The trick to enjoying Delta A330-200 economy class to its fullest is to fly it on domestic routes. Not an easy feat considering that it’s an aircraft that does mostly international flying.

If you see it as an option for a domestic route, pounce on it!

You’ll get slightly more legroom than you will on a domestic-only aircraft, as well as the added comfort of a much wider (and taller) cabin.

Getting to pretend like you’re headed off on a super-adventurous international journey (when you’re only flying to Atlanta) is kinda cool too.

DL762
San Diego, CA (SAN) – Atlanta, GA (ATL)
Friday, December 27, 2024
Aircraft: A330-223
Registration: N857NW
Duration: 3 hours 27 minutes
Seat: 41A (Economy)

Delta Air Lines A330-200 (N857NW) side view illustration by NorebboStock.com.

DL762 flight track — Our route from San Diego to Atlanta this morning as DL762.

My full review of Delta A330-200 economy class from San Diego to Atlanta

I’ve been living in San Diego since 1997, and never once have I seen regularly scheduled Delta A330-200 service to ATL (or any other Delta hub). The A330-300’s rotate in and out every now and then, but the -200s have been as rare as a sunny day during June gloom.

This flight was scheduled as a 767-300 when I made the booking in September. They did some tinkering with the schedule in November, ultimately upgauging it to an A332. Suh-weet!

Arrival at the airport

Scheduled departure time was 7:25 AM. That’s not too terribly early, but the fact that I had luggage to check made it slightly more complicated. It turns out that arriving at 5:20 AM was pretty much perfect. Damn I’m ~~good~~ lucky.

Passengers waiting to check luggage San Diego international airport — Salutations, happy holidays, seasons greetings, and a big fat wazzup from Terminal 2 West at the San Diego International Airport!

Pushing my roller bag into the airport — It’s the time of year when frequent fliers (who *never* check bags) become faced with the responsibility of bringing Christmas gifts home for the entire family.

Delta air lines check-in counter San Diego airport in the early morning — I especially like how the path leading to the Delta check in counter is windy and distorted (much like my mental acuity here at 5:20 AM).

Delta air lines baggage check kiosk San Diego airport — Eeny Meeny Miny Moe. You have no idea how much I wanted to smash that JetBlue button (and fly in Mint business class instead). Oh well.

Corridor leading to the Delta gates at the San Diego international airport terminal 2 — On my way to the Delta gates. I’ll spare you the details, but I wasn’t able to pass the Camden Food Co (up there on the right) without pulling over for a bagel. They got me.

It’s not very often that you get to see a Delta A330 (of any kind) here in San Diego! And even when they do arrive, they’re still kinda hard to see. Dang staircase.

Gate 47 San Diego international airport — Gate 47. Just a hunch, but I am willing to bet that everyone would look a lot more excited if they could see that they will be flying out on an A330-200 this morning. This is like a crowd of people expecting a run-of-the-mill A321 or something.

The boarding process

They kicked off the boarding process approximately 20 minutes late, but I don’t think I can blame Delta for this one. It seemed to have been the fault of the SAN operations crew for not bringing the aircraft over from a remote parking stand in time. Maybe it was Delta who forgot to tell them to bring it over? I don’t know.

Boarding Delta flight to Atlanta gate 47 san diego a airport — *“Just F’n move!”* (probably what everybody in this picture is thinking)

Crowded jetway Gate 47 San Diego airport — Guess what I’m thinking?

Delta A330-200 forward boarding door — Of course I would’ve preferred if everyone moved a little faster, but it’s hard to be crabby when you’re about to step foot on such a rare airline / aircraft combo for San Diego.

Close-up of a delta A330-200 San Diego airport — A330-200 porn? Maybe amateur porn considering the extreme close-up, graininess, and poor lighting of this pic. I tried my best.

The Delta A330-200 equivalent of “wazzuuuup!”

Delta A330-200 business class cabin — Business class (which is identical to Delta A330-300 business class – but nowhere near as swanky as Delta 767-400 business class).

Delta A330-200 comfort plus cabin — Comfort Plus (and a general observation that the seats seem to be getting less spacious the farther back in this aircraft that I go). Run roh.

Delta A330-200 economy class cabin — Economy class. Do I know how to observe or what?

Seat overview

The economy class seating configuration on these Delta A330-200s is a somewhat spacious 2-4-2 layout. I much prefer this over a 3-3-3 layout (as it’s better for couples traveling together) – though I suppose it wouldn’t be all that fun if you’re a solo traveler stuck in the center section.

Delta A330-200 economy class seats — Row 41, seats A and B. Check out that window alignment! #chefskiss

**Delta A330-200 economy class legroom on a domestic flight:** *“this is friggin’ awesome!”* **Delta A330-200 economy class legroom on a long haul international flight:** *“at least we’ll get Sky Miles points for putting up with this.”*

Delta A330-200 economy window seat space — Considering our current location (San Diego) in relationship to our destination (Atlanta), I’m declaring this as friggin’ awesome. My condolences to anyone flying to ATL in Delta A321 economy today.

