Trip Reports - First NW trip MIA-SJC-DAY-MIA

Monday, January 6th
NW 992 MIA-DTW
Seat 3D, A320

Many of you know that I've been a dedicated American FF over the past couple of years. But I spent December looking at my flying patterns, and realized that, since I spent 2002 as a domestic flyer (except for my honeymoon trip to Ireland), and 2003 looks to be similar, that I was spending a lot of money on upgrade stickers.

The truth was (horror be!) that Northwest's WorldPerks was really a better program for me. Sure, international upgrade are impossible on anything but a full Y fare, but free domestic upgrade would save me about four thosand dollars in 2003!

Hence, I applied for and received a comped status on NW, and the reason I am sitting in Seat 3D on this A320 going to Detroit.

Helped by the folks on FlyerTalk, I had managed to secure upgrades on three of the four mainline legs of my three day trip. I've got business back in my old 'home' of San Jose, and then it's off to Dayton, OH, and the offical opening of the National Aviation Hall of Fame <http://nationalaviation.org/> (located at the USAF Museum).

Checking in here at MIA was smooth; I used the kiosk, which, interestingly enough, uses the same interface as the online check (with the obvious changes related to swiping a credit card for ID). This was the one leg that hadn't been upgraded before I got to the airport. Sadly, the kiosk was unable to upgrade me either. Oh well, I couldn't really complain, knowing that I still had a 75% ratio at getting upgraded.

Security had a modest line, and, to my surprise, there was indeed an elite line here! Took about 5 minutes to get through security. Interestingly, to enter the security line, a NW employee checked my identification, and that was the last time abyone asked for a photo I D while in Miami.

So down I walked to gate G9, noting that this area wasn't nearly as nice as the various AA concourses. But that entirely surprising, given the secondary status MIA has for many carriers. It was still clean and orderly, though -- nothing like the Smith Terminal at DTW!

Figuring I would be bold (and that I had nothing to lose) I walked up to the gate agent, to confirm I was on the wait list for upgrades. I figured that upgrades, if they happened, would happen at the very last moment. She asked for my boarding pass, glanced at it, and then handed me a pre-printed boarding pass with my upgrade! Can't complain now that my first trip on NW is 100% upgraded on the mainline legs.

And with the New Year comes the end of secondary screening at the gate, as well. I can't complain too much, as I only got hit a couple of times in all the flying I did in 2002.

Bording was uneventful. It was an entirely full fight, so it did take a while, but we did push back on time. (speaking of time, you may have noticed that my typical precision with regards to time is missing. The reason for that is that I am doing this trip report on my Handspring Treo, so it has to be turned off during taxi, takeoff, and landing)

It's been close to four years since I have been on a narrowbody Airbus, so I was looking for differences between it and the 737's, 757's, and MD-80's I have spent the past years flying on.

My first impression isn't bad, but really, not all that different. The flight deck (I glanced in) is certainly roomy and modern! First class is composed of four rows of blue fabric seats. These are what I would term 'old fashioned' in there are no winged headrests or anything. But, they are wide -- I would say 20 inches at least -- more than the old style seats on AA, or even the new AA seats on the MD-80. Seat pitch is definitely less than on AA though -- it feels about the same as AA's MRTC in coach. As an example, when the person in front of me reclined his seat, I was unable to flip open my tray table, as it hit the back of his seat. Other than that, though, it's roomy enough. I am more concerned with having enough width for my shoulders than the extra seat pitch. Orange juice and water were offered as pre-depature drinks -- despite the long line of folks working their way to the main cabin. On this plane, there's no hard bulkhead divider between first class and coach -- just a heavy curtain hanging from the overhead compartment behind the last row of F seats (in fact, those last seats, when reclined, push the curtain back a bit).

Our taxi out was uneventful. I was surprised to see both an AR 742 as well as an A340. I thought only the 340 was coming to Miami these days. Following an airTran DC-9, we departed out to the west before starting a northward turn. Sitting on the right side of the airplane I was able to spot my apartment as we started north. So far, it doesn't look like anyone has stolen my car http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Shortly after takeoff, the very cheerful FA, Wayne, brought out the galley cart and started our beverage service. We were provided our drinks in glass, with the balance of the can, as well as a nutri-grain bar, provided. Sure, it's not as elegant as AA service, but it's not bad, and it was delivered with a smile.

So, I figured that was our 'breakfast' in today's cutback world, but again, AA is doing the same thing on it's flights -- ORD-BWI is just beverage service in F, for example. I contented myself with wonderful views of Orlando and the Cape -- even from FL330, the VAB stands out. If you haven't been to the Cape, it's hard to picture how enormous that building is!

Just as the Cape was sliding behind us, to my surprise, a full breakfast service was started! Yes, it was served on a single tray, from the cart, but still, without a doubt, it was good and tasty. And again served with a smile and wonderful humor. No doubt there are still FA's without good humor, but Wayne was a class act. I thought it was outstanding that when a lady behind me declined breakfast, that he made sure she wouldn't like just a muffin. He even made a point of coming back and asking her a second time -- again, with a wonderful smile and humor. At this point, NW couldn't have done a better job of convincing me they've changed their ways had they wanted to do so!

At about this point we hit some moderate chop, and the captain asked for the FA's to be seated, and pulled off some power. So far, though, after the initial 'hit' the ride has smoothed out again.

at 10:00am the captain pulled off a lot of power and announced that we were on approach to DTW, where the winds were gusting at 27mph, and it was 28(!) degrees! Quite a change from what I considered a chilly 59 degrees in Miami!


[This message has been edited by sllevin (edited 01-08-2003).]

[This message has been edited by sllevin (edited 01-08-2003).]

Arrival into DTW was uneventful -f about my only complaint is that at 10:00am we had to put away our electronic devices, but, in fact we did not touch down until 10:30. Not a major nitpick, I think it stood out more since everything else was so nice.

The taxi in was uneventful, other than getting a great virew of a NW 727 rotating right in front of us while we held short at one point. I will surely miss those old birds when they are gone.

NW 205 DTW-SJC
Seat 3A, A319

This is my first trip through the WorldPort here at DTW, and it's as impressive as can be.

I rode the train down from the north end to the south end of the concourse, and without a doubt this is the easiest layout to connect between gates! I will miss neither ORD nor DFW in comparison to this.

While at the south terminal, I figured I might as well join the WorldClub. And indeed, as I had heard, it's a lot nicer than the Admiral's Club. Combined with the reciprocal priviledges, I suspect this is a purchase I won't regret! It's not the free booze, but rather, the fact that they have things other than coffee and water to drink!

So, leaving the WorldClub, I take the moving walkway up to gate A28. And while the sun is shining through the window, and the snow glistens on the tarmac, there's something missing here... the plane! Given all the weather in the Northeast, this isn't totally surprising. But no delays are showing on the board. And just before I start to worry, in taxis our A319. So we should be away within a minute or two of our scheduled time, and seeing how they are probably seeing fewer planes here at DTW right now (as they are stuck in the Northeast), I bet we'll get in on time.

First class is already checked in full, to the distress of some of the passengers. And I do feel their pain. But I don't feel enough of their pain to give up my seat. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Here at the gate, as we board, our boarding passes have a bar code that is scanned (as compared to AA where the passes are fed through the reader. And again, in the New Year, no secondary screening or I D check is required.

On boarding, I find this 319 is pretty much the same as the 320, with only a couple of differences -- these seats have hiher, contoured headrests, the outboard armrest is a bit smaller and shorter, and the tray table are located on the seatback in front of us -- like coach, only bigger. I would venture to say these seat pairs are universal, and can be inatalled on either side of the aircraft.

As my seatmate sits down, he reminds me of the other negative thing from the first flight, which appears will be a feature of this flight as well -- an overly colgned man sitting next to me. No, it's not unbearable, but I can feel it tickling my allergies. There's a breeze coming in through the open R1 door, and the crew has the heat coming in full blast. I, however, have the overhead blowing full blast to limit the exposure to super-perfume-man.

Since it had stopped snowing while we were arriving into DTW, I had thought that this aircraft, which arrived even later, wouldn't need to de-ice.

I was wrong. Appearently there were some iciles on the wings, so it was off to de-ice for us. So much for making up time getting out of Detroit!

It is cool to wtch them bring the mobile sprayers around; I have a newfound appreciation for the guy in the gondola; both for his skill at manuvering the gondola and for his not getting motion sick while doing so!

Note for the service freaks: we didnlt get offered any pre-depature drinks, as they were all too involved in getting the catering squared away so we could get out quickly!

On this flight, unlike the MIA-DTW leg, the curtain between the first and main cabins is drawn.

At 1:15 the cart makes its appearance. Again, the first pass is going to be for beverages and pretzels, with lunch coming later.

Before the main meal service, there was a hot (and I do mean HOT) towel service. I'm lucky that I can still type through the scars http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Lunch was, as breakfast served in a single shot from the cart, but the portions were large, and the food good. Following the meal was dessert -- nothing like a hot fudge sundae to start a Monday!

Crossing the Rockies, we started picking up some light continuous chop, but nothing too dramatic. The kind of fun stuff that reminds you it's not bus http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Being on the southern side of the aircraft, I have to admit to keeping the window shades down -- with the cloud layer below combined with the bright sun, the glare becomes a bit much after a while. Or perhaps I am finally becoming jaded about air travel.

Now, my tray table stowed, there's three hour left -f or perhaps more. As the chop increase I can hear and feel the power coming back -- never a good sign when trying to make up time!

One thing I would note about the service here is that the FA is not cruiding through the cabin all that much -- and given that I got a full can during the last beverage service, and am feeling quite well fed right now, it's less of a complaint than an observation.

At 4:30 we start our descent, and the FO gives a quick announcement that we are heading in, and (amazingly to me) that we're going to arrive so 30 minutes early! I am pretty sure that NW has their own dedicated gate at SJC, so we shouldn't get stuck waiting on the ramp. At least, for now, I'll be optimistic and hold that thought. The California central valley has a bit of an overcast layer, so there's no detail to see yet. As we pass over the central valley and approach the coastal region, I am, as always, surprised by how green and lush California is during the winter!

One thing I AM noticing is that I'm broiling -- the cool air output from the overhead is, well, pitiful http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif And now at 4:35 it's time to power down for now...

Approach and landing was uneventful. The usual suspects were out at the cargo ramp at SJC, and, as I had hoped, there was no issue with gate space -- heck, the airport looked deserted, with only three AA and one WN plane up at Terminal A, and just two America West 737s at Terminal C.



[This message has been edited by sllevin (edited 01-08-2003).]

Tuesday, Jan 7
NW 194 SJC-MSP
Seat 1A, A319

My business in SJC concluded, it was time to head out on the fun portion of the journey. To me, the USAF Museum is the best of all aviation museums in the world (although, admittedly, I have not been to Monino, near Moscow). It's been two and a half years since my last visit, and whule this visit won't be quite the same (to be honest, how can one ever top a trip with Joe Cotton that included a visit to the cockpit of the XB-70?). But I am excited all the same.

The taxi ride to the airport was short and uneventful. Having only carryons, I again used the kiosk to check in. The kiosk asked me if I wished to upgrade (duh!), and then informed me that while I was already upgraded on the SJC-MSP leg, that, despite its best efforts, it was unable to upgrade me on the MSP-DAY leg. Darn kiosk! Why couldn't it get out there and install first class seats in that CRJ? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

The other kiosk had crashed, by the way, and was stuck at the BIOS screen, complaining that it couldn't find a boot disk. I didn't have a lot of time to check it out, but maybe NW should think about getting something better than a Celeron! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Most of the counters weren't too crowded, except for a long line at the Mexicana desks for their outgoing 757 flight.
Figuring that it would be a while before we boarded, I picked up a bagel at Noah's. This was the first time I have flown out of Terminal C, and, unlike Terminal A (where I've been flying WN and AA from), Terminal C has advantages and disadvantages. It's definitely smaller, and has more concessions landside (Terminal A has NO concessions landside). And there's no jetways, which I always consider a plus!

