Switching from Delta to NW has had some nice pluses (100% upgrade without calling),but has also had some neagatives. While I was ready for less non-stops (ATL based),I wasn't ready for NWA's website. Do they have any idea how bad it is?
A few specific questions:
Why is so difficult to view and select seats?
If the reservation was not made on-line can you view or change seat?
Is it just me,but why can't I print my itineray from the website when I make a reservation?

If the res is not made online you can view it but you can't change the seat-> https://www.nwa.com/travel/itinerary

You can print any itin this way or if you've booked it online you can change the seat or print it from the booking engine


[This message has been edited by socrates (edited 05-08-2003).]

Apparently not....
"Northwest�s nwa.com Named Best Airline Web Site By Frequent Business Travelers"

http://www.nwa.com/corpinfo/newsc/20...720020970.html

Are you kidding? I think NWA's web site is one of the easiest to use and offers a ton of information. Compared to AA or United's site I think its much better. They do send you an email of your itinerary with all the details when you book a flight. I normally just print that. You can also click on reservations then "my info" and choose the trip you want to print it out. I guess I'm just used to it but I really like the site.

From OAG, the group that named Air Canada the best website of 2003?

Compared to delta.com, nwa.com does have some lacking features (not that delta.com is perfect).

I think NWA's website is one of the easiest to use. I like their short-cuts in the main page. However, it would be nice if NW gives people the ability to import reservations made outside of NWA.com into their profile, such that they can change seats, request meals, etc.. CO has this feature.

I find CO's website rather annoying and not well-structured, not to mention their numberous down times!

- Pat

With all respect to djefvert (especially since I have never used the website's of AA or United), this recent Delta convert must wholeheartedly agree with jabez. NWA has a good site, but it does not surpass Delta's site in any area (and comes up short in a number of ways).

1) As mentioned, limitations with seat selections. While it is possible to see a seat map and make a selection, this capability is only available when making the reservation (unless I am missing something). There is no way to go back at a later time and "see" seat occupancy and make changes. Delta offers the ability change seats at any time. While it is really cool that NWA automatically upgrades me (and I don't have to worry about those stupid MSUs), the convenience is defeated because I have to call every single time to have a rep move me to another seat.

2) Its just a minor thing, but I hate the process of viewing booked reservations. On Delta's site, a single page will display all of the booked reservations as long as the user is logged in. On the NWA site, I have two choices: enter a confirmation number to view a particular booking, or view only the bookings for a particular month. Why can't I just see a complete listing?

3) Why have two pages for Worldperks Account history (one for credits and one for debits)? Delta shows everything on a single page.

4) Is it so difficult to show all the award charts on one page? I am a "big picture" kinda guy and I like seeing everything, not having to enter Origin and Destination info just to see specific awards.

5) The Reservation and E-ticket detail pages are laid out badly. Quick, how many mouse clicks does it take to see you flight numbers and seat numbers for a basic 4 segment RT itn? Delta's site: none after calling up the particular flight. NWA's site: 7 after calling up the particular flight

None of these things (and many more) are all that major, save the seat review/selection stuff. But for someone who likes to make extensive use of the airlines' web sites, NWA's site doesn't hold much of a candle to Delta's site. (Of course, its a small price to pay for not having to deal with all of the "improvements to the Skymiles program that enhance MY participation").

Neither am I saying that NWA has a bad web site. It actually is a good site. But jabez was simply making a comparison to Delta's site. And when the comparison is made, I have to agree that NWA come up short.

I also realize that part of my feeling may stem from having "grown up" on Delta's site, so part of my dislike may simply be that NWA does it differently from what I am used to having. So, go easy on me!

/s/ basicdude

------------------
[edited to add profile information]

[This message has been edited by basicdude (edited 05-08-2003).]

basicdude:
With all respect to you and the initial poster, I disagree. You feel like this, only because you are new to this web site. I feel the same way when I visit Delta web site after got familiarised with NW over the last 4 years !
NW reservations do have the option to see all your reservations in one page, you can change seats after reservations etc etc. Spend a little more time, you'll get used to it.

This only applies to reservations made through nwa.com (in terms of seeing all reservations and being able to change seats online).

delta.com allows the user to see any reservation that has the user's Delta SkyMiles number.

That's a huge difference.

But...you can only change seats for reservations made via nwa.com....on co.com you can change your seats for a reservation made via any method (this is the only thing I like on co.com and hate on nwa.com) otherwise I agree, I've been using nwa.com since it went up and feel it's easy to use, but I'm sure that's because I'm so familiar with it (and I'm also sure this is why I dislike co.com)

This is not true.

As long as you have an e-ticket - no matter how you made the reservation - you can change seats via nwa.com 30 hours prior to check-in. The best seats (bulkhead and exit-row) are available at this time, too.

[quote]<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Family flyer:
[b] Ok yes via the internet check in process you can but with CO.com I can change seats without having to wait for the 30 hour window

[This message has been edited by socrates (edited 05-09-2003).]

UA website allows option to view all united.com itineraries or ALL itineraties regardess of booking source. I found a $270 trip to Hawaii last year on Travelocity on UA. The reservation was available for viewing on UA site via my mileage plus number.
Would be nice to see NW offer something similar.


------------------
"I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine" -Caskie Stinnett

One thing I find slightly irritating about WorldPerks direct� is that after entering account number, last name, and PIN (from the main nwa.com website -- not after logging in as if to make a reservation), when clicking the "Account History" button one gets the error message "Error - PIN not provided- Please re-enter and resubmit form."

Hence, one has to repeatedly enter the same information.

[quote]<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by socrates:

Quote:

Ok yes via the internet check in process you can but with CO.com I can change seats without having to wait for the 30 hour window

[This message has been edited by socrates (edited 05-09-2003).]

Actually, you can change seats any time within 90 days of the flight -- the only seats that you can't choose are exit row seats, bulkhead seats, seats that are taken, and seats outside of your class. I don't trvael much outside NW, so I don't know whether any other airline allows someone to select exit row seats or bulkhead seats 30 hours in advance...

And just a note to those who don't know. APparently, if you have more than 3 segments on your tickets each way, you can't use e-checkin. Found out the hard way, after trying to check in at 1 in the morning