Delta A330-200 economy video screen — Don’t get *too* excited though. Nearly everything else about this seat (including the video screen) is typical DL economy.

Delta A330-200 economy in seat power outlets — Full size electrical outlets for all your devices (if you can reach it).

That moment when you realize you’re too old and stiff to bend down and reach the electrical outlet beneath (and between) the seats. How long will it be until I can’t even reach my own junk??

Delta A330-200 economy adjustable headrest — I can still reach the adjustable headrest though. Which is kind of important because I found these to be much too low (and too large) to be comfortable. Or maybe I’m just old and I complain too much.

Delta A330-200 economy passengers — Yeah, these seats are a little tight (and thin) – but still friggin’ awesome IMHO.

Delta A330-200 economy cabin looking forward from row 41 — Friggin’ awesome compared to an A321 at least. Let’s friggin’ do this!

The departure

They pushed us off the gate at 7:44 AM, which was 19 minutes behind schedule. I know it might seem really nerdy to be counting the minutes like that, but come on. At least I had the restraint to keep myself from counting the seconds as well.

Delta A330-200 wing and winglet pushing back at the San Diego international airport — You know you’re on a big honkin’ airplane when the winglet obscures an entire Boeing 737-800.

Taxiing out to runway with condensation on the window

With all the construction going on for the new Terminal 1, it wasn’t exactly a straight shot out to the threshold of runway 27. There were some twists and turns along the way – which you can see in the video that I’ve posted below (keep scrolling).

Delta A330-200 economy passengers rows 41 and 42 — Things must be going well when you can’t even think of a caption for a picture of things appearing to be going well. So far so good I guess.

Taking off on a delta a330-200 over terminal 2 east at the San Diego airport — “RrrrrrrroooowwwooOOOOOSHHH!” (I dare you to tell me that wasn’t a really good impression of an Airbus A330-200 hauling ass down the runway at full throttle)

Thinking back on it, we were fairly lucky to be able to get out of here on time. Early morning dense fog had been a problem in the days leading up to this, causing all sorts of delays and canceled flights. Shoutout to Mother Nature for clearing the way.

Over flying point Loma and Sunset Cliffs upon departure from San Diego airport

Here is the full video of the taxi and takeoff sequence (as promised). As you can see, she’s a ripper!

In-flight entertainment

These A330-200’s (just like every other aircraft in Delta’s fleet – except for the 717) feature the tried and true Delta Studio in-flight entertainment product. It consists of a decently sized video screen at every seat, along with a fairly impressive catalog of movies, TV shows, music, and games.

Delta studio welcome screen on the Airbus A330-200 — Hoo boy. Delta Studio is awesome and all, but there isn’t anything about it here on the A330-200 that is different enough to warrant an entertaining review of it (one oozing with new information). This is going to be a challenge.

Delta A330-200 economy video screen and in-flight entertainment — Actually, the fact that it’s now possible to sign in (using your Sky Miles account details) to make it more personalized experience is somewhat noteworthy. The fact that everything still looks exactly the same as it did seven years ago makes it not so entertaining. See how difficult this is?

It also worth noting that in-flight Wi-Fi is available to everyone – for free. Hallelujah! The only catch is that you need to be a Sky Miles member to access it.

Complementary earbuds in Delta A330-200 economy — Someday, we’re gonna look back and be nostalgic for the days when Delta provided free earbuds in domestic economy class (just as I am now nostalgic for days that I could reach the under seat power outlets with any amount of grace).

Delta A330-200 economy USB-A port — Pssh. Who needs under seat power outlets when you can plug in to the USB port just below the video screen? Yeah, it may not charge your phone all that fast, but it’ll hurt a lot less.

Food and drinks

Snacks and drinks are still complementary in Delta domestic economy. They had four snack options for us on this flight (Biscoff cookies, granola bars, Sun Chips, or snack mix), along with the usual assortment of nonalcoholic drinks.

More substantial food items (sandwiches, snack boxes, fruit and cheese plates, etc) and alcohol were available for purchase.

Delta A330-200 economy tray table — All buckled in for a culinary extravaganza (economy class style).

Delta A330-200 economy snack and drink — Slightly stale Garden Salsa Sun Chips paired with a slightly flat Diet Coke. Beggars can’t be choosers way back here in row 41.

SANspotter drinking Diet Coke in Delta A330-200 economy

It’s worth noting that there are two snack and a drink services on these San Diego to Atlanta flights. The second one (which I will show you momentarily) will come at about an hour and 20 minutes before landing.

Seat and cabin comfort

Remember – these A330-200’s are used primarily for international routes, so the economy class seats are going to be a wee bit more spacious than what you saw in my Delta 757-300 economy review. Padding and width are about the same though. Can’t win ‘em all I guess.

Getting comfortable in Delta A330-200 economy — Check out that generous ~~man spread~~ leg room! At least everyone looks comfortable.

