I flew as a passenger 13 hours in seat 53E aboard an Airbus A350-900 airplane operated by Delta Air Lines on a Basic Economy fare, which is a middle seat. Considering that the cost to fly round trip between Las Vegas to Taipei with a stop in Seattle was the redemption of only 37,400 SkyMiles per person, I simply could not pass up this bargain…
I Flew 13 Hours In Middle Seat 53E: Basic Economy Fare With Delta Air Lines Airbus A350-900
…and as I would not be eligible for many benefits anyway on an award ticket — such as earning SkyMiles as one of many examples — I would not lose all that much redeeming SkyMiles for an award ticket on a Basic Economy fare…
…but at least two negative aspects did present themselves during the experience.
The First Negative Aspect of the Experience
I was assigned to Seat 53E when I checked in 24 hours prior to the departure of the airplane for the flight, which was the middle seat in the middle of the rear of the airplane. This is one of the negative aspects, as I would have preferred a seat by the window — especially for a long-haul transpacific flight — but fortunately, the weather was cloudy and rainy outside; so I would not have had much of a view anyway. Only two additional rows of seats behind me separated me from the absolute rear of the aircraft.
Plenty of room was available in the overhead storage compartment — especially as I have both elite status and the Delta SkyMiles Gold American Express Card; so I was able to board in Zone 4 instead of the very last zone that is relegated to Basic Economy fares and secure space to store my belongings.
The width of the seat was 17.4 inches; and the pitch was either 31 inches or 32 inches. During the flight after the first meal service, I worked on an old MacBook Air laptop computer — but despite the small size and light weight of that computer, the space was too cramped in which to work comfortably and was exacerbated by when the seat in front of mine was reclined.
Standard pillows and blankets that were wrapped were placed on every seat in the economy class cabin.
Each of the 306 seats aboard the airplane — out of which 109 of them were economy class seats — was equipped with an in-flight entertainment system with hundreds of audio and video entertainment options, an electrical outlet, and a Universal Serial Bus Type A port. Unfortunately, access to Wi-Fi was not available for this flight; and members of the flight crew apologized for that.
With my past experience on numerous flights, I have also consistently found that the electrical outlets are usually unable to hold the weight of adapters for Apple MacBook laptop computers, as they continuously fall out and drop onto the floor; so they need to be supported by a knee or by something else that will secure them into the outlets better.
Two ports in the ceiling above the seats in front of my seat were marked as “Medical communications – crew use only”, which I personally had never seen before. Details of the purpose of these two ports are found in this recent article.
Hot moist towelettes were given out to all passengers prior to the start of dinner service, which led to the second negative aspect of the experience.
The Second Negative Aspect of the Experience
An article describing the menu for the inaugural flight between Seattle and Taipei that was launched in June of 2024 was published by Delta Air Lines on Wednesday, May 29, 2024.
For the flight on which I was a passenger, three choices were available for dinner in the main cabin: chicken, pasta, or pork — that is, until members of the flight crew finally reached my row, when all that was left was pork. I never did get to see for myself what actually were the chicken option or the pasta option.
I do not like pork — but I hesitantly accepted the meal anyway.
The pork was absolutely disgusting. The meat was fatty, stringy, and tough. I did not even taste it — but I also did not detect a note of ginger in what little sauce was provided, either. The Japanese premium short grain rice was bland; and the vegetables had little flavor to them. The chickpeas in the small salad were hard and bland; but the chopped cucumbers and diced tomatoes in a vinaigrette were actually good. I would have enjoyed the salad much more if they had left out the chickpeas altogether and loaded up on the cucumbers and tomatoes. The packaged roll was cold and dry. The Manifesto blondie was a decent dessert.
A breakfast calzone which contained egg and cheese was given out with a choice of beverage during the middle of the flight as a snack.
The outside crust of the hot calzone actually looked fairly decent…
…but the inside of the calzone appeared — and smelled — unappetizing. Out of hunger, I only ate some of the crust that was not touched by the egg and cheese.
The calzone was produced in Türkiye.
Approximately one hour prior to the airplane landing in Taipei, members of the flight crew handed out another Turkish delight: a Mediterranean Pizza Twist with three cheeses and rosemary.
Accompanying the pizza twist was what appeared to be a salad of two balls of goat cheese with sliced small yellow tomatoes and greens — as well as chunks of cantaloupe melon, honeydew melon, and pineapple.
As with the aforementioned breakfast egg and cheese calzone, the outside crust of the pizza twist actually looked fairly decent; and similarly to the calzone, the inside of the pizza twist appeared — and smelled — unappetizing. I only ate some of the crust that was not touched by the three cheeses out of hunger.
If the pizza twist actually included some sort of tomato sauce inside of it — and a generous helping of it, at that — I might have been able to stomach this snack.
Final Boarding Call
Reports abound from many sources that United Airlines is emerging past Delta Air Lines as the premium airline of the United States. I have not been a passenger aboard an airplane that was operated by United Airlines in at least a few years to confirm that; but Delta Air Lines does seem to be losing its edge in some respects, in my opinion. I remember when I used to look forward to being served a meal aboard an airplane that was operated by Delta Air Lines — to the point that choosing which meal I wanted was difficult because I liked all of the choices — but even though pork was the only meal left, I probably would not have enjoyed the chicken or the pasta much better, to be fair.
When I booked the Basic Economy fares, running out of meal choices did not occur to me. I probably should have ordered a special meal.
Snacks were offered via self service during the flight — think Biscoff cookies, chocolate chip cookies, Sun Chips, and one or two other snacks — as well as beverages. Additionally, cups of water were offered by members of the flight crew several times during the flight to keep the passengers hydrated. The service by members of the flight crew was indeed very good to excellent overall and has not abated.
The passenger cabin of the airplane was clean and the seats were reasonably comfortable — but the space felt more crowded and confined as the flight progressed. I missed being able to choose a meal and be seated by a window…
…but for the bargain redemption of only 37,400 SkyMiles per person round trip between Las Vegas and Taipei via Seattle, I suppose that beggars cannot be choosers.
I must be a glutton for punishment, as you can read about my other experiences of being seated in the economy class cabin on other long-haul flights — including:
- 14 Hours in Economy Class. In a Middle Seat. Near the Rear of the Aircraft. With No Recline. My Experience.
- Delayed 10 Hour Flight. 2 Fewer Lavatories. A Cup of Water For Breakfast. Guess Which Airline.
- My 22-Hour Sojourn to Europe and Back: A Trip In Vain
- An 11 Hour Delay; an Overnight Diversion; and More: My Long Trek to Australia
All photographs ©2024 and ©2026 by Brian Cohen.
