Which airline is best for me?
Oct 18, 2000, 4:46 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Memphis
Posts: 27
Which airline is best for me?
I live in Memphis (NW Hub) and fly frequently on business. I will fly probably 20,000 miles this year but it will come on about 40-50 segments. I fly primarily to the southeast and east coast but beginning next year I will have flight to the midwest and the pacific northwest so my mileage will probably go up. I will be Gold Medallion on Delta by the end of the year but I am not thrilled about flying with them again next year. I am new to this board and would like to get some other opinions from those more informed on these issues than me.
Oct 18, 2000, 7:19 pm
#2
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Memphis, TN-SPG Platinum, HY Diamond, HH Gold, NW Platinum, AA Platinum, AVIS Preferred Select.
Posts: 445
Welcome Sea Biscuit to the board!
Which airline to fly really depends on what you want from an airline and what travel patterns you will be on frequently. For me, I use NW,CO,TW for all my travel to different destinations. I hold elite on all of them ( NW-I earned Plat.....TW-I earned Elite but asked for an Elite 1 comp which I got....CO-I got silver from my TW status for select seating ,etc on CO flights). I fly NW to all East Coast destinations, PDX, and sometimes to LAX,SAN,SFO,and SEA ( NW doesn't offer entertainment on long haul flights which is a turn off but they have the better fares than CO). I fly CO to South America, Mexico,Carribean, and SEA and SFO. I use TW for my HI,ANC, and Europe trips. Because NW is a hub in MEM, they usually have the best first flight out and last flight in times. They bank in and out 4 times daily. So leaving NYC at 5:30PM and getting home at 7:30PM gives me much more time to enjoy the city than leaving at 11:55 and connecting and getting to MEM at 8:00PM on CO.
Because NW and CO are codeshare partners, you can be elite on one and enjoy the First Class upgrades on both airlines. If you are Gold Medallion on DL, then CO will comp you to Gold and you can enjoy upgrades much sooner. I personally like NW for being Elite because they have automated upgrades which upgrades me by 8PM central time on my flight so I don't have to stay up until midnight. Also, I have always cleared the F/C waitlist at the airport as a Gold/Plat elite on NW and the cabins still are sometimes empty. Although you will have to endure flying those DREADED DC-9's, you can still have a little more room upfront.
I have no clue what UA,AA,US,or DL schedules are like but AA and UA have some Express jet service out of MEM......in case you don't like smaller jets. CO just started once daily 737-500 jet service to/from IAH.
Another good thing I like about NW and NW Worldclub is that if I am away from home and want to take another flight than the one I am scheduled on, I can simply call the Worldclub and they will confirm me on the flight I want into F/C if available so I don't have to show up at the airport a few extra hours before time or risk the chance of being left.
I hope I didn't ramble and this is helpful in your assessment of other choices.
Which airline to fly really depends on what you want from an airline and what travel patterns you will be on frequently. For me, I use NW,CO,TW for all my travel to different destinations. I hold elite on all of them ( NW-I earned Plat.....TW-I earned Elite but asked for an Elite 1 comp which I got....CO-I got silver from my TW status for select seating ,etc on CO flights). I fly NW to all East Coast destinations, PDX, and sometimes to LAX,SAN,SFO,and SEA ( NW doesn't offer entertainment on long haul flights which is a turn off but they have the better fares than CO). I fly CO to South America, Mexico,Carribean, and SEA and SFO. I use TW for my HI,ANC, and Europe trips. Because NW is a hub in MEM, they usually have the best first flight out and last flight in times. They bank in and out 4 times daily. So leaving NYC at 5:30PM and getting home at 7:30PM gives me much more time to enjoy the city than leaving at 11:55 and connecting and getting to MEM at 8:00PM on CO.
Because NW and CO are codeshare partners, you can be elite on one and enjoy the First Class upgrades on both airlines. If you are Gold Medallion on DL, then CO will comp you to Gold and you can enjoy upgrades much sooner. I personally like NW for being Elite because they have automated upgrades which upgrades me by 8PM central time on my flight so I don't have to stay up until midnight. Also, I have always cleared the F/C waitlist at the airport as a Gold/Plat elite on NW and the cabins still are sometimes empty. Although you will have to endure flying those DREADED DC-9's, you can still have a little more room upfront.
I have no clue what UA,AA,US,or DL schedules are like but AA and UA have some Express jet service out of MEM......in case you don't like smaller jets. CO just started once daily 737-500 jet service to/from IAH.
Another good thing I like about NW and NW Worldclub is that if I am away from home and want to take another flight than the one I am scheduled on, I can simply call the Worldclub and they will confirm me on the flight I want into F/C if available so I don't have to show up at the airport a few extra hours before time or risk the chance of being left.
I hope I didn't ramble and this is helpful in your assessment of other choices.
Oct 18, 2000, 8:24 pm
#3
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: South Bend, IN - UA 1P
Posts: 137
Welcome to the Board!
No doubt you'll read a lot of opinions on the NWA board, some very positive and some very negative. Despite some recent changes in the NWA worldperks program, there are some really cool things happening with NWA. I'm personally looking forward to the internet check in when it's finally available in my market. The online reservation of award tickets is great, and the recent addition of account history for the web page is a great step to have more information at our fingertips.
My friends at my office that fly UA rarely fly up front, even though they fly more miles than I do. As a NWA gold for the last 2 years, I'm at 100% for FC upgrades. The system for automatic upgrades seems to work really well - it's nice to not have to worry about calling at midnight.
Good luck with your choice - the words you'll read here are just suggestions, take the bad (and good) with a grain of salt. There are many here who have been wronged by NWA in the past, and many here who NWA has done really well for in the past.
No doubt you'll read a lot of opinions on the NWA board, some very positive and some very negative. Despite some recent changes in the NWA worldperks program, there are some really cool things happening with NWA. I'm personally looking forward to the internet check in when it's finally available in my market. The online reservation of award tickets is great, and the recent addition of account history for the web page is a great step to have more information at our fingertips.
My friends at my office that fly UA rarely fly up front, even though they fly more miles than I do. As a NWA gold for the last 2 years, I'm at 100% for FC upgrades. The system for automatic upgrades seems to work really well - it's nice to not have to worry about calling at midnight.
Good luck with your choice - the words you'll read here are just suggestions, take the bad (and good) with a grain of salt. There are many here who have been wronged by NWA in the past, and many here who NWA has done really well for in the past.
Oct 18, 2000, 8:37 pm
#4
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: MKE
Programs: DL Platinum; Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 1,119
I concur with GRR Flyer -- it's not as bad as some say -- frequently it's actually good!
Oct 24, 2000, 10:55 am
#5
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Michigan
Programs: Delta Diamond, AA Exec Plat, UA 1K, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 624
I would echo GRR. When all is said and done, Northwest is the airline for me. I try to fly
nothing else. My previous experience was with TWA, US Airways, American, and UA so
those are my comparisons. Northwest has taken care of me in some bad situations.
There's glitches with all the airlines but I'll make Gold and perhaps Platinum this year and the experience has been just fine with NW.
nothing else. My previous experience was with TWA, US Airways, American, and UA so
those are my comparisons. Northwest has taken care of me in some bad situations.
There's glitches with all the airlines but I'll make Gold and perhaps Platinum this year and the experience has been just fine with NW.
Oct 24, 2000, 1:28 pm
#6
Suspended
Join Date: Feb 2000
Posts: 13,344
Count me as one of the FT's who will do anything possible to avoid NW. I have never had an on-time flight or a positive experience with them. The term cattle class is so appropriate for them, but then again I think the humane society would not allow them to treat cattle the way they treat their non-status passengers.
I will drive to a destination or transfer twice just to avoid them!
I will drive to a destination or transfer twice just to avoid them!
Oct 25, 2000, 12:27 pm
#7
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Lowell, MA, USA
Posts: 40
NW has one of the highest on time records in the industry.