Review: Delta B777 Business Class Narita-Tokyo to Los Angeles

After a short delay in Manila, but a wonderful flight on the refurbished Delta B747-400, it was off to LAX on one of Delta’s first planes to have true lay flat seats in Business Class, the B777-200LR. The plane was starting to show a bit of wear and tear, regardless the product is solid and extremely comfortable. After a short stop at the Narita SkyClub, I was off to board my plane! I was tired and couldn’t wait to get to a cruising altitude so I could recline in my sky bed and fall asleep.

When I arrived at the gate, the gate agents were calling final call and

when I walked up, they smiled and suggested that I might be Mr. Horan. Clearly, I was either one of the last male passengers to board or the club had called to inform the gate agents I was on my way. Either way the agents welcomed me on board, but only after a small snafu with the computer system, where the agents had to reprint my boarding pass and make some changes on their system. They then also printed me off a paper ticket for my flight from LAX-SAN and told me not to lose it because they were going to need the coupon in LAX in order to allow me to board.

As I entered the plane, a friendly gate agent welcomed me on board through the forward door of the aircraft and directed me to 7A. Not even a few seconds after I reached my seat and I started to situate my belongings, another FA offered to hang my coat and helped me store my items. I sat down, made myself comfortable, and was offered a glass of champagne, OJ, or water shortly after. I smiled blissfully, took both water and champagne and thought to myself “Oh I love traveling business class for free!”

As the plane finished boarding and safety checks were done, flight attendants remained busy preparing their galleys and attending to the guests on the plane. One FA took lunch orders, another handed out immigration forms, a third offered drink refills, and a fourth offered newspapers in English and Japanese. When it was my turn to order both the Japanese selection (which can be preordered) and the Michelle Bernstein fish option was already depleted. This left me with Chicken or Beef. Being a pescotarian, I was slightly worried that I would not be eating, or would be stuffing myself on bread. I explained the predicament to the FA and he quickly told me he would see what he could do to get me a meal I could eat. Minutes later he reappeared and told me someone had specially ordered a fish meal, but no longer wanted it (note that Delta doesn’t have a seafood/fish option under their special meal service, but I didn’t question).Shortly after, the cabin was secured and the plane was ready for takeoff towards LAX. Yet, the best part about this flight was before we took off and before the cabin was secured, the captain passed through the business class cabin introducing himself to each and every business class flyer. He thanked each of us for flying with him today and even made small talk with a few passengers! It reminded me of the famous United Captain Denny.

Once we were in the air, service began immediately after the seatbelt light was turned off which was about 35 minutes into flight. The FA attending to my section was a gregarious middle age gentleman full of energy. He was excited to see a younger traveler in business class and took to me right away. It turns out, he lives in my old neighborhood of long beach, so we spent a good part of the flight speaking about our favorite hangouts on Broadway and the scene and the differences between WEHO and Long Beach.

Service began with a round of drinks and a Japanese nut mix. Shortly after our appetizer were served and it was followed by a very large salad and drinks refills. Bread was served with the salad and then again with the main dish. Shortly after dinner, the dessert cart came through the cabin, offering an array of desserts including Tarts, Cheese platters, cakes, and ice cream Sundays; not to mention Ports, aperitifs, and more cocktails. By the time dinner was completed I was feeling like a blimp, I had just stuffed myself as though it was Thanksgiving and I also had a nice buzz. Not once did my wine glass sit empty and my pre-dinner Glenlivets on the rocks was at least a double if not a triple! I must say it sure is nice to have “family” taking care of you on a flight!

The dinner menu included:

First Course: Kuruma Ebi Shrimp, Avocado roll & Thai Coconut soup

Second: Mixed Green salad

Main Dishes:

Choice of: Pan Seared Chicken Breast, Grilled Fillet of Beef, Grilled Salmon Fillet or Roasted Pork

Shortly after dinner, I laid my seat flat and I napped for a good 6 hours! I was clearly exhausted and needed to sleep! I think the 6 hours was the longest I’ve ever slept during a flight without the help of some type of medicine. Sure Alcohol could account for part of the reason why I slept so long, but it definitely was the primarily reason why I slept for 6 hours. It was probably the fact that I had only slept about 2 hours in the previous 30 hours by the time I boarded this flight! Needless to say, the seat was comfortable in the lay flat position!

Once I woke up and sat up in my seat, the FA on duty (my new friend) quickly recognized I was awake. He walked over, greeted me with a glass of water and brought me the snack basket! He must have been reading my mind! I spent the rest of the flight indulged in the IFE and with a little bit of a push sipping on Delta’s collection of fine wines.

About an hour before landing, breakfast was served and business class customers had the option between a cold breakfast or omelette. Although it wasn’t fresh eggs and it was just reheated, it hit the spot. Shortly after breakfast I was on the ground in LA. Deplaning was a breeze, and thanks to Global Entry (another free perk of the Amex Platinum) I was through customs and on my way through security within 10 minutes! Overall a great flight experience and a wonderful crew!

Delta Business Class Hard Product

Seat: The business class seats on the Delta B777 are in a herringbone

pattern, giving every seat direct aisle access. Unlike the B747, passengers face the aisle. The foot rest is nearest to the aisle and the back of the seat is along the fuselage. This is great for sleeping because your head is away from the aisle where people walk up and down, but also makes it so you stare awkwardly at fellow travelers. Thankfully, seat 7A is tucked behind a closet so I felt as though I was in my own private cabin! The seat is very functional, comfortable in just about every position, and I found it easy enough to store my essential items (phone, lap top, etc) in the pockets within and around the seat. The seat is also a lay flat seat making into a bed that’s 6.5 feet long. It is 100% flat which provides a very comfortable surface for sleeping

IFE: The same IFE platform was on this plane as the B747 I took from Manila offering the same movies. There are literally hundreds of movies to choose from and tons of TV shows, music, and games. So again, I was never bored at 30K feet! The only downside to the plane is the screens are small for business class, I would guess closer to only 9”. The plane is older, so this isn’t surprising, but nonetheless still a solid product

Delta Business Class Soft Product

Amenities: Amenities on this flight included the standard down comforter and overstuffed pillow that is common on most long haul flights on Delta. They provide a good amount of warmth and padding. Delta also provides amenity kits and slippers on long haul flights. Recently, Delta announced a new amenity kit by Tumi, however this flight had the older Amenity kit. The amenity kit included plenty of items, some that were not needed some that were. The kit includes: Korres Lotion, tooth brush and tooth paste, a comb, shoe shine, ear plug, Korres chap stick, mints, a shoe horn, socks, a face mask, and tissues.

Service: Thankfully, due to making friends with the FA in my section at the beginning of the flight and finding similar interest, my service was top notch! However, I will not lie, most service I have on Delta is very good. FA’s tend to be attentive and thoughtful. Although they do tend to hide in the galleys when most people are sleeping, they are always very helpful and approachable.

Food & Drinks: Food was plentiful throughout the entire flight. I was delightfully stuffed the entire time. My salmon main course was dry, but then again reheating fish at 30k feet is an exact science and Delta does not yet have it down 100%. The dinner salad was plentiful and fresh and the desserts were delicious! I won’t lie, I ate more than one option! Drink options were typical of Delta International service. I did not try the Sake or Soju put the wines were good and the port went well with the tart!

Overall, this was a great flight and a great use of miles. I used 120,000 Delta sky miles to fly round trip in Business class from the USA to Asia. Delta is a direct transfer partner of American Express Membership rewards, which means Amex reward points can be transferred to Delta and then burned on Delta flights! It doesn’t matter how your earn your points, what matters most is how you use them, and in my opinion business class travel is a great way to burn points! Especially when travel in coach to SE Asia is 80K and business is only 120k!

Delta Business Class Hard Product

Delta Business Class Soft Product

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