bbinchi

Having a good supply of NW miles that are burning a hole in my pocket, I am wondering what those of you experienced with NW/KL/CO think of the best use of WorldPerks miles for premium, international travel?

I have read many positive comments about CO's BusinessFirst product but there have also been good things written about NW's revamped World Business Class. I gather, from reading a few other FT topics, that the KL standard of WBC is below that of NW (true?).

On international routes where NW/KL and CO compete (Europe & Japan, for example), which would you choose? Again, I am interested only in World Business Class or BusinessFirst.

Also, I have been under the impression that, when redeeming NW miles on CO for BusinessFirst, one cannot get confirmed in BusinessFirst until 30 days prior to departure (apparently, if booking >30 days out, one is confirmed in Coach with a "waitlist" for BusinessFirst). Is this true?

Finally, I gather that if I want to use WorldPerks miles to get to Australia or New Zealand, the only way is to fly a combination of NW/MH. Anyone have recent experience with MH's First Class or Business Class service? What were your impressions?

Thank you,
Bill
(just noticed more typos...yikes! should not combine FT with Champagne )

[This message has been edited by bbinchi (edited 05-06-2001).]

Wiirachay

Background: Flown CO's BF last March to/from Europe from/to USA, and NW's WBC last January to/from Asia from/to USA.

On international routes where NW/KL and CO compete (Europe & Japan, for example), which would you choose? Again, I am interested only in World Business Class or BusinessFirst.
CO wins hands-down.

For Europe, I'm glad I took CO because I flew on a B767 (aircraft was less than three months old!!!) and B777. If I were to take NW, I would have flown in an older DC-10. Interiors are really nice in CO's aircraft.

Do a search in the CO Forum for the user "Wiirachay". My mini-trip report/comparison of mine is "My first time in BusinessFirst" (how do you guys find the urls of these posts?)

Also, I have been under the impression that, when redeeming NW miles on CO for BusinessFirst, one cannot get confirmed in BusinessFirst until 30 days prior to departure (apparently, if booking >30 days out, one is confirmed in Coach with a "waitlist" for BusinessFirst). Is this true?
Yes. Do a search in the CO forum. There are a lot of complaints on this topic. You have to be very flexible if you want to get a seat.

- Pat

bbinchi

Thank you, Pat...I look forward to reading your trip reports and will also look within the CO forum for the details about redeeming miles for BF seats.

As for the URLs for topics, just place your cursor over the topic name, i.e. the active link that will take you into that topic. Then, depending upon the system you are using (PC vs. Mac) you use the "Edit" menu or right-click or hold down the Mac click to find the "Copy" or "Copy Link Location" function. Then just copy it and paste it into the body of yout post. Hope that helps; I apologize if I have confused you further.

Bill

[This message has been edited by bbinchi (edited 05-06-2001).]

Phil

To use continental's BF for Europe or Asia, you must be willing to go in coach. The award reservation is made in coach, and you are only standby for BF. Unfortunately, by the time you find out whether you get the BF or not , it is too late to go back and get Business Class on NW. I would very much like to try CO, but have never done this on international flights exaclty for this procedural reason. I want to travel Business on these long hauls, and am not interested in wasting my miles on a coach fare I can readily purchase at very low cost.
I wish you luck in getting BF, for I think from what I read that it is superior to NW's business. But even flexibility does not help us NW flyers get the award.... the flexibility is on CO's part, the passenger is left with almost no choice in the matter at all. That's alot to expect when you are putting up the miles it takes for Europe or Asia on business.

VinceLee

If you plan to do upgrade with miles, go with BusinessFirst though it would be really hard to get upgrades.

If you plan to get free business class award tickets, NW's World Business Class is a better choice.

Many have argued that CO's BF is better than NW's WBC, however, the cost of WBC award is a lot of less than BF award.
BF award from US to Europe is 100K miles and WBC award from US to Europe is ONLY 80K. WBC costs 20K miles less!
The same thing happens in pacific routes. WBC award to Asia is also 20K miles less than BF award.


