* During the days NW had 3 classes over service, my father and I flew on CX2F fares to Bangkok and Manila. They essentially were routing restricted fares, for travel between Sunday through Thursday, fully-refundable. Booking classes were either C or F bucket.

NW marketed them as ConnectFirstAsia, where if you buy a business class fare, you get an "upgrade" to F class. They started on 4/99 and ended on 10/00, when they terminated their int'l first class service.

Based on my experience from that trip, their F class service at the time would be first rate J class service.

* NW also has YX4Z fares running now between YYZ and TPE/HKG for around $1150 one-way. Booking classes are either Y or Z. (You must be an absolute idiot to use this fare booked in Y, regardless if Z is available.)

Now and then, they run those kind of funky fares between JFK, SEA, LAX, and SFO and TPE/HKG/BKK. These fares are also routing-restricted and only allow for travel between Monday and Thursdays (I think).

- Pat