A320 EOW
Sep 5, 02, 1:41 pm
While we're all in the middle of cutting up on US about their changes in fare policies, I thought you guys might like to hear my experience on Northwest this weekend.
I know I'm going to get some flak for this, but my brother and I upgraded our BWI-PIT-SEA flight over Labor Day weekend with old DMUPSYS certificates. Both of our passes were going to expire at the end of Nov., neither of us were planning trips to Europe by that time, and we thought it was better to use them before rather than let them lapse. Our coach seats got bumped up to 3A/3C or 3D/3F for the whole roundtrip.
Anyway, after boarding early and settling in with some orange juice (7:10 AM flight), the pilot comes on to announce that they were having a mechanical problem and would update us in 15 min. what the problem was. After that time, the pilot announces that he learned from the mechanic that they're having problems loading fuel into the airplane (757) and would need at least 30 min. to make the repair. We were still good for our connection in PIT. After another 30 min., though, the pilot announces that the repair will take longer than that and connections are now in jeopardy. He tells all the passengers to get off the plane and to go to the gate to rebook their connections.
The line at the gate was huge, as two agents were diligently processing new tickets for a completely full airplane. I immediately hoped on my cell phone and called reservations to see what they could do. I was first offered a flight on United through DEN (I wonder why http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ), but after hearing that this flight was full, we were put on a NW flight through DTW.
Rather than sitting in line for the new tickets, we hustled to the main ticketing area and to the preferred line, which had all of two people ahead of us. The agent there apologized for the aircraft problem and commented that he would have carried out the ticketing differently, making some funny comment about how he got out of the gate agent thing a long time ago because of that. He pointed out that I could get the other half of our DMUPSYS certificates back at the gate, so my brother stayed with this agent, while I went through security yet again.
At the gate, there were now four people processing the new tickets, along with a supervisor. Trying to avoid the scowls of my fellow passengers, I worked my way to the front of the line and asked for the other halves of the DMUPSYS passes back. The supervisor obiliged, again apologizing for the aircraft and also for the fact that we wouldn't be in F.
When I returned to the main ticketing area, the agent had already filled out forms for mileage credit, meaning we'll still be able to Get Out More, even though we'd be on NW.
Running to another terminal at BWI, our NW plane had almost completed boarding. I think a more proper title of this story would be "From 3C to 37C." http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif That was the row we ended up having on this completely full NW flight.
The aircraft itself was another 757, but this one was much newer than anything US had. It was still very clean and in place of the TV monitors that run the length of the plane, this one had flat panel screens in the aisles. Expecting to hear a safety announcement on the screen, the lead FA walked the other FAs though the safety presentation. I have to add that I thought the lead FA was really annoying, with comments like: "That button near the light switch that all of you press many times is the call button, not the light button. I want you pushing that when you have an emergency, not when you want a third glass of water." She was remotely funny.
Anyway, the flight to DTW was fine, though we cruised at 41,000 ft. There must have been storms in the area. Upon arriving at DTW, we parked at the new WorldGateway terminal. This terminal is really cool, with the monorail running on the inside, the large bright interior hallways, and the sheer number of NW flights to destinations that US won't go to- the 747-400 parked next to my connecting 757 was going to Osaka.
Being in row 37 again, we were one of the first to board, after the NW elites and, surprisingly, passengers seated in exit rows. The gate agent also made an announcement that passengers with children and people needing assistance would not be allowed to preboard because there were already so many coming on board. I have to add that it was strange boarding and exiting each 757 through the door next to the cockpit, not the one by the wing.
About 30 min. into the flight, we were treated to lunch consisting of either a ham or turkey sandwich and two Oreo cookies. That's it. The real clincher of the flight, all 4 hr 30 min. of it, was that we had no IFE of any kind- no films, no radio, nothing. This 757, while not as new as the one from the BWI-DTW leg, still had video monitors running down the aisle. Maybe it was different in F, but I wouldn't know. Still, I had the chance to catch up on sleep, read, and do some work.
In terms of inflight amenities, drinks were mostly comparable to drinks available on US flights, except that they were Pepsi and not Coke products. The vodka was SKYY, not Finlandia, and the limes were _yellow_. The only beer choices domestically were Bud, Bud Light, and a microbrew from Minneapolis. Heineken was only available on international (i.e. to/from AMS) flights.
Lastly, the inflight magazine, World Traveler, is awful compared to Attache. It's about half as thick as Attache and a very quick read. The tail end of it is devoted to their alliances and has many maps of airports and destinations that we wouldn't see at US.
Our return flights were all on US metal (SEA-PIT-BWI), though the A321 at SEA also had a mechanical problem (de-icing valve was stuck on the right engine) that was corrected in 20 min. The delay was the speed by which the mechanic delivered the logbook to the pilot, who gave us a running commentary of the guy walking to the plane ("I see him leaving the office and he's starting to walk over here. At this speed, it shouldn't take him more than 5 min. to get here."). We were able to use our "used" DMUPSYS certificates to return in F and still have one each remaining.
