First time in F on NWA
 

I will be traveling on this award ticket and was curious as to what the F service is like on Northwest Airlines.

The following flights are confirmed:
Flight: NW 1517
Departs: Albany, NY (ALB) at 4:16PM
Arrives: Detroit-Wayne County Int'l, MI (DTW) at 6:09PM
Class of Service: First Class (A) Seat: 02-A Window
DC9-40

Flight: NW 465
Departs: Detroit-Wayne County Int'l, MI (DTW) at 7:12PM
Arrives: Atlanta-Hartsfield Int'l, GA (ATL) at 9:15PM
Class of Service: First Class (A) Seat: 02-D Window
Flight Duration: 2 hours 3 minutes Approximate Miles: 605
Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas DC9-50

Date: Wednesday, March 19 Flight: DL 1429
Departs: Atlanta-Hartsfield Int'l, GA (ATL) at 10:40PM
Arrives: New Orleans-Moisant Int'l, LA (MSY) at 11:09PM
Flight Duration: 1 hour 29 minutes Approximate Miles: 419
Aircraft: M80
Flight: NW 3619




Departs: New Orleans-Moisant Int'l, LA (MSY) at 9:00AM


Arrives: Detroit-Wayne County Int'l, MI (DTW) at 12:38PM

Class of Service: Economy Class (W) Seat: 15-C Aisle

Flight Duration: 2 hours 38 minutes Approximate Miles: 934

Meal Service: Snack Box ($5) Aircraft: Bombardier CRJ900

Note: Flight Status posted day before departure

Note: *Operated by MESABA AVIATION/NWA AIRLINK



Date: Wednesday, March 26 Flight: NW 1516




Departs: Detroit-Wayne County Int'l, MI (DTW) at 1:54PM


Arrives: Albany, NY (ALB) at 3:25PM

Class of Service: First Class (A) Seat: 02-A Window

Flight Duration: 1 hour 31 minutes Approximate Miles: 479

Meal Service: None Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas DC9-40

Note: Flight Status posted day before departure

Pretty standard.
Too bad you didn't get FC on the CRJ900. That would have been something special (so I've read).

rgeer,

It's much nicer than economy, but not remarkable. Don't get overly