight rather than a shorter flight. Oh well, it’s still a hard Economy seat with a limited onboard service, so I get what you mean about it being better (more tolerable) on flights like ATL-DTW.
Also, I have to say that there’s nothing like mood lighting on a redeye flight.
Finally, I have a question: given that you flew on both 757 variants in the same day, did they “feel” any different? I’ve heard that 753 takeoffs are noticeably shallower and longer (basically, less “sporty”) than those on its shorter (and more successful) sibling. Is this true?
Scott (SANspotter)
Yeah, I would enjoy it a lot more on longer flights if the food was better. I don’t see that happening anytime soon though.
Interesting question about how the 752 compares to the 753! To be honest, they feel exactly the same to me. I suppose it depends on where you’re seated, but I don’t think I’ve ever been able to feel a difference between these two aircraft.
That said – the interior of the 752 was much more modern than the 753. That made a world of difference in regards to the overall experience IMHO.