So, it being 7:45am, and the flight being at 8:50am, I sat down and munched on my bagel. I was surprised that boarding began so early -- just a few minutes after I sat down. So, finishing the bagel, I headed to the gate. While there was no secondary screening, I did have to produce a photo I D.

I had selected seat 1A based on the fact that, with just the bulkhead in front of me, there's no one to recline into you. On NW first class, that's actually a bonus (since the pitch is only about 35 inches). I had recalled from <http://www.seatguru.com/> that 1A and 1B had a foot cutout which, with the bulkhead, led to them being considered the best seats on the A319. Actually, though, at least on this 319, there are foot cutouts on both sides.

As I was putting away my carryon away, the flight attendant apologized that she couldn't provide pre-departure drinks yet, as catering hadn't arrived yet and there was nothing on board. As other continued to board (the front cabin ended up only about 1/2 full), catering did arrive and, in the end, we did get our drinks. At one point, sitting down, the entire cabin went dark except for the emergency lighting. Being daytime, this wasn't a big issue, but it did go on for several minutes.

As we prepared to wrap up boarding, I was looking at my watch, thinking that this had to be the earliest departure I'd ever been on, as we were getting ready to pull back at 8:25 for an 8:50 flight. It was about then that I realized that it was really an 8:30 flight! Fortunately I hadn't managed to hose myself.

So, pushback successful, we start taxing out. At the hold short line, we swing wide, into the 'holding' position. Ut oh, this isn't good. The FO makes an announcement that we are just holding for a moment to get some weight and balance information. So we wait a couple of minutes, and then...

'Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to have to return to the gate to move some passengers and baggage'

So back to the gate we go. The cargo hatches open, and we can hear the baggage handlers moving thingsv around. At the same time, it's a lucky day for a family of 7, as there are seven open seats up front, and they need to fill them...voila! Admittedly, as the flight attendant told them, they may not get the full breakfast (depending upon how we were catered), but they will get most of the experience!

My hope here is that I don't miss my fairly tight (45 minute) connection in MSP. But given that we're headed west with the wind, I'm hoping we'll be okay.

Pushback, part II, begin at 8:56, not quite half an hour behind schedule. While we were waiting, a United flight to ORD has left, which is about the only change I can see to Terminal C.

During the taxi down, the flight crew calls for the FA's to be prepared for departure, a good sign. I notice an unusual visitor on the ramp during our taxi, a UPS 767 freighter. Then we swing smoothly right onto the runway centerline, and STOP. Not just for a moment, either. No engine throttle up, we're just parked here. Ut oh. Again? Finally, after a long 20 secongs, the engines are spooled up, and we begin our takeoff roll. As we begin our right turn for the departure 'loop' I can see an An-124 parked on the ramp over at Moffet Field. As we continue our climbing loop back to the SJC VOR, I can see Monterey Bay. As we cross the VOR and start our northbound trek, I can see the entire San Francisco bay -- both OAK and SFO, as well as the Bay and Golden Gate bridges. As we head inland, oddly enough, the low overcast obscures everything over San Ramon and Concord. Odd in that normally it is the Bay that's socked in, with the inland areas clear.

As the breakfast cart was being readied, out the window on this clear day, Lake Tahoe could be seen. Even more spectacular was Mt. Shasta, sitting clearly off in the distance. I could swear I was even able to see Mt. Hood far off in the distance, but I couldn't swear to it.

The breakfast cart came out, just as those views were sliding behind us. Being in the bulkhead row, the tray table were located in the armrests (as compared to the rest of the seats, which had the table built into the seat in front of them). As I pulled it out, I noticed that it was a bit short and didn't lay such that it made contact with the center armrest for support. Just when I was thinking that was a sub-optimal design, I noticed a little tab that was labeled 'pull,' so I did -- and, lo and behold, a little extension slid out that reached the center armrest and stabilized the whole thing! I had opted for the French Toast, which smelled great, but ended up being a little crispy around the edges. I'm wondering if that's because it got overheated by our takeoff delay.