Delta A330-200 economy seat recline button — Seat recline isn’t even worth mentioning (because of how shallow it is), but I’m going to do it anyway. Preventing any *“but what about the seat recline?”* questions in the comment section is the skill of any seasoned airline reviewer.

My only real complain is the head rest. It’s just too large IHMO, and I don’t like how it kept pushing my head forward. I don’t seem to recall this being an issue in Delta 767-400 economy (a very similar product to this).

SANspotter adjusting the head rest in Delta A330-200 economy — That head rest tho. That MF’n head rest.

I guess one of the main advantages of sitting so far back in the economy class section is that you’ll be fairly close to the lavatory. Although there are lavatories located in the mid cabin (between Comfort Plus and economy), the ones at the back are more spacious IMHO.

The descent and arrival into ATL

They started the second snack service about an hour and 20 minutes prior to landing. That’s maybe not enough time considering how many passengers there are to be served on an aircraft of this size. Just sayin’

Delta granola bar and snack mix economy class snack — Score! They were slinging the snacks fairly loosely here just prior to landing, and I ended up with a granola bar *and* a bag of snack mix.

Delta economy class snack mix bag — Who cares if the snack mix looks like little cat turds? It came with a granola bar!

Being seated so far back in economy class meant that we were one the last passengers to be served. We had to scarf down our snacks fairly quickly (and it probably wasn’t pretty). I hadn’t even ripped open the granola bar before we began the descent into ATL.

Touchdown on runway 8L occurred at exactly 2:30 PM, which was exactly 15 minutes behind schedule. I had exactly zero Fs to give about this considering that my connecting flight to West Palm Beach was scheduled to depart in exactly 2 1/2 hours.

Delta A330-200 pulling up to terminal E ATL — Welcome to Atlanta! This is Sky Team (and Coca-Cola and Home Depot and CNN and Porsche North America and NCR) country.

Interesting. The fact that we’re pulling up to Concourse E (one of two international terminals here at ATL) means that this aircraft might be headed overseas this evening. Or maybe it means that there are no A330-capable gates at any other concourse? Or maybe I should just stop making assumptions and just move on with the review? Good idea…

Passengers deplaning Delta A330-200 economy class

SANspotter walking up the aisle of delta a330-200 economy class — *“Oh boy oh boy oh boy. An A330-200!*” (yeah, even after 4 hours of being strapped into a tiny economy class seat, I was still having a pretty good time).

Delta A330-200 forward boarding door frame — And then, it was over. *sigh*

Pros and cons

Getting the opportunity to fly domestically on an internationally configured aircraft will never not be fun to me. The A330-200 is a little less worth going out of your way for on international routes, but it’s still a pretty good option overall. The pros far outweigh the cons IMHO.

Pros

Generous legroom, yo. It’s not a lot – but it makes a difference.
Being able to sign into the in-flight entertainment system (Delta Studio) to create playlists and pick up where you left off on your previous flight is pretty cool.
Free Wi-Fi!
The high ceiling and wide cabin of the A330 makes it much more comfortable than a narrowbody (A321, 757, 737, etc).

Cons

It’s going to take a long time to be served snacks and drinks if you’re seated all the way in the back.
It’s also going take a long time to get off the airplane once you arrive.
Ain’t no USB-C ports on these airplanes yet.

Delta A330-200 economy review (she’s a pretty good ride)

Airline Reviews Scott (SANspotter) 2 Comments

Comments (2)

TotalAviation

January 17, 2025


Nice review! I am looking to start posting video reviews for my YouTube channel(plz check it out) I currently own a GoPro Hero 12 but am wondering what settings you use for your YouTube videos. Also when you record takeoffs, do you use a mic or just use your phone/GoPro? Because last time I tried recording a takeoff, there was a lot of background noise. Thanks!

Also, what editing software do you use? And if it is paid, are there any good ones that are free?
- Scott (SANspotter)
  
  January 17, 2025
  
  
  Thanks! I use my iPhone for probably 98% of the clips that I need for my videos. Aircraft interiors are typically very dark, and the GoPro just doesn’t do all that well unless it has a lot of light to work with.
  
  No external mics either! Just straight iPhone audio. Background noise is perfectly OK IMHO – crying babies and people talking is a realistic part of the overall experience.
  
  Adobe Premiere Pro is what I use for editing. If you’re just getting started, iMovie (or whatever the equivalent is on Windows) is perfectly fine.

My full review of Delta A330-200 economy class from San Diego to Atlanta

Arrival at the airport

The boarding process

Seat overview

The departure

In-flight entertainment

Food and drinks

Seat and cabin comfort

The descent and arrival into ATL

Pros and cons

Pros

Cons

Other stuff you might like:

The Breeze Airways A220-300 “Nicer” seat is a killer value IMHO

Turkish Airlines A321 exit row economy class Istanbul to Vienna

The absurdity of the old United 777-200 BusinessFirst experience

Comments (2)

TotalAviation

Scott (SANspotter)

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