MilesBuzz! - The best airline according to Zagat's

Zagat's new airline survey is available online (register free to download). Not surprisingly, Midwest Express won every category and even though it is defined as an "economy" airline, it scored higher than airlines defined as "premium."
www.zagat.com (http://www.zagat.com)

Please see:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum94/HTML/004252.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I'd say that Zagat was accurate with its assessment of Midwest Express. They truly do provide a better experience than their competition. I've used them for about 10 R/T's on about 4 different routings, and I've found their fares to be reasonable compared to the competition.

If they'd only get rid of those ancient DC-9's...

As posted in USA Today:
Zagat's Winners-
Top Airlines, premium
- Hawaiian
- Alaska
- Continental
- American
- United

Top Airlines, economy
- Midwest Express
- JetBlue
- Alaska
- Midway
- National


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"Fly me to the moon and let me earn alot of miles."

To be fair, Midwest Express "economy" is significantly better than any other domestic "premium" service. It really should top both lists, even though they technically don't have a premium service.

Midwest Express is superb! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum34/HTML/000035.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum94/HTML/004252.html

It's heartwarming to see all of you so excited about Kansas City's very own Midwest Express! They do a wonderful job portraying an 'upscale' image. But ask the employees sometime how much they like working for this airline. I think you all might be pleasantly surprised that things are only cute in the ad's and not underneath it all.

Kansas City's own??? Aren't they MKE based???

I think you all might be pleasantly surprised that things are only cute in the ad's and not underneath it all.

Was that pleasantly or UN-pleasantly? I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say.

So many new airlines try to follow the "Southwest model". One wonders why so few have tried the "Midwest Express" model.

The Midwest Express model doesn't always work. See, for example, Legend.

Midwest Express is based in Milwaukee. They recently expanded service at MCI, and market it as a 'mini-hub'. The employees I've dealt with at MCI (and, to a lesser extent, SAT) seem very pleasant to me. If they don't like their jobs, it hasn't affected the product they've delivered to me.

Or...maybe because ME is next to United at MCI, they just *seem* friendly by comparison. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

True, Midwest is Milwaukee based. But they are moving more and more to Kansas City due to the lack of tax cuts in Wisconsin. Have you seen any expansion out of there in a few years? Answer: NO (Des Moines doesn't count). Just watch and see what happens!

I'm watching...but this figures to be very minor with regards to my travels..they don't fly internationally...and I don't think they even desire to be a BIG airline...so the route structure would never be extensive enough for me...maybe partners can handle what they can't.

A.G. - I'd love to see ME expand in KC. I don't know their long-term corporate strategy, but if it includes more flights to/from MCI, that would be great! Perhaps with the airport enhancements planned in the next 3-5 years, along with the rearrangement of TWA/AA gates, ME will be able to expand their presence (and maybe even move out of their current undesirable location).

IM: I think ME has some sort of partnership with Northwest/KLM. Their website is currently lagging, so I can't verify what this for sure. I just seem to recall seeing a sign somewhere about it...

It appears the quoted USA Today ranking is of U.S. Airlines. The International group had much higher ratings.

I prefer the Internationals for two main reasons.

They usually are less booked in economy.

Service in mother country is better for the home team than for the US airline.(I did not say good, or decent, just better)

jer

I fly over 40K on ME every year - which is why my handle is ME1st. I respectively disagree w/you almostgrounded I talk to the employees weekly and find they not only enjoy their work and employer but also take pride in the status that they have received year after year as being the "best care in the air". If this is a facade it's a well carried out one.

As far as moving to MCI - I don't hear any rumblings about this from my end (heart of WI) at the same time expansion has occurred in MCI it has been happening in OMA also.

They are truly a unique product in an ever-narrowing field - I hope they continue to strive for this distinction.

I have been a United 1K for 8 years, and flew my first YX flight Friday, IND-MKE-LAX. Even though I grew up in Milwaukee, I had never flown them before.

I knew they had a good reputation, but I was genuinely shocked at how great they were. Great seats, great food, friendly people, and on time.

Boy, anytime I have to pay full fare in the future, or fly on non-UA routes, YX has first priority for me. And after I bag my million miles ina few months, it is a whole new ball game.

Way to go, Midwest Express.

ME1st: Do you ever reach a level where you start earning any type of bonus miles? From what I can tell in my limited experience, there does not seem to be any concept of an elite level within Midwest Express. Not that it's a big deal when every flight is like an upgrade...but I'm just curious...

Yes ME has an elite level it's called ME FF+ - It's reached after flying 20K/yr or 20 segments. Bonus is 50% mileage credit and an additional 5000 miles bonus after each additional 10K flown. .
example: fly 20K
bonus mileage 10K
fly additional 10K
bonus mileage 5K
extra bonus 5K (after each add. 10K)
Total 50K

Their award tickets are only 20K and the miles are good on NW/KLM and Virgin Atlantic. They also code share with American Eagle.

You also receive yearly coupons good for things like 10K off an award ticket and the ability to fly on an award ticket even if there are no award seats available.

[This message has been edited by ME1st (edited 04-02-2001).]