jimc_usa

Our trip to Spain was totally spoiled by the return trip AMS-DTW on a 757.
The back was full (and the front was almost empty - oh well!). Mrs jimc_usa and I had seats 18D & E. In spite of the FA's asking for the (one) aisle to be kept free during the beverage and then meal service, people totally ignored them. We had 3 screaming babies in our vicinity and to top it off the toilet in between FC and the rear became broken. (Actually that turned out to be a boon, kept people from banging my seat because they had to go to the rear.
The FA's did a great job, although at one paticular time, all of them seemed to be up in FC.
Eight plus hours in a 757 is too much for me, I shall plan more carefully next time. (My wife was on an award ticket - so there was not a lot of choice.)

3Cforme

Yes, A330s in trans-Atlantic service are noticeably free of babies and people standing in the aisles...

GBadger

Well, to be fair, they do have 2 aisles, so getting around the standers is easier, and they do have a larger cabin, so the screaming baby effect is less localized, and they have AVOD, so you can at least lose yourself in a movie...

I think that these are probably legitimate disadvantages to the 757...

TheMadBrewer

This seems to be a problem with the 757 TATL -- I've had three legs on one in/out of DUS and on two of them the same toilet went out. I don't know if its a capacity or a mechanical problem, but It'd be nice if they could solve it before my three DUS legs scheduled for early in the year!

BTW, on one of mine the front was also almost empty. After we took off the lead FA said she tried to have me upgraded, but catering didn't want to load any more meals. I said next time don't worry about the food -- I don't mind eating a coach meal if I can sit in a big seat

Jaimito Cartero

I think we've become way too coddled here! 8 hours isn't so bad. I've done similar time in a 737-800 to South America, and done the 757 LAX-HNL which I'd guess is 5-6 hours. Of course, if you can get the nice A330, I'd do that!

Just be glad that they don't have some new innovation that allow them to fly DTW-NRT!

sbagdon

A co-worker went to DUS over the holidays, and was aghast when informed that DTW-DUS directs aren't A330s (two aisles, AVOD, etc). I'll find out how the trip went, and report back. I'm a direct-flight addict, yet if it meant an A330 and a connection, or a TATL 757 direct, it sure would be a tough call.

Steve B.

baccarat_king

sort of the opposite of what I experienced the other day. I was 1 of 6 in WBC on an A330 from AMS-BOS --- and it was catered for around 25. Made for great service, and a silly amount of food for only a few people.

davetravels

For me, I RARELY have to be somewhere on a schedule, so I usually go with the "more miles" route.

I just booked a return from LAX to PIT on DL via JFK as opposed to ATL or CVG - - with a 52 minute connection at JFK hoping to miss my flight and change to an evening flight and spend a half day in NYC!! Anyway, I'm mentioning this because my LAX/JFK is on a 757, but I noticed that DL has LAX/JFK flights on 737's as well - - 6 to 6 1/2 hours!!

CO FF

CO runs a significant amount of its EWR-California transcon ops on 73x metal. Of course, given the improvements in IFE and seat/cabin design since the 757s were built, the 738 is probably a better plane for a transcon...

itsaboutthejourney

A trip to Spain "spoiled" by a flight from the Netherlands to the USA?

as a Gold Elite were you expecting NW to go beyond their upgrade policy and upgrade you? Was your fare a Y or B that was eligible for an upgrade?

NW's fault that PAX didn't listen to instructions?

Shame on NW for letting babies onboard! And I'm sure it was NW's fault that they were screaming.

This is NW's fault and you should do a TTU on new.com

Thanks for weighing in on the 757 TATL service. Glad the FA's did a great job, but sort of puzzled at how your trip could be "ruined" from what i see in the larger scheme of things are minor irritations and not all of them NW's fault.

baccarat_king

^^ have to agree. My solution : 2-3 Cognacs "neat"; and all problems (757 or otherwise) will slowly melt away. (feel free to substitute your favorite "strong" adult beverage -- my other personal airline favorite is Woodford Reserve)

dvs7310

I don't see the difference between blocked aisles on a single aisle plane and widebody? Since when did they start doing meal service on widebodys so that only one aisle was blocked at a time?

If you sit anywhere near the bulkhead on a single aisle or double aisle aircraft you're much more likely to encounter screaming babies... this has nothing to do with NW nor the 757...

Actually you should have been happy, the NW 757 used TATL has a lot more legroom than the 330 because of the reconfig they did on those planes. I think in the big picture that would make me pretty happy since you're just as likely to encounter the other problems on the 330.

humanoid94

The baby comments remind me of my personal "worse flight ever" experience. I was on the 330 flying MSP-AMS in 11 B, in the bulkhead was a woman with a fairly young baby that managed to cry for 7 of the 8 hours. The crying was so intense that the person in front of me who had taken ambien as soon as he sat down could not get to sleep. This drugged out guy made the flight even more entertaining.

mike_plat

Not exactly...there is no forward lavatory on the 737-800. At least the 757 has this. It makes a huge difference on a transcon.

MarkXS

Haven't tried a NW 757 TATL yet, but I did do EWR-EDI on a CO 757. At least NW has extra seat pitch in Y on the TATL-config. CO sure didn't.

Crying babies can be anywhere. I ended up staying awake almost all night on a KL SFO-AMS once. The fact that it was a widebody didn't make the kid sound any quieter.

Sorry you had a bad flight. I think we all prefer the widebodies, especially the newer ones with good AVOD. But for relatively short hops, the extra frequencies and origins the 757s give us have their own convenience.

Face it, if we're flying US-based Skyteam airlines we're all going to see some TATL 757s. CO was the first, NW and DL are in on the act too.

Try LH coach sometime if you want to experience a widebody with ultra-tight seat pitch and no AVOD I would think the reconfigured NW 757 TATL is probably a whole lot nicer!