Flight Review: Delta Flight 7 from LAX to Haneda (January 2018)

Believe it or not, I have a few drafts which I’ve either 1) forgotten about or 2) just don’t fit with what my blog has become. I originally wrote this draft back in 2018 and considered publishing it. I was making revisions to some published posts when I stumbled upon this goodie. I figured, “Why not publish it now?”

This piece is a product of its time, a lot has changed since then. Delta One, for example, has become a nicer product since I wrote this review.

To give another example of how much times have changed, this flight flew over Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, offering stunning views of snow-capped mountains and volcanoes. These days, most airlines don’t fly over Russia.

I’ll also be adding italicized notes to indicate my 2025 voice from this point on.

The Original Review

DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional reviewer. I am a college student who got lucky with a seat upgrade.

Well, I can’t believe it. I have been in Japan for a little over 24 hours now and it has been amazing yet humbling. As for the language, despite studying the language for three years, I still find myself struggling when it comes to everyday interactions. However, the locals and students have been super helpful and understanding. But more on that later. I was fortunate enough to be able to upgrade my seat from Los Angeles to Tokyo (don’t reference Iggy Azalea) to business class, so here’s my flight review.

 Flying Abroad Delta Air Lines Flight 7

Information for aviation enthusiasts: I flew on Delta Flight 7 from LAX to Tokyo-Haneda on an Airbus A330 that appears to have been previously flown under Northwest Airlines.

2025 Casey here: The aircraft was N822NW, an Airbus A330-300 which first flew for Delta in 2015, well after Delta merged with Northwest.

TL;DR: The seat was basic for a business class seat, but it was comfortable and the food was alright. However, service was amazing.

After schlepping my belongings through LAX, I finally boarded Delta Flight 7 from LAX to HND for a 12.5-hour flight across the Pacific Rim. This review is broken down into four sections: the seat, the service, the food, and the overall product.

The Seat

2025 Casey: I sat in the pre-2017 Delta One seat. These seats were in the process of being phased out at the time of this flight. I also have no photos of what the seat looked like at the time of flight.

Delta One is a basic business class seat which lies flat and has 80 inches of legroom. The seats are positioned diagonally which, for window seats, gives the passenger two windows to view from. Delta provides bedding courtesy of Westin for its business class offering, including two pillows and what appears to be a down blanket. The blanket kept me warm during my short slumber and was weighty which I like. The seat itself is adjustable from several different angles; one can adjust lumbar or adjust the legs or adjust the recline. Delta also provides business passengers with complimentary slippers and mini Tumi kits which passengers can get embroidered at their nearest Tumi store (I still have my kit all these years later). Overall, I really appreciated the detail Delta put in with their Delta One offering, especially the quality of the service I received. For an American airline, Delta’s “One” class is spectacular, but on a world-scale compares more to Premium Economy on some airlines such as Emirates and Qatar Airways. Most modern business class seats offer storage space and offer a degree of privacy, both of which were lacking. However, the seat itself was quite comfortable, even for someone who is 6′ 1″.

The Service

In one word, phenomenal. This was my first time flying business class ever, but I was surprised when the flight attendants referred to me as Mr. Corbin. I felt special and this was a very nice touch. I was even offered champagne and the flight attendant took my order before takeoff. Flight attendants periodically asked me if there was anything I wanted during the flight. I even had the opportunity to talk about my trip to Japan with one of the flight attendants. One flight attendant even chased after me to let me know that I forgot my suit on the plane! I was schlepping so much, so I’m glad she did. Overall, I am quite impressed with the level of service, although the seat offering, in my opinion, was not what I would call “world class.”

The Food

Food is a big one for me. While I know that food on airplanes is the punchline of every bad joke ever told, food was not that great. Well, the main course, but hey, first impressions matter. Maybe it was what I ordered, but I found the menu offerings to be pretentious. Flight 7 had a Western Menu and a Japanese Menu. The Japanese items were in limited quantities and actually ran out during the flight. I ordered the crab cakes off the Western Menu (the least pretentious item I could find) and they were alright. The flavor was not amazing and I was left disappointed. Perhaps the “Winter 2018” menu is just too fancy for my taste, but the crab cakes left plenty to desire.

For dessert, I ordered an Ice Cream Sundae with butterscotch, cookie crumble and whipped cream. The ice cream was phenomenal; it was soft, creamy, and overall delicious; it was what vanilla ice cream should strive to be. Passengers can choose what toppings they want, but I highly recommend ordering the ice cream with butterscotch and cookie crumble. Snacks were available throughout the flight in the galley area. Passengers could just walk up and snack on some Kettle brand chips or drink some water or soda. Before touching down, I was served breakfast. Unfortunately, Delta ran out of the Sukiyaki-don* so I settled on the Granola and milk instead. The granola was quite good, it was satisfying and the flavor was delicious, nutty but with a hint of dried cranberries. I am not a granola expert nor do I claim to be one.

To summarize, while the crab cakes were disappointing, that disappointment was made up for by amazing ice cream, free snacks, and satisfying granola topped with quality service.

*I believe this is what the dish was called.

The Overall Product

Once again, this was my first time ever flying in such a fancy seat. However, having watched a few aviation-related videos on YouTube, I can tell you that Delta One is not a world-class product. When you remove the ridiculously-extravagant offerings from Middle Eastern airlines, you are still left with a business class product that desperately needs a revamp. Delta has actually revamped their business class on their new A350 aircraft, however, I was still left with an older product. The seat was very comfortable, the amenity kit was nice (I still haven’t opened it) and the service was phenomenal. I would definitely fly again and recommend to a friend, but I give Delta One a 3.5 out of 5.