I’ve spoken highly of the Airbus A220 in several previous posts. I take this aircraft pretty often with Delta, and I’ve reviewed all cabin classes (First Class, Comfort Plus, and Main Cabin).
I flew their A220-100 again yesterday from Boston to New York and was seated in the exit row. This particular seat, 16E, has no seat in front, offering unlimited legroom.
Let’s go over this exit row seat.
At the Airport
This flight departed out of Terminal E, which is typically Boston’s international terminal. The TSA checkpoint here is one of the more posh ones you’ll go through.
This part of Terminal E is new; it opened just a couple of years ago.
This British Airways flight at 7:20 was the only international flight out at this hour, so the terminal was very quiet.
My flight boarded from gate E13. This flight was delayed by about an hour, which I believe was related to crew issues.
Seat 16E on Delta’s A220-100
Comfort Plus (or as the airline calls it now, Delta Comfort) has about 33 to 34 inches of pitch, which is a pretty solid amount of room.
This is seat 16E though. Seat 15E on the A220-100 does not exist, so this seat has two whole seats’ worth of legroom.
This is more space than you’ll ever get from a Comfort Plus seat.
The actual emergency exit is in row 15; it must be some regulatory thing that leads to that open space.
Your bag goes under the seat 14E. And no, the FAs don’t give you binoculars for that IFE screen. 😉
This seat is a preferred seat. Medallion Members can select this seat free of charge, while non-Medallion Members should expect to pay some cash (starting at around $20, depending on the length of the flight).
Preferred seats are one of my least favorite things that airlines do, since they charge people just for wanting to sit towards the front, and use it to create a loyalty program benefit. This seat 16E though, definitely has some justification.
Note that the other side of the aircraft (16A) does not have the open space like my seat does.
If you don’t care about Zone 3 boarding and complimentary alcoholic beverages from flying in Comfort Plus, I would pick 16E over Comfort Plus seats.
I would also turn off Comfort Plus upgrades if you’re able to grab this seat.
The only negative of this seat is the IFE screen and tray table in the seat pocket. These have to be stored during taxi, takeoff, and landing.
Seat 16E on Delta’s A220-100 is better than Comfort Plus in almost every way. If you don’t care about some of the extra benefits of Comfort Plus and don’t mind the IFE screen in the armrest, I’d go with this seat 10 out of 10 times. I’m 6’1/183cm, and the ability to stretch my legs entirely and not feel constrained by a seat in front is incredible. It’s like a bulkhead seat, but better.
As I said, keep in mind that there will be an extra cost to selecting this seat unless you’re a Medallion Member.
All photos taken by the author.
