Flight Review: Delta Domestic First B738 Boston to Tampa

Flight review of Delta flight DL1545 in Domestic First Class on a Boeing 737-800 for a 3 hour flight from Boston to Tampa in autumn 2018.

Aircraft

This flight was performed with a 18-year-old Boeing 737-832, registration N398DA. This is a two classes aircraft offering Domestic First class as well as Economy with a 2-2 or 3-3 configuration depending on the class you are flying.

Check-in and Boarding

For both, check-in and boarding, a dedicated line was open for domestic first class and status passengers. Both were flawless so there is nothing to add here.

Seats

Seats were surprisingly comfortable and they reclined fair for a short-haul aircraft. You have enough leg room but an adjustable headrest is missing. Armrests are fix, and between two seats you have a small table to put you drinks on. A couple of pockets are available in the seat in front of you which was more than enough for us to store everything we needed on board.

Every seat is equipped with a foldable table located in the armrest and its own power socket along with an USB charging port. Airvents and reading lamps are available as well.

The entertainment system is located on the seat in front of you the size was OK for a short-haul flight and good quality in terms of resolution and reactivity. The selection of movies and series was adequate for a short-haul flight.

Food & Drinks

The standard selection of drinks was available. I choose a Gin Tonic as aperitif and a Blue Moon beer with my meal.

For lunch, you could choose between a Caesars Salad and some pulled meat sandwiches. Both plates came along with a small cookie and surprisingly, both of the meals looked appealing and tasted good. In terms of food and drinks, for a short-haul flight everything was as it should be

Other Amenities

Upon entering the aircraft, on each seat a pillow, a blanket and a bottle of water is available.

A hot towel is served shortly after takeoff.

Inflight WiFi is available for a reasonable price and as you can see in the picture below, the speed of the connection was fast for airplane internet.

Staff

Staff on board of the plane was friendly and attentive, and there was nothing to complain about.

The cleaning staff however clearly didn’t do their job. As you can see on the picture, in the pocket in front of our seat there was still trash from the previous person.

Conclusion

This is another example of how good a domestic business/first class can be in comparison to European carriers. Seats and especially leg room is adequate, a nice entertainment screen is available and the food is decent. For a 3 hour flight, I would absolutely book Delta’s domestic first class again if the price is not too high compared to economy as the extra leg room, service and extra luggage pay up for the price.

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