I'm CO Gold Elite and I will fly NW when they have a lower fare than CO as I get elite miles, upgrades, priority check-in, etc. Give both carriers credit for making it seamless for a FF to fly on either carrier with almost all benefits. I'm not a NW basher, and I fully acknowledge NW is way ahead on CO on their website (being able to book awards online and check-in or even change tickets online is GREAT), their MSP hub is modern and efficient, and they seem to be pretty reliable.

Having said that, First Class on NW seems to be a small step up from Economy Plus on United. The legroom is pretty paltry for first class, and the seats they use just suck. My guess is pitch between seats is 35" and the lowback cloth seats they use are upgrades of what CO uses in Y. The seats are so thin that one can feel when the passenger behind them takes out a magazine or accidently kicks the seat. The food service (okay they still have food which is better than say AA) is pretty bad. On flights from DEN-MSP (about 2 hours) we were served a sandwich (no choice) with a side salad and some cake and it was very unappetizing (the sandwiches had enough way too much mayonaisse on them). Needless to say therew were no hot towels (even HP has hot towels) and no table linens as part of the inflight service.

I did notice, that NW has more seats in coach and even many Silver Elites on NW are upgraded (on CO I was lucky to get upgraded 50% of the time when Silver), but I think the airline has really devalued their F product to the point of being far below the competition.

I'm interested to hear about other Flyertalk members opinions or experiences?

Is Sunday the new, official "bash NW" day here?

dguruswamy, were you perhaps on one of NW's "classic" DC-9's?

Every day is "Bash Northworst" day here.

I agree. If NW had a better F product I'd have an easier time convincing myself that it would be all right to skip CO's HoKey pokey and use miles on NW to upgrade and such.

A few months ago, I was excited to find out that a segment of my mileage run was on a NW DC-10. After enjoying CO's DC-10's domestically and to HNL I thought this would be a pleasant change from being crunched into NW's usual Airbus or DC-9. I wasn't expecting BF service by any means, just some comfort, in the form of increased legroom and seat recline as well as a decent meal (as far as airline meals go).

I was really disappointed. The cabin was really no different than any other aircraft, except there were more seats. I'm told this is the cabin they use to Hawaii as well. If that's the case, I can't bring myself to shell out 35K miles for an upgrade to NW's F class.

NW board call it LRTF (Less Room Throughout First). http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum35/HTML/001683.html .

By the way, NW will fly 747-200 MSP-HNL (with WBC) from mid Dec to end of April for the winter season.

Only on one of my fourlegs was I on the DC-9. However, if the aircraft have been reconfigured to incorporate LRTF, there is little difference between aircraft in first.

I almost never get a DC-9 flying out of LGA, and even in the much smaller MEM-TYS market, I get to fly the RJ-85s (which I like more than just about any other non-wide-body jet). I usually end up on an A320, which is decent. Maybe the WAS market doesn't get as many A320 flights.

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Life's a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death! - Auntie Mame

There are more differences between NW and CO on their first class.

CO serves unlimited HOT bread with at least two choices of bread, NW serves one cold dinner roll.
CO serves meals as you are in the restaurant: salad plate first following by entree then desert. NW serves in one big tray like eating in the cafeteria.

And the MAJOR differences: the attitude. CO's crews make you feel they want you fly with CO. One recent trip after September 11, the flight attendant addressed the customers before landing: "We are really honored that you choose to fly with us today. You show your confident with us by flying with Continental....", afterwards she shook hands with everyone and thank each customer. NW's crews are not bad, but they are just like other airlines' employees: "Just doing their jobs".

I fly often on CO, NW, AA and AW. I can tell you CO's crews have the best attitude. They want you to come back, and they make sure you enjoy flying with CO. I really respect Gordon Bethune. If you had flied with CO in the early 90's, you know what I mean.