The FO now gives a PA the weather at MSP (an unseasonably warm 50 degrees), and informs us that our expected arrival at the gate is 2:44pm. Well, that leaves me 21 minutes to find my next flight. Hopefully that will be enough! And as a secondary hope, I'd like not to lose my exit row seat on the CRJ. But I'll settle for just making the flight.

Again on this flight the FAs are very nice and cherry, and clearly care about providing a good fling experience. Our FA up in the front cabin went out of her way to make this unexpected trip up front the most it could be for the youngest member of the family of seven that was brought forward, a girl of about ten or eleven years of age.

A bit later on, the FA came through and offered us more to drink. I had Bloody Mary mix -- no alcohol nor lime -- and was given the whole can. Again, not quite the attentive level of service you would see on AA, but then again, aside from the theory, I've often not gotten that level of service on AA, where I was actually paying for my upgrade. A trip like this, where I'm not paying the fare (work) nor paying for an upgrade...indeed, this is the life. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

We're about an hour out right now, over the plains somewhere. I can see our shadow down on the ground -- actually, no, I can't see the shadow of the plane itself, but rather our contrail streaming behind us, with the tiny rainbow glimmer at the head surrounding the shadow of the airplane itself. While there's no snow on the ground here, I can see that the various lakes are significantly frozen over -- a sure sign it's not Miami-style warm down there, even if the sun *is* shining bright http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

At 2:09 the power comes off as we pitch downward. Good that we are finally starting our descent, bad that we've had to take so much power off instead of a full-throttle, up against the barber pole racing descent that would be both exciting as well as perhaps regain a few more minutes. Ah, the joys of flow control at major airports. Now, a minute later, the power comes back to what feels like flight idle and we really pitch down -- enough that I have to clear my ears a couple of times. The FO comes on again, wioth the news that we've made up an addition four minutes -- not great, but it may well factor large in my travel plans.

The most notable thing about our visual approach to MSP was the DC-9-30 on final to the parallel runway; while the concourse itself blocked being able to see it touch down, against the clear and pretty day it was nice to watch.

With a touch under 30 minutes, I was able to make my flight -- like DTW, MSP has a wonderful arrangement of moving walkways that make it fairly simple to go a significant distance. I arrived at gate A13 just as the first passenger paging began.

I must say the regional aircraft have really come a long way in recent years. Back in 1997, I thought Comair had such a slick system at CVG, with its own fully eqipped concourse and all the trimmings. And, indeed, it was ahead of its time.

But now! Not only are the RJs pulled up to normal jetways, but so are the turboprops. There's even a very slick setup where you set your larger carryons on a dumbwaiter which will take it to be loaded onboard.

NW 5693 MSP-DAY
Seat 7A, CRJ

Not only did I make my flight, but I kept the exit row. A good note about the exit row window seat is that there's no outboard armrest, giving you a little more room. Seat pitch is also a little better here, as well. Combined with the empty 7B next to me, and I don't think you can do better on a CRJ (although I'd love to fly on an ARJ with its first class cabin!)

Pushback was normal, but then (you knew this was coming, didn't you?) things got a little odd. We got one engine cranked up and started to taxi, and then we stopped. I assumed it was strictly to blended into the line of departing aircraft, when the engine was throttled way up. As in, it felt like near takeoff power. We weren't going anywhere, but man, what a racket, and I could feel the airplane shuddering against the brakes. Finally, after about 40 seconds, the engine was powered down, and finally some cool air was blowing in! The captain came on the PA and told us that it was actually a proceedure for dealing with an APU start. A few minutes later we joined the line and powered into the sky.

Beverage service was friendly and efficient -- and yes, we did get the whole can. It's hard to believe that this flight will take almost two hours -- it's only 578 miles between MSP and DAY. Almost exactly the same length as my three other rides in a CRJ (which were all MCI-CVG). This one, alone in an exit row, will certainly be the most comfortable.

