We left our home in the northern suburbs for Atlanta airport in an Uber around 1pm Friday. We would arrive in Bali on Sunday at 3pm, approximately 37 hours later.

To get to our Cathay Pacific First Class flight, we first had to fly to LAX. I booked Main Cabin award tickets on Delta for 21k SkyMiles per person. I then applied Regional Upgrade Certificates to move us to First Class, which on the 767-300 is actually a Delta One seat.

Our departing gate got moved a couple of times, so we schlepped up and down the A Concourse at ATL. We were delayed a bit due to all the aircraft changes, but I wasn’t worried as we had more than five hours’ cushion at LAX.

Only a couple of flights per day have widebodies running between ATL and LAX. When I booked, we had a newer A350, but after a few months, the schedule switched to the ancient 767-300.

February 21, 2025
DL 1219 ATL-LAX
Scheduled: 15:15-17:22
Actual: 15:41-17:27

These are old seats with new covers. The planes have been refreshed with Premium Select (Delta’s premium economy) and frankly, those seats are more comfortable to sit in and have bigger IFE screens, but they obviously don’t lay flat. The Delta One seats are narrow and still have the same bones as when they were delivered over 20 years ago.

Thanks to the delay (or just lazy flight attendants), we didn’t receive a pre-departure beverage. There’s only 24 First Class seats on this plane so not many more than a A321neo. There’s no excuse not to serve us a drink while the rest of the aircraft boarded.

We took off and about 1/2 hour later, the flight attendants confirmed our meal pre-orders and took our drink orders. There were different flight attendants working each side and they seemed to be teaming up on bringing orders, which caused confusion. My wife got brought my Woodford and she had to ask again for the wine that she had just ordered.

We both pre-ordered the Meatballs. The choices were: Fox Bros BBQ Short Ribs, Chilled Roasted Chicken Salad, Pasta Mami Spinach Ricotta Ravioli, Fisherman’s Stew or Pork and Beef Meatballs. Keen-eyed Empty Nester Miles readers will remember I had the Fisherman’s Stew on a trip to Boston last year and enjoyed it.

The meatballs served with polenta and the side salad were very good. It was disappointing that no bread was served as there was marinara sauce that would have been good for mopping up with it. The dessert was supposed to be a lemon bar, but there wasn’t much lemon flavor in it.

This was the first of three dinners we would have today thanks to the time changes and multiple flights. After the meal was cleared away, I tried to sleep for a couple of hours, but no pillow was available and the seat was just too narrow in bed mode.

About three hours into our five hour flight, drinks and snacks were offered. I ordered a club soda with lemon. The free Wi-Fi also kept cutting in and out throughout the flight.

About an hour before landing, we both ordered a coffee. We were planning to try and stay awake for the first few hours of our Cathay First Class flight and that wouldn’t take off until after 2am Eastern time. At least the coffee was served in a real mug.

I mostly watched downloaded shows on my iPad when not trying (and failing) to sleep as the tiny screen is just not large enough to enjoy a show or movie. I’ll be glad when Delta finally phases out these planes in 2030 or so.

When we arrived at LAX, we walked outside and around from Terminal 2 to Terminal B which is a short walk. We found the check-in counters for Cathay Pacific and even though they did not open until 6pm according to electronic signs across every check-in counter, the agent saw us waiting in the First Class line and waved us forward. She was able to check us in at 5:45pm and we were quickly through security and off to the Qantas First Class Lounge.

Up Next: Qantas First Class Lounge LAX Review

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