Is it worth bailing on NWA and CO for Midwest Express
 

Next week I will fly Midwest Express for the first time. I am looking forward to it, as I have grown increasingly dissatisfied with NWA and CO.

I have found it almost impossible to use miles over the past 4 months. Additionally CO and NWA have devalued my miles by 25%, even in the miraculous circumstance that a seat is available.

NWA's FC product is mediocre, at best. CO's is harder than ever to get into.

I know I will have to connect in Milwaukee, but it may be worth it. I have cut out flying to Chicago except for trips less than 48 hours, simply because I can drive there in 5.5 hours, which is only about an hour longer than the time it takes me from door to door if I fly now.

When I fly, I generally fly to NYC, Boston, Denver, D.C., or Los Angeles. I rarely go anywhere else, anymore, except Chicago.

I am seriously considering giving up CO and NWA for Midwest Express. No worrying about upgrades. More consistent service. Food, etc. Plus, doing my part to break NWA's monopoly in MSP.

Comments and suggestions appreciated.

as a non elite flyer midwest express is my favorite airline. roomy, comfortable leather seats (compared to coach on other airlines) and good meals (love the hot chocolate chip cookies for dessert!) make for a pleasant trip every time. i only wish i could fly them more...as it is now i only use them from NYC to Milwaukee once a year.

They are great. You are in for a real treat. There really is no 'coach' class. It's all first class. Full size seats, full meals, with free wine for everyone. Only problem is the limited routes. I haven't flown them since 9/11, but if they haven't changed anything, then you will find that they are better than what the majors are doing in their own "first class" cabins.

I too am interested in Midwest Express for IAD-MKE runs. Does anyone know what type of FF plan they have? There aren't many posts on the ME board. I'd probably not become an elite on them but on this route, and from what I hear about the service/seating, I would be fool not to try them. How are their prices. I mean are they competitive or do they target the high end fare users?

For me, it's ME's schedule that kills me. If I want to fly to PHL, for instance, I really can't at all because the flights MKE-PHL are few and far between, and they get me there too late..

Then I started flying on the weekends, and ME has a very limited schedule on Sat and Sun. I think there's only one flight MKE-PHL. (I could be wrong on that).

If they really want to start attracting business travellers, they need to expand their schedule.

TrojanHorse-

I priced out advance purchase routes for most of the places I mentioned.

Some of them were competitive- matching or beating the best advance from NWA.

But some were silly- for example, MSP-LAX routings were hard to book for some reason. When I could, it sent me 1/3 of the way on ME, 1/3 of the way on NWA, and 1/3 of the way on United for about $800.

My hope is to pay roughly what I pay now- maybe 10% more.

I don't know that they have an elite program. It doesn't matter in terms of upgrades, and frankly, if I can't ever use miles, why earn them?

As posted above, one of the best things about YX is not worrying about upgrades. It makes the whole travel experience so much better.

Drive from Mpls to Chicago in 5.5 hours??? I'd like to ride with you sometime to see how you do it... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif Is that downtown to downtown?

Honestly... knowing the MSP market and NW, I wouldn't put all of my eggs into the YX basket, because I don't know how long they will stay. From the little I've heard, NW and YX had an agreement regarding MKE years back, where NW would cut back service from MKE (I understood there used to be NW nonstops to many places) in exchange for YX not touching NW hubs-- that's why their only service from DTW was an oddball RFD flight, which was later cut. With YX entering the MSP market, they stand to do what NW wanted to prevent: steal away pax fed up with NW.

It's a tough spot: while I'm all for competition and helping the underdog, I wonder if you may have the carpet pulled out from under you, a la Reno Air, Vanguard, and Sun Country.

Just a word of caution from another "hometown airline"-loving MSPer. :-P

(So others know, local MSP media always tells us to love and support our "hometown airline" with state bail outs, et al)

Just beware vinegar billed as "wine". It may be free, but you get what you pay for!!

Outside of that, great line. I put most of my business elsewhere, as I don't fly to many of their destinations, but for the odd trip I make each year to Milwaukee or KC, they're a godsend!

Viajero: Vanguard is still in existence. In fact, it's growing. (I've never flown them, but I see their a/c all over at MCI, with some newer-looking MD-80's replacing their older 737's.)

BoSox: You'll love ME if their route structure works for you. I've done a KC-Boston roundtrip post-9/11 and the service is still outstanding. I remember hearing somewhere that they were looking at *minor* cutbacks in food service, but we still got a meal both ways with champagne in the morning and a choice of red or white wine in the afternoon. Seats are comfy - nearly identical to narrowbody F on other airlines.

I think there is an elite level that earns bonus miles after you've flown enough segments/miles. Obviously upgrades are a non-issue. The mileage program is bare-bones. Until Oct 1, you can redeem awards for 15K (companion traveling with paid passenger) or 20K (free ticket). It goes up 5K after that. They also have partners for other awards.

The ME website is also bare-bones, but I have successfully booked flights there.

BoSoxFan, I cannot wait to get your reaction to YX. I am betting you will want to fly them any time your schedule permits. The lack of flight frequency is the only disadvantage YX has. You might even find their FF Program OK as well. YX used to have a partnership with Virgin Atlantic, and I believe they also partner with Frontier now, too.

If you get a chance, there used to be a Used Book Store at the Milwaukee Airport. It it a wonderful place to spend that dreaded connection time. If you like bookstores, I can highly recommend it!

Someone posted a long time ago in the Coupon Connection a code that gets 10% off a Midwest Express ticket. The code is SPT10. I don't know how long its good for.

TrojanHorse- IIRC the IAD-MKE flight is a 328Jet operated by Skyway. DCA-MKE is a real MD-88.

MSP-MKE is also a 328Jet operated by Skyway, which is kind of a negative.

YX's prices are pretty good. Friend had to go WAS-LAS for a wedding, Fri-Sun, the worst possible days. Didn't want to pay a lot, wanted to fly nonstop, and wanted to do it out of DCA. Well that meant AWA, and they were way too expensive. UA, WN and AWA from IAD/BWI were over $400, and it meant using inconvenient airports. Best fare for the dates was $293 on ATA, stopping in MDW. Midwest Express with the 10% off came to about $310.

I wish I could fly YX but they don't serve SEA. But with lots of family in Kansas, I always end up checking YX due to Air Midwest's service in the state. Seems like a good airline. I hope they can grow and return to profitability.

[This message has been edited by whlinder (edited 03-26-2002).]

Their service from CLE has gone to all RJ's. How does their RJ service compare to CO's Jungle Jets flying the same route? Is their food service? more leg room?

The RJ's they use are widely recognized as the most comfortable RJ to fly in for whatever that's worth. It has a taller cabin that a normal adult male can stand up in. The seats are 2-1. It only carries 32 passengers and has a full size washroom. Midwest Express' subsidiary Skyway Airlines operates them. They are outfitted with leather seats but not the same wide ones that ME has on their own planes. They offer the standard configuration. They do offer meal service on longer flights. They even bake chocolate chip cookies and serve champagne. Much nicer than the typical RJ service you would get anywhere else.

I was referring to Vanguard service in Minneapolis: they have flown nonstop Minneapolis to Des Moines, Kansas City, adn Chicago Midway, with connections east, west, and south. However, they no longer serve MSP at all.

Reno Air is now completely gone, true, but before they were eaten up by AA, they had flights from MSP to RNO with connections. NW began MSP-RNO service, and dropped its fares on nonstop flights to the west coast. After Reno Air left MSP, NW raised its fares.

Sun Country was a MSP based charter for ages, but it began scheduled service on a number of "business routes" to DTW, IAD, IAH, SAT, EWR, BOS, LAX, SFO, etc. etc. They recently scaled back service because of NW competition... and again, Northwest raised fares. Fortunately the only time I had to by a walk-up DTW-MSP fare, Sun Country was flying-- otherwise, NW shows little mercy in the MSP market.