Just under a thin overcast layer, I see the shoreline of Lake Michigan -- here, it looks much colder, although perhaps some of that is due to the sun beginning to set. I'm fairly sure we're crossing between Milwaukee and Chicago, but I can't get a good enough view through the folks on the right side of the plane to spot Chicago. But it feels about right. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif And as I am looking down on my side I see the what appears to be the northern tip of the greater Chicago urban sprawl -- just before a cloud layer rudely appears a couple of thousand feet below us. At least if the clouds *must* appear they should be right at our altitude so we can race among them!

The layer broke up as we crossed the southeastern shoreline of Lake Michigan. It's a dramatic chage in appearance, from the snow-free land with frozen lakes, to all snow-covered fields looking a dirty gray in the fading sunlight. I catch a few large contrails running this way and that, but don't manage to spot any of the aircraft making them.

As I'm typing this, thw power comes back, and the nose drops. It makes sense, in my mind at least. We crossed Chicago at about 5:02 eastern, and I found it hard to believe Dayton would be another 53 minutes to the gate, when I've flown to Dayton from Midway in a Saab 340 in just 75 minutes, and that included taxiing from the gate at Midway and the initial climbout, where here we crossed MDW and speed and altitude already.

Now our descent has halted, and the power back up...okay, maybe I am not sp smart. The sunset paints the starboard seatbacks orange as it streams through the windows. Power back again, and a gradual descent as the low layer allows peeks at a ground that's got ever-increasing snow cover. I'm glad I grabbed my coat in San Jose.

5:32pm and the power comes back to idle. A rumble announces spoiler deployment. With the nose pitched down sharply, it feels like the kind of barberpole descent I was hoping for going into MSP. In just a couple of minutes, we've dropped down to a point not far above the low, solidifying layer as the spoilers are retracted and we go to a less dramatic rate of descent. I'm guessing we hit the 10000' speed limit. A moment later we are in the layer for about 30 seconds, and theb out the bottom. It looks *very* cold, but no blowing snow.

Clearly I was wromg in my guesses a bit, as it looks like we're going to hit the gate right at 5:55pm. Landing was uneventful -- the only thing notable was that the reversers weren't used -- although I can't imagine that's related to the APU issue....still...I wonder.

Here in Dayton, there no fancy jetway or luggage system, just the old 'jump out and brave the cold' system. Ah well, you can't have everything! Of course, we parked at the furthest gate out. On the serious side, though, it really was an outstanding flight.

January 8th 2003
NW 5808 DAY-DTW
Seat 8A, CRJ

With sore feet and tired legs, I left the USAF museum and headed for the Dayton airport. What a day! Amongst other folks, I met Scott Crossfield (first man to go Mach 2 and Mach 3), Joe Kittinger (highest parachute jump at 102,800'), and Joe Engle (X-15, Apollo and Shuttle astronaut). And I even managed the second best score on the EVA Docking Simulator in the newly-opened National Aviation Hall of Fame.

I again used the kiosk to check in for my flights, and again, the kiosk was unable to find me a first class seat on the CRJ. I'm going to have to write Northwset and complain! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif For the final DTW-MIA flight, being that it will be dark, and I'm not quite sure why else, I decided to go with an aisle seat, using the kiosk to select 1C.

Once through security, I noticed that while a couple of Northwest arrivals are listed on the board, no departures are listed. Well, I will have to just figure that they aren't using Dayton as a parking airport!

My connection time in Detroit is only 37 minutes -- I'd be more worried if I hadn't already experienced how quick it is to move around the Worldport. I wouldn't have minded having enough time to stop at a WorldClub, but getting home earlier is good, especially since my wife is arring about 50 minutes earlier on a CO flight coming in from Newark.

Up at the gate, it's getting dark, but there's a decent view of this portion of the ramp. Across the way, I heard quite a propellor racket, and looked over to see a US Airways Express 328 doing a powerback for its parking area. Most of the RJs, both the US EMB-145s and the NW CRJ, and parking like they used to in the old days, where they can power up, crank the tiller, and taxi out of the spot. A 6:25pm depature for NW heads out, to be replaced just a couple of minutes later with the plane that will be taking us to DTW. N8532G, for those who track those things.

Boarding started at 6:35pm, which seems early for a 7:05pm departure of a plane that only seats 50 people. Of course, as I boarded, a young lady in front of me had to, as she reached her seat, first get reading material from her backpack. Then she had to stow her backpack. Then she had to take off her overcoat, and store that in the overhead. Then she had to dig into her purse, grab some mints, stow that in the overhead, and finally pull off and stow her scarf before she sat down. Holy cow.

A gentleman sat down next to me for a moment, and then put a large bag under the seat, but then he headed to the rear of the plane and hasn't yet reappeared. If I am lucky he's just using the space as storage and I'll again have this exit row to myself. The captain makes a quick PA weloming us aboard, and informs us that our flight time to DTW will be a brief 30 minutes -- not surprising since this is only a 128 mile flight.

6:51pm and the door is closed -- so I will indeed have my row to myself, and we might just get to DTW early! This flight isn't too packed; there are several empty rows, and several more that have just one person. A quick safety briefing and all we are waiting for is to light the fires and get moving! The first engine starts up at 6:57pm, followed shortly thereafter by the second engine. Everyone outside seems to be in position, but we end up waiting about three minutes before starting our taxi out. After a fairly short taxi, we line up on the runway, and after a momentary pause, the engines spool up and we're off into the inky night sky. As we climb out, there a few bumps in the early moments, and theb the ride smooths out. The FA announes we can turn on electronic devices (oops -- I already had, so I am glad we didn't crash http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif), and that she'l be starting our beverage service -- on a 30 minute flight! Bravo!

No whole can with the beverage service, but on a flight this short, there'd be no time to finish it. I don't know what altitude we're cruising at, but judging from the lights below, we are at most in the upper teens. Just as I finish my Pepsi, we begin our descent.

Touchdown was at 7:41pm, and then we started taxiing. And taxiing. Abd taxiing. At this rate, I think, we might spend more time taxiing than flying! Finally after 9 minutes we get to the C concourse and swing into a gate. Getting off, of course, the woman in row 5 must again go through her whole process before we are allowed to proceed.

Another difference that I have noticed between NW and AA is that on NW, as we start the descent, they don't give out connecting gate information. On the other hand, while the AA spiel always ends with 'there will be someone in uniform to help you as you depart the plane' (and there never seems to be such a person), with NW so far, in three connections, there has ALWAYS been someone up at the gate, printout in hand, to greet you and tell you what gate your next flight is at. In this case, it was back over in the A concourse. Gate A12, right next to the south tram terminal and WorldClub.

The tunnel between the C and A concourses is pretty trippy, to put it mildly. It's done in a kind of blue, futuristic psuedo-underwater theme. That's my impression and I am sticking to it!

After a quick ride on the tram and a stop at the WorldClub, I head down to A12, which is located right at the base of the escalator from the south tram terminal. A quick look confirmed that our plane was here, and then the boarding fired up.

NW 993 DTW-MIA
Seat 1C, A320

As I board this 320, I see that indeed, like the 319 I was in yesterday, there are foot cutouts on the bulkhead seats, making, in my opinion, row 1 on either side the best row. I will have to crosscheck Seatguru on this wheb I get home.

Settling into 1C, I let the crowd sweep by, and harbor the hope that the window seat won't be occupied. I wanted the window, but I have been feeling antsy; that's why I went with the aisle. While sipping on my pre-depature OJ, the door closes, and indeed, I have the whole row, so I switch to the window.

We push back early at 8:52pm We get our welcome announcement which, interestingly, included the base frequent flyer miles.

I didn't check, but I am fairly sure we're not going to get any food on this flight due to the late hour. At least one other person thought so, as she brought her meal with her and ate it during the boarding process. Since I ate in Dayton, I didn't see the need to buy more food.

Pushed bacl from the gate, I realize we've been sitting in the taxiway for several minutes. From my position, I can't tell what the issue is, but after about three more minutes, we start rolling and join the line of aircraft waiting to depart. After a fairly long taxi (although it really wasn't all that bad), we make it to the runway and depart. As we get farther up in the climb, the FA pulls the galley curtain and starts banging around in the galley, making me think that we are either getting some kind of snack, or she has a wicked sense of humor http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Okay, it turns out we were just being taunted, in a sense. We were offered the snack basket -- filled with fruits, nuts, cookies and pretzels, but no real meal. The FA was quite generous though in making sure people knew they weren't limited to one item. Again, for free upgrades, it's a very worthwhile trade over AA.

As 11:00pm rolls by, I'm fairly confident we passed Orlando a few minutes ago. This is my first north-south flight at night over Florida, so I can't be positive, but I'm fairly sure I've got my landmarks straight. Dare I hope that we might get in early? The captain makes a somwhat unintelligible PA, but then the seatbelt light comes on and -- surprise! Power comes back and we start our descent. I can't believe we'd be starting to descend if we were still 45 minutes from landing. Then again, my guesswork hasn't been too good this trip http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I can just spy a large city approaching in front of us -- that has to be Miami, which in fact puts us in good shape as the descent continues. Another PA tells the FAs to prepare the cabin for arrival, so this must be it!

Our approach was out over the ocean, to the east. I'm not sure if it's normal to be quite as low as we were around downtown Miami -- it must have provided quite a show to folks in the towers downtown! We arrived at the gate not quite 30 minutes early.

In summary, I was really impressed with the NW product, and most especially with the uniformly good service I had on all six legs (four mainline, one Mesaba, one Pinnacle).

For awhile there, I thought I might be the only person out there writing about domestic First Class on Northwest at FlyerTalk. Thankfully for Trip Report readers and potential Northwest customers, I'm not!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this excellent report on an airline that's never been too flashy but generally provides good everyday service. Thanks! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

Did you get Pretzels or were they Spinzels?

I was happier with the ginger cookies but they seem be gone now.

Welcome to NW! I enjoyed the detailed report. I doubt I will ever be quite that motivated!

[This message has been edited by doglover (edited 01-08-2003).]

Great report. It is always usefull to be able to compare service within NW and between other airlines.

Are you now a NW traveler? Can you compare your overall impression of NW with AA.

Thanks

Thanks for the report. As new NW Golds (Delta refugees), LexPax and I will be making our first NW flights shortly. Your tale is encouraging, and the details were useful.



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FYI... the banging you most likely heard in the galley was the FA picking apart the ice. Legendary on NW - FA's running around with icepicks, but I guess they're using plastic icepicks or hairpins or something these days.

Thanks for the kind comments http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

My belief is that if you compare AA's F and NW's F domestically, you have to give AA a decided edge because the swervice typically is a little better, and on the MD-80's and 737's, the Recaro seats are, IMHO, much nicer with the winged headrests to nap in. And of course, there's about 5 more inches of pitch, which means that, if you are working on a laptop, you don't have to worry about someone reclining into you (assuming you have a larger laptop).

That said, once you throw in the factor that the NW upgrades are free, I believe that the comparison heavily favors NW. Especially for my wife and I, which are heavy domestic flyers, and spent a lot of money on upgrades last year.

And I also have to speak to the NW service I received. Admittedly, it's not entirely fair to compare extensive flying on AA with a single six segement trip on NW, but I have to say, I was doggone impressed with the service. I've had AA flights with similarly good service, but they are NOT the rule.

My wife (who was also comped to NW Gold) was upgraded on both her CO legs this week (MIA-EWR and EWR-MIA), so she was happy as well.

Steve

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by sllevin:
On this plane, there's no hard bulkhead divider between first class and coach -- just a heavy curtain hanging from the overhead compartment behind the last row of F seats (in fact, those last seats, when reclined, push the curtain back a bit).
</font>

Remember this when you need to book a seat in coach on NW. The curtain (as opposed to the wall) behind first class makes the first row of coach a very roomy experience for footroom and allows you to put items under the seat in front of you.

Makes a pretty nice coach seat when you can snag it!