Overall, I was pleased with my NW experience. The FAs were all friendly, outside of the lead FA in BWI, as were the passengers. It would have been nice to be in F on the way to SEA and to have IFE from DTW-SEA, but it wasn't the end of the world. However, it was good to be back on familiar ground with US when we left SEA, with Finlandia and green limes in front of me, while reclining in my big grey leather seat listening to "Life or Something Like It" through the headphones. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
I know I'm going to get some flak for this, but my brother and I upgraded our BWI-PIT-SEA flight over Labor Day weekend with old DMUPSYS certificates. Both of our passes were going to expire at the end of Nov., neither of us were planning trips to Europe by that time, and we thought it was better to use them before rather than let them lapse. Our coach seats got bumped up to 3A/3C or 3D/3F for the whole roundtrip.
Anyway, after boarding early and settling in with some orange juice (7:10 AM flight), the pilot comes on to announce that they were having a mechanical problem and would update us in 15 min. what the problem was. After that time, the pilot announces that he learned from the mechanic that they're having problems loading fuel into the airplane (757) and would need at least 30 min. to make the repair. We were still good for our connection in PIT. After another 30 min., though, the pilot announces that the repair will take longer than that and connections are now in jeopardy. He tells all the passengers to get off the plane and to go to the gate to rebook their connections.
The line at the gate was huge, as two agents were diligently processing new tickets for a completely full airplane. I immediately hoped on my cell phone and called reservations to see what they could do. I was first offered a flight on United through DEN (I wonder why http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ), but after hearing that this flight was full, we were put on a NW flight through DTW.
Rather than sitting in line for the new tickets, we hustled to the main ticketing area and to the preferred line, which had all of two people ahead of us. The agent there apologized for the aircraft problem and commented that he would have carried out the ticketing differently, making some funny comment about how he got out of the gate agent thing a long time ago because of that. He pointed out that I could get the other half of our DMUPSYS certificates back at the gate, so my brother stayed with this agent, while I went through security yet again.
At the gate, there were now four people processing the new tickets, along with a supervisor. Trying to avoid the scowls of my fellow passengers, I worked my way to the front of the line and asked for the other halves of the DMUPSYS passes back. The supervisor obiliged, again apologizing for the aircraft and also for the fact that we wouldn't be in F.
When I returned to the main ticketing area, the agent had already filled out forms for mileage credit, meaning we'll still be able to Get Out More, even though we'd be on NW.
Running to another terminal at BWI, our NW plane had almost completed boarding. I think a more proper title of this story would be "From 3C to 37C." http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif That was the row we ended up having on this completely full NW flight.
The aircraft itself was another 757, but this one was much newer than anything US had. It was still very clean and in place of the TV monitors that run the length of the plane, this one had flat panel screens in the aisles. Expecting to hear a safety announcement on the screen, the lead FA walked the other FAs though the safety presentation. I have to add that I thought the lead FA was really annoying, with comments like: "That button near the light switch that all of you press many times is the call button, not the light button. I want you pushing that when you have an emergency, not when you want a third glass of water." She was remotely funny.
Anyway, the flight to DTW was fine, though we cruised at 41,000 ft. There must have been storms in the area. Upon arriving at DTW, we parked at the new WorldGateway terminal. This terminal is really cool, with the monorail running on the inside, the large bright interior hallways, and the sheer number of NW flights to destinations that US won't go to- the 747-400 parked next to my connecting 757 was going to Osaka.
Being in row 37 again, we were one of the first to board, after the NW elites and, surprisingly, passengers seated in exit rows. The gate agent also made an announcement that passengers with children and people needing assistance would not be allowed to preboard because there were already so many coming on board. I have to add that it was strange boarding and exiting each 757 through the door next to the cockpit, not the one by the wing.
About 30 min. into the flight, we were treated to lunch consisting of either a ham or turkey sandwich and two Oreo cookies. That's it. The real clincher of the flight, all 4 hr 30 min. of it, was that we had no IFE of any kind- no films, no radio, nothing. This 757, while not as new as the one from the BWI-DTW leg, still had video monitors running down the aisle. Maybe it was different in F, but I wouldn't know. Still, I had the chance to catch up on sleep, read, and do some work.
In terms of inflight amenities, drinks were mostly comparable to drinks available on US flights, except that they were Pepsi and not Coke products. The vodka was SKYY, not Finlandia, and the limes were _yellow_. The only beer choices domestically were Bud, Bud Light, and a microbrew from Minneapolis. Heineken was only available on international (i.e. to/from AMS) flights.
Lastly, the inflight magazine, World Traveler, is awful compared to Attache. It's about half as thick as Attache and a very quick read. The tail end of it is devoted to their alliances and has many maps of airports and destinations that we wouldn't see at US.
Our return flights were all on US metal (SEA-PIT-BWI), though the A321 at SEA also had a mechanical problem (de-icing valve was stuck on the right engine) that was corrected in 20 min. The delay was the speed by which the mechanic delivered the logbook to the pilot, who gave us a running commentary of the guy walking to the plane ("I see him leaving the office and he's starting to walk over here. At this speed, it shouldn't take him more than 5 min. to get here."). We were able to use our "used" DMUPSYS certificates to return in F and still have one each remaining.
Overall, I was pleased with my NW experience. The FAs were all friendly, outside of the lead FA in BWI, as were the passengers. It would have been nice to be in F on the way to SEA and to have IFE from DTW-SEA, but it wasn't the end of the world. However, it was good to be back on familiar ground with US when we left SEA, with Finlandia and green limes in front of me, while reclining in my big grey leather seat listening to "Life or Something Like It" through the headphones. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif