Seattle WC changes
 

Was in the Seattle WC yesterday ad noticed that the self-service bar is gone. Sign says "see attendant".
Asked the front desk and was told that the state liquor board said no self service allowed- must have a bartender.
Was told by an employee at the AS Board Room that the state would allow them to give away beer, wine, and vodka only. Everything else had to carry a charge.
Only in Washington.......... laws change hourly.....

Well this is the WC that's never open when you need it. (closing at 5:30 when they have all those DTW/MSP red-eye departures is ridiculous)

Can use the CO Club in Seattle
 

Of course Northwest doesn't advertise it because that would be good customer service, but if you are a WorldClub or President's Club member traveling on NW after 5:30 PM you can use the CO President's Club - not quite as convenient but it's after security and while small, has food, drink and a place to sit.

..but you still have to take the train to the NW gates from the CO club. :td:

It's been self-service for years. Did the laws change or did the state just now come poking around?
What's the effective difference between vodka and Scotch? This state is insane.

To get to the train you basically have to walk the length of Concourse B. Its almost one end of SEA to the other between the NW gates and the PC.

Exactly! The Concourse B stop is permanently closed to make sure that there is a sterile area for incoming international passengers from the South Concourse. Honestly, this so-called security is borderline ridiculous. They should re-screen incoming international passengers if it is soooooooooo important.

They re-screen the Eva Airways pax for some reason.

-RM

They could just not open the doors on the "sterile" car of the train when it stops at Concourse B. Keep the arriving international pax trapped in there until the train comes around to the main landside station.

Seattle WC is still serving alcohol....just different procedures
 

Don't jump the gun here. Seattle WC is still serving alcohol. It is true, they had to change some procedures in order to comply with Washington State's Liquor Laws, but they have already hired a bartender (hired from Marriott), and are taking orders for these beverages.

Until cosmetic upgrades are done to the facilities, there won't be a typical "bar" furnishing but bartender will take your order, go back to the kitchen, and bring out your drinks. The bartender will take your beer, wine, and possibly your mixed drink orders and return with your drinks. Look for the "Bartending Station" at the rear of the WC to place your orders.

As for the cosmetic upgrades, there is no easy solution. They are looking into various options. For one, they are considering a removal of the wall by the kitchen where currently, two pay phones (against the kitchen wall) are located. They are also considering to remove the rear "agent's counters" which are being unused, and replacing it with a fully staffed bar. There may also be other options being considered but those are what striked me as most likely based on my conversation with them. (Due to bankruptcy, this cosmetic change may take a while before it is implemented.)

On a different topic, Seattle WC is expecting an Wifi, either at the end of this month, or next (November). Stay tuned for that.

Jiburi

I don't believe the law changed. The action was based on violation by the British Airway's Lounge in Seattle. When British Airways was cited with violations, they contended that NW had not staffed its self-service bar for their operation and re-directed the problem. (British Airways had used WC in the past years before they recently build their own great lounge)

While Seattle WC and the head of WC in MSP, from what I hear, knows and are in full compliance with the liquor law, there were some areas where the liquor board wanted changed so that BA would do the same.

Jiburi

This is similar to the DCA WC, where you can't have self-serve alcohol. You have to order it from one of the WC staff, they make it for you and voila....you have a drink....it's what has to happen to stay within local law....sucks but the only way to change it is to change state law.....

If it was a Washington state liquor law (which have been very strange over the years), then why is it free beer, wine and vodka at ALL of the AS clubs. Surely it wouldn't affect the ones at LAX, SFO and PDX.

My take is that limiting the free beverages simplifies things for AS, and they get to make money on the folks that want something "different".

A little off subject but in the MSP WC there were three ladies with NWA badges on talking about major changes in many WC locations, but it sounded like upgrades not enhancments.

oh how you tease us with such statements but no details!!

Forget about all the liquor foolishness - what really needs to be looked at is the lousy hours. CO has a policy that they will keep their clubs open so long as they have a departing flight. NW WCs need to follow the same policy. They have 757s departing at 10:35 and later to DTW/MSP but WC closes at 5:30. Now that's a real problem.

Agreed!!!

Sloshed
 

Before: You could just stumble around and the attendants would serve you your drink for fear that you'd crash yourself through the window. ^

After: After you've had waaaay too much free booze, you have to stumble around and look like an arse asking an attendant for some more 'juice'. :rolleyes:

Doesn't AS run a shuttle between the two terminals (C and North?). So you could use the CO club and take the shuttle?? Do you need a AS boarding pass to use it? i have used when connecting from CO to Horizon in the past but can't remember if there was soem procedure involved.

Alaska lounge for Worldclub members is accessible only with Alaska, Horizon or NW coded Alaska/Horizon flight. The shuttle between C and South Terminal, where NW flights are, operates until 11pm.

While this shuttle service is nice, ever since Alaska started using American Airlines as a partner, the passenger traffic on these shuttle have significantly dwindled. Baggage handlers are making 40% less baggage transfer between the two carriers. It wouldn't surprise me if Northwest decide to cut this transfer service or renegotiate on the existing Alaska Airlines agreement to better integrate the two carriers.

Jiburi

On the original question - Worldclub and Presidents club are completely reciprocal. If you have a WC card you can get into the PC with your card and ID. The PC in B is usually open until Midnight SEA time which is in sync with their last flights out. (Oh if only WC would follow this rule.)

The Boardroom is only open until 10:30 on weeknights and 7:30 on weekends so it doesn't quite cover it for the 1AM flight to MSP for instance. To use the Boardroom you have to have an boarding pass for an AS flight that day (including a NW pass for an AS operated flight). CO recently expanded the AS relationship so a CO or AS pass is good - I'm hoping NW gets to the same level.

On the recent chat with the WorldPerks VP there was mention of strengthening the ties between AS and NW so the club thing might be improving. The question was specifically tied to use of AS Elite check-in etc but the answer seemed to indicate a broader arrangement. For Elites the NW/AS partnership has the special benefit of a limited upgrade reciprocity which apparently no other partner has. Hopefully that's an indicator of things to come.

One thing seems certain - AS/AA is a little tenuous right now. I understand that AA is really peeved that AS starting flying out of their 'fortress hub' in DFW.

SEA Worldclub 3/14/06 Update
 

Since this thread was posted, some information have changed.

Wifi is now available at SEA.
The Alaska/Northwest shuttle has been discontinued (as of March 1) as I predicted.
Two payphone have been eliminated and replaced with a coinless variety.
Bartender staff will be eliminated. (see below for explanation)

Effective 4/1/06, all worldclub agents at SEA and PDX will possess license to serve liquor. Each worldclub agents are currently undergoing bartending training right now. The bad news to this post is that its hired bartender will be eliminated. There is a veteran bartender who will be affected by this change and will be sorry to see her go. This bartender came from SEA Admiral Club (AA) when it closed its doors (due to high rent) back in October 2005. Since then, she had been serving WC member alcohol twice weekly. She is a very friendly and veteran bartender and will surely be missed.

Jiburi

In addition to not serving the redeye flights...
 

A couple weeks ago I was flying SEA-HNL, with departure delayed three hours. The flight is scheduled to depart at 5:45, making the 5:30 WorldClub closure actually make sense. Well, not that night -- the club closed on time, three hours before the rescheduled departure.

It's been a long time since I have had a world club membership, primarily because 95 percent of my flights are now non-stops between hawaii and the mainland. But this seems like a big change from the past. Back in the early 1990s, I remember repeated instances of the DCA club staying open when flights were delayed. Was this an isolated occurrence, or is it simply no longer the case?

I was about to spring for a membership, but my primary use would be during delays, which on SEA-HNL at least, means after hours.

If the walk to the end of B is more than you want to experience, try the DL CRC, now that there is full reciprocity. It's open until 10PM, and there are moving walkways down the length of the A concourse. Probably closer time-wise than the PC, and good for the DTW red-eye. Still need the PC for the MSP red-eye.

A few weeks back I was on a severely delayed KLM flight. The San Francisco WorldClub (the one hidden in the International terminal, behind security) stayed open the extra two or three hours solely for the inconvienced WorldClub guests.

When I asked the ladies why they stayed open for us, they said "KLM will pay us for it".

That's nice. I wonder if the same thing would happen if an international flight on Northwest metal was delayed past closing time?

Nice...
 

Do they still have the little "DO NOT DRINK IF YOU'RE PREGNANT" sign up? Hmm... like we need a clue on that... I think we should call it "The People's Republic of Washington State"... :rolleyes:

-Alan

Musical Close Times
 

Also, does the WC at Seatac also keep changing their close time? Last year, it seemed that the close time rotated from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and on a monthly basis... just to keep things interesting... :rolleyes:

Because they continue to EWR

Wc
 

Why serve liquor in a toilet anyway? :p

That sucks.. I took a bump from the 3pm to the 10pm and had to go to the Presidents club in B to kill time. The CO people are much friendlier though...

Actually, what might make sense from the staffing perspective is to close the club at 5:30pm and re-open from 8:30pm to 12:30am (making it a nice PT 4 hour shift)? It still wouldn't have helped BallyLoser with his bump except that he could have come back to the S gates around 8:30pm. On the other hand, I assume that NW has some agents around staffing the ticket counter and the aircraft arrivals during the early evening timeframe. Couldn't they be rotated through the WorldClub (1 or 2 hours at a time) to keep it open???

BA no longer uses Worldclub
 

Since BA opened its own lounge, there was no longer a major airline to share the cost of operating the worldclub lounge past the 5pm MSP or HNL flight. When Seattle WC kepts its doors open for the 10:30PM DTW and 1AM MSP, the facility was underutilized with only a few users past the 6pm BA flight. If NW is able to sway SAS, China Air or perhaps another international airline to share the cost of the facility, I'd bet NW would keep this lounge open.

Currently, China Air uses DL's Crown room for their 00:40AM departure. DL Crown room, however, remains open past 10pm for China Air passengers only and DL, CO, and NW passengers are asked to leave at 10pm close time. It's a wonder why DL can keep its club open in the A concourse when Admiral Club which was of similar size of Delta's couldn't keep its new club open. The high rent of about $120,000 per month and 7 year lease was the reason for its closure. Was Delta able to negotiate a better rent in bankruptcy or is it only able to sustain itself simply due to Air China's utilization?

President's club, which is about half of Seattle WC, probably could support to keep its club open due to less rent. Apparently, the newness of concourse have everything to do with the rent.

Jiburi

From the rumor mill
 

While in the SEA AS Board Room a few weeks back, the agents were talking about the possibility of AS opening a second club at the end of the C concourse in the old AA Admirals Club. Apparently it's still "equipped" - AA went with all new stuff in their new club in "A".

I'm wondering if there's any new development on the Seattle WC situation as I have a few red-eye flights coming and am wondering which club everyone get to use. I read on some thread that some CRC rejects NW unless with a DL flight. Can NW pax have problem using this CRC?

I only use CRCs when I'm flying DL, but I don't recall being asked to show my DL BP on entry, only my WorldClubs card (as opposed to the AS Board Rooms where you must have an AS BP).

I'll be in one of these clubs tonight and would post up-to-date info, but for the lack of a laptop. I'm the guy with the small orange/black backpack with a yellow Flyertalk tag and am on the redeye to DTW. If there are any other FT'ers there be sure to say hello.

DL CRC is great for NW208
 

Its a bit of a stroll, but the last three weekends I've been flying out on NW208, the 10:06pm departure SEA-DTW. I've gotten to the airport around 8pm or so, and made my way to the DL CRC. I love the place, the staff are super friendly, I told them I was on NW208, and showed them my WC card and I was in. They didn't give me any attitude, roll their eyes, sigh, or anything else like has happened at *a few* partner lounges in the past with my WC card. It was one of the best lounge experiences I've had in quite some time.

If you're flying out of SEA (after 5p) I recommend walking down to the CRC. It will only take you 15 mins to get to S9 from there.

I am often on the 12:50am MSP flight, as well as the DTW redeye. I would highly recommend the CO P-club at the end of concourse B. If you use the central security screening, it's easy to get to the B concourse. 2 1/2 minute walk to the PC. Coming back, it's 7-8 minutes total from PC to the train out to the S gates at a moderate pace. Definitely faster than going all the way out A to the CRC.

The PC has free wifi (CRC has T-mobile for a fee) and a great staff. The only drawbacks are that it is not spacious and the restrooms are out in the public concourse. They are currently closing at midnight (cut back from 12:30 to 12:15 and now to 12).

I couldn't agree more!!!
 

Yes! Yes! Yes!!!

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=398638

If you stop in, please say "hi" to Valerie from me (Alan)! She is awesome!!! ^ :D :-:

-Alan

Since I'll be taking the SEA-DTW redeye on Saturday, this thread is acutely interesting to me. Do I understand correctly that both the CO Presidents Club and the DL Crown Room Club are after security and even though neither is in the S Terminal, I won't have to worry about re-clearing security after paying either a visit? Also, does either have shower facilities?