This is my maiden voyage into the world of writing a trip report, so be kind!
Yesterday I flew from SFO to MSP on NW to begin an attempt to take advantage of a mistake fare courtesy of the friendly folks in the Mileage Run forum:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=615319
The fare mistake allowed me to purchase 4 full Y fare r/t tickets for approx $650 each. The appeal of the fare was that the tickets are fully refundable. That way if one trip goes wrong, I can cancel the next planned trip without penalty. In addition, I was able to upgrade every single segment except two ERJ flights today to either F or J for 20k per trip. Because full Y earns 150% elite qualification miles, if all goes as planned, I'll have my Plat status set for next year and can perhaps focus on other types of travel this year for once.
All four trips are structured the same, MSP-IAH-DFW or AUS-IAH-LGW-IAH-MSP. The routing gives me only 2 hours to turn around in London which is a concern for me, but I have 10 hours to rest every other day in MSP and booked a motel for each layover via Priceline.
As I write this in the Continental club in Houston, I have so far completed the following:
01/26/07 SFO-MSP, Northwest
It has been almost a year since I flew on NW metal. Until the end of 2005 I was a loyal NW Plat but for various reasons decided to switch my status and loyalty to Continental. Stepping onto the A320 last night, what had always seemed quaint about NW when I admired them now reminded me why in my mind at least, NW ranks low among legacy carriers. My first reminder I was on NW was what seemed to be a tradition for me. My assigned seat, 2A would not stay in upright position. Any pressure I placed on the seatback forced it to recline which must of driven the person behind me nuts. The only other thing of note on the flight was the FA did not offer to hang anyones coat before takeoff. I actually saw two passengers walk their coats to the front after the cabin door closed but she never checked on the remaining F passengers. Not a big issue, but had never seen that happen before.
01/27/07 MSP-IAH, Northwest
This is my only other NW metal segment until I return home next Sunday. The highlight of this trip was I had fallen asleep at some point and when my seatmate woke me up to use the restroom, I flipped open the inflight magazine and there was the signature of another Flyertalk member which is an ongoing thing in the NW forum and made my morning:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=634221
This time my seat was functional, but again I was reminded what carrier I was on by the lack of in flight entertainment and dated interior. Breakfast was the same scrambled eggs, undercooked potatoes and low grade sausage they have been serving for years, but this time with no second meal choice & the paper towel service they switched to last year. Normally I look forward to the fruit plate, but on this flight the peach and kiwi slices were actually frozen and the raspberry scone I usually enjoy seemed either overbaked or stale. The saving grace was the FA who provided everyone excellent service and even brought me a glass of water when he passed by and saw I had woken up.
01/27/07 IAH-DFW, Continental Express Jet
Today were the only two segments on ERJ's due to a previous schedule change. When I boarded, I asked the FA if she was going to be on the return as it was only a short layover then back on same aircraft. I had asked so I could avoid the odd looks usually involved with flying R/T with the same crew. Unfortunately for myself who tends to be introverted in person, the FA who turned out to have a sunny Texas personality with the drawl to match ended up being a perfect candidate for employment with Southwest due to her sunny disposition and announced on the PA that she had a mileage runner on the flight flying both ways with her and asked me to raise my hand. I didn't, and she covered for me by saying I probably had my headphones on and to her credit, didn't point me out
01/27/07 DFW-IAH, Continental Express Jet
This had been my first visit to DFW since Delta de-hubbed it's operations. I was impressed with the interior facelift and new terminal trains but was surprised how utterly devoid of people the terminal was, especially around the old Delta gates. Perhaps it was time of day. Return flight was uneventful and had nice chat with the FA who agreed she would probably be very happy working for WN
.
Now waiting for my first Trans Atlantic segment, so far so good. I'll be curious to see if the on time streak will last or if I will get a taste of irregular operations at some point or even worse, problems at LGW. That's it for now.