Delta Embraer 175 first class review: holy crap, there’s actually food!
Delta Connection Embraer 175 first class can either be really bad or really good.
It’s good if you choose one of the “A” seats (these are single seats and you’ll have nobody sitting next to you). Flying on a route longer than 2 1/2 hours is beneficial as well (because you’ll be served a full meal).
It’s not so good if you choose a “B” or “C” seat. It’s even worse if you choose one of those seats on a flight shorter than 2 1/2 hours. Not only will you not be eating, the narrow seats mean that you’ll be rubbing elbows with the weirdo sitting next to you. It won’t be fun – even if you know that person.
| Flight Number: | DL4564 |
| Route: | Seattle, WA (SEA) – San Diego, CA (SAN) |
| Aircraft: | Embraer 175LR |
| Registration: | N246SY |
| Flight Duration | 2 hours 20 minutes |
| Seat: | 1A (first class) |
The preflight experience
The B Concourse is the home of Delta Air Lines at the Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA). And you know what? It was the perfect setup for this flight down to San Diego on the Embraer 175.
Both this terminal and that airplane are small, not all that modern looking, and a bit smelly.
Plot twist: I purchased this ticket (for economy class) just a few hours earlier, so I didn’t have a seating assignment yet. I didn’t see my name on the list of passengers awaiting seat assignments on the overhead display, so I wandered over to get in line for my turn to talk to the agent.
Expecting the worst, the gate agent simply smiled and handed me a pre-printed first class boarding card (trying not to let other passengers know I guess). What a nice surprise!
The boarding process
It was just after 7 PM as they got the boarding process started, which meant that we were 35 minutes behind schedule but this point. But who cares? I was flying first class, baby!
The same gate agent who upgraded me was also scanning boarding passes at the gate, and I thanked her a time or two again as I passed. I hope she understood how much that upgrade meant to me. She was my hero of the day, that’s for sure.
Delta Embraer 175 first class cabin and seats
First class on the Delta Embraer 175 consists of 12 seats in a 1-2 layout. There are four rows. The single seats are the best. By far.
Bottled water was distributed during the boarding process. There were no hot towels, alcoholic beverages, or amenity kits. It’s “bottom of the barrel” first class, folks.
The departure from Seattle
It was very dark (and rainy as heck) as we pushed off the gate at 7:36 PM. It took just 13 minutes to taxi out to the runway, and we were in the air at 7:49 PM.
It was bumpy for the first 15 minutes of the flight. Things smoothed out nicely by the time we cleared all that rain, and the captain announced a flying time of 2 hours and 19 minutes. So far so good.
First class meal service
The service began with the distribution of hot towels. Drink and dinner orders soon followed – which threw me for a bit of a loop. Of course I was expecting drinks (and maybe a light snack), but dinner as well? Whoa.
The dinner choices on this flight were a chicken wrap or a farro fennel salad. I went with the salad. Unfortunately it was too large for me to finish, but it was quite good – and I’d recommend it to anyone seeking a healthy(ish) vegetarian inflight meal.
In flight entertainment
Back in 2016, Delta didn’t offer any in-flight entertainment on these Embraer 175s. Nowadays, you can expect movies, TV shows, music, and podcasts available for streaming to your personal device.
Not only that, Wi-Fi is free for all Sky Miles members. We’ve come a long way since the mid-2010’s, haven’t we?
Arrival in San Diego
They weren’t able to make up anytime in the air, so we were still approximately 30 minutes behind schedule as we made the approach into San Diego.
While first class on the Delta Embraer 175 isn’t quite as comfortable and feature-rich as the mainline Delta domestic first class product, it’s not horrible.
The single seats are the way to go. And depending on the route you’re flying, you may even get a full meal. It won’t be a hot meal (because the Embraer 175 doesn’t have ovens), but it’ll be better than nothing.
