Flight routing
- 1
- 2DL 871 - Domestic First Class - Phoenix → Atlanta - Boeing 767-300(ER)
- 3DL 194 - Economy - Atlanta → Barcelona - Boeing 767-400(ER)
A visual of my entire journey from Salt Lake City to Barcelona via PHX & ATL which would cover a total distance of 6,678mi/10,748km. This trip report will cover the second leg of this long journey.
Introduction
Welcome everyone to another trip report! This is the start of a repositioning trip with Delta I am taking to Barcelona from Phoenix instead of my hometown airport of SLC. You can check out my previous trip report on SW that helped me get to where I am right now 😉. I've done this many times in the past (taking repositioning trips) and usually this method saves me a lot of $$$ like in this case. Some times they are smooth and other times they are difficult. In this case it was a little more on the difficult side, I'll explain why. In this case SW operates in and out of T4 at PHX while DL operates out of T3. Meaning I'll have to collect my bag, walk out landside to reach T3 (as both terminals are not connected airside) recheck my bag with DL and re-clear security. It's not impossible and I've had it worst especially connecting in LAX but still all worth it in my case. Let's continue on with the trip report!
Good evening from Phoenix Sky Harbor's T3.
Between my SW and DL flights tonight I had a healthy 6 hour layover so more then plenty of time to switch and make my connection.
Check-in
Of course I had to re-print my boarding pass for my records ;). A few days before departure I was delighted to know that I had been upgraded straight from my main cabin seat (economy class) to domestic first class thanks to my gold medallion status. To make things even nicer was that tonight's red eye flight to ATL would be operated by a B767-300ER. A few weeks before departure there was a schedule change as this flight was suppose to be operated by a B757-300.
Check-in abd bag drop off is completed and I can now proceed to security control.
Security control went very smoothly and I was airside in just 10 minutes.
Off to the F gates where DL flights operate out of.
PHX Sky Club
Since I had a bit of time before boarding would start, I decided to make a quick visit and check out the PHX Sky Club.
A friendly agent welcomed me in after scanning my boarding pass and I made my way into the lounge. To the looks of it it was nice, cozy and modern all around. There was a nice array of warm food options, soups and as well and cold items at the buffet bar.
I went for a little bit of every starting off tonight's special of Swedish meat balls, vegetable wrap of some sort and a chocolate chip cookie.
The Swedish meatballs were actually quite tastier then it looked and do remember going for seconds after this one 😅.
After finishing the food, I went to the cafe machine and got myself a latte to pair with my chocolate cookie.
Overall my stay was very pleasant and I was glad to be able to experience it. But now it was time too head to the gate area.
Our departure gate for this red eye flight to ATL would be out of F10.
My aircraft
Here's my chariot that'll be taking me to ATL tonight.
Some information about my plane:
Flight number: DL 871
Aircraft: Boeing 767-332(ER)
Registration: N197DN
Delivered: December 23, 1997
Age: 27 years (at time of flight)
This aircraft is actually configured in a premium heavy four classes (mostly used for international flights) which are: 26 Delta One, 18 Premium select, 21 Comfort+ and 151 Main Cabin seats for a total capacity of 216 passengers. Since I received this upgrade fairly last minute I was able to snag the last available window seat which would be 1D. Seat map courtesy of aerolopa.
Although this would be a fairly short domestic flight in technically a Delta One seat (but without the service), I was still excited to try out the seat that otherwise usually serves international destinations.
Boarding
Boarding began promptly and I boarded with first class group.
My seat (1D)
And here's my thrown for the next few hours over to ATL.
Waiting at each seat was a plush pillow and a blanket.
The PTV was a good size although quite far from the seat.
Legroom is amazing of course and this seat turns completely lie flat which will be great for this red eye flight.
Placed at each was a small bottle of water. On this flight we wouldn't be offered any pre departure beverages unfortunately.
A nice looking pair of noise cancelling headphones to use during the flight were handing next to the seat.
The overhead panel consisted of not just 1 but 2 reading and air vents just for me.
The seat controls for the seat were located on the console.
Being in the first row of the plane, I could barely see the wing and engines from my seat 😅. The nice thing of being in this first row though was that it felt more private but to the bulkhead in front and this seat includes two whole windows for myself. Sadly though since this was a night flight, not much would be able to see outside during the whole journey.
Next to us is a B757-300 (the aircraft type I was originally suppose to fly on) preparing for it's red eye flight to Minneapolis (MSP).
Delta A321 just pulling in from Atlanta where we are headed.
Boarding is complete and tonight's flight load to ATL is completely full at 100%.
There goes the flying pencil 😅. I flew on this plane type once in Jan 2020 from DTW to TPA, it was a great experience. Hope to do so once again in the near future.
The safety video began showing.
Cabin lights were dimmed for departure.
Pushback
You can check out the entire pushback, taxi and takeoff at the video below:
We pushed back from the gate right on time.
Takeoff
Tonight we'll be using runway 25R for takeoff.
See you in a few weeks PHX!
For some reason, tonight's takeoff was one of the more spectacular ones I've experienced seeing the city lights below.
One last look at PHX before disappearing under the clouds.
I forgot to mention that in addition to the reading lights above, there is an additional reading light next to the seat and can be adjusted according to the brightness one desires.
Directly below is located the universal power port.
Here's a closer look at the headsets provided for use during flight. These won't replace any of the good ones one might have but still ok.
Tray table and seat back contents
The tray table was of standard size however the table was quite flimsy and showing its wear. Not sure how anyone can be expected to eat from this with meals on a true international flight.
The seat back contents consisted of:
A safety card…
And airsickness bag.
First inflight service
Given that this was a red eye flight, I knew we weren't going to be getting a meal service and the in flight service would consist of snacks (hence why I ate dinner at the Sky Club). About 45 minutes into flight the FA passed through the cabin offering premium snacks from a basket and taking drink requests.
For snacks I went for a bag of pistachios and pretzels.
Not to sound picky but on this particular flight the FA took ages to get the drinks out. I received my drink at least 30 minutes later after getting the snacks. By then I had already eaten all my snacks 😅. For my drink I went for a Bourbon cream and coffee.
Inflight entertainment
Let's take a quick look at the IFE system. As I've mentioned on my previous trip reports with DL they at least IMO have the best IFE of the big three US carriers. I've heard UA is getting better from other TR but Iv'e yet to see for myself. There are tons of movies, tv shows, and music to keep one entertained.
My all time favorite part was the interactive map of course.
The loo
It's time to take a quick tour of the loo. I went to the loo that was directly in front of my seat, next to door 1R.
This loo was noticeably larger than in Y of course and was kept clean which was nice.
Upfront here there is even premium hand wash and lotion by Grown Alchemist.
At this point I was really getting tired so decided to hit the bed in lie flat mode to get some sleep.
Managed to get only a solid two hours of sleep while flying over Memphis, Tennessee.
Pre-arrival service
About 50 minutes before arrival the FA came through the cabin once again to provide one last service before arrival. The snack basket was passed around along with drink requests. I declined the drink and went for another pistachios and chocolate cookies.
The crew began preparing the cabin for landing.
Landing
We'd be landing on runway 26R.
Welcome to a rainy Atlanta.
Arrival at gate
We arrived at the gate 35 minutes ahead of schedule, well done DL.
One last look at my bird, thanks for the safe and fun journey!
This concludes the trip report, thanks for reading!
Hi Salomon! Thanks for sharing this cool report of 767 in Business Class, I really enjoyed the read!
Although it was a pain doing the transit, I imagine the lie-flat seats made it worth it😉
Isn’t that the best part of the lounge😂? It’s an eat until you drop kind of vibe ha.
The skyclub in Phoenix looks quite decent, and not too bust at that time from what I saw in your pics.
So nice to see a free upgrade on a red-eye, and on the 767-300. While the PTV’s haven’t been updated, the seat covers do look sleek on the semi reburfed 763’s. Combining that with how Delta does well in the headphone offerings, a pillow and a blanket, not bad. Certain airlines wouldn’t dare (ahem cough cough).
It’s such a small thing, but also in the moment quite frustrating when this happens😅. A bourbon and cream sounds lovely.
Either you have a high tolerance for coffee, or that must have been decaf ha.
Anyways, thanks so much for sharing this look at the Delta 767-300 in Delta “ish-one”. Looking forward to more!
Yikes, that's one short redeye flight! Those are the worst, but it makes it so much more pleasant to have had a widebody with lie flat seats! I was expecting a little better than just a snack on a 4h flight. I know it's a late departure, but still would be nice to have an option to have something better for those who may not have had time to grab something to eat. Especially since there's no lounge access on domestic flights.
Thanks for sharing!