[This message has been edited by VinceLee (edited 05-06-2001).]

Seth

Howdy!
I am very new to this site, but may be able to help a little. If you can book NW, do it. While BF is the better product overall, especially in terms of aircraft and video selection, getting an upgrade to BF on CO is very difficult. You CANNOT comfirm the upgrade, everone is waitlisted, and upgrades are not even considered until 30 days prior to flight time, though most do not clear until much closer to departure. If you do not get the upgrade, you are screwed. Now, I have to say, coach on a new 767/777 is pretty decent, with individual video screens and video games at every seat. Unfortunately, it is still very tight, with a 31" seat pitch. Good Luck.

aw

Personally I have never flown Malaysian, but have heard a lot of good comments about their service. Some travelers go as far as saying that it is comparable to SQ and that Malaysian is often overlooked when compared to other top notch carriers.

Someone gave me a copy of their First and Business class menu and it is very elaborate. It certainly looks more impressive than NW in that sense.

bbinchi

Thanks to everyone for your replies and to aw for your comments about MH. If anyone else has any thoughts on MH, especially if you have flown them, fire away!

thezipper

Bbinchi, Doing a run in 1 1/2 weeks, outbound to HK on CO, still waiting for the waitlist for BF to clear... 12 seats, 10 days to go, we'll see. My return from TPE on NW, WBC upper deck is already confirmed. If I get the BF, will give a nice trip report when I get back.

bbinchi

thezipper:

Thanks for the reply. Do I presume correctly that you are waitlisted for an upgrade to BF rather than wanting to redeem miles for a free BF ticket? I guess if you're "doing a run", it is a mileage run and you're on a paid ticket. Good luck! I hope the BF seats clears for you and I look forward to your trip report even if it's only for Coach on CO and WBC on NW.

egelman

I can add a few comments. I flew Malaysia Airlines a few weeks ago for the first time, in First Class on a 737 from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Even though the flight was only ~ 45 minutes, and departed at ~ 10:30 am, a hot snack was served, including shrimp. I have been on many 2 hour NW flights with no snack service at all. I was very impressed with the service and professionalism. I would definitely use them again.
As for the NW/CO question, I would always go with NW on the award Business Class ticket. My experience ~ 2 years ago was quite a challenge. I was unaware of the 30 day rule (as it turns out, most people at CO and NW were, as well). I purchased three tickets on CO, after making 3 phone calls. First, I called NW to ask about upgrading these tickets with miles before I purchased them. They said that I would need to call CO to insure that these could be upgraded. I called CO, and was told that for the specific flights that I wanted, seats were available for upgrade on the fare that I was using (that was my specific question). I did not purchase these tickets until one week later, but given the problems that I have had in the past when dealing with partner upgrades, I called CO again, and stated that I was about to purchase these tickets, and wanted to explicitly confirm that I could upgrade these seats on this fare on these flights. I was told that they were available. I then purchased the tickets for the trip 9 months away, called NW, and after they tried to upgrade them, they told me about the 30 day rule. Since I had gone to the length of making three phone calls about availability of these tickets for immediate upgrade prior to purchasing them, I was quite annoyed (to say the least). I made about 10 more phone calls and wrote three letters over the next several months. A written reply from Continental (which took several months to receive) stated that I should address this matter to Northwest, since the 30 day rule is "their policy"! After a copy of CO's letter was sent to Northwest, and my protest went up the hierarchy, I was upgraded in advance of the 30 days. But I would never want to go through this ordeal again.

thezipper

Bbinchi, I am waitlisted for BF, I have used miles to get a cert, "just in case" Z inventory opens a seat for me. Waiting for rev. management to be nice.

nlp

I would take NW. CO BF uses more miles and has a less seat pitch than the new WBC (55/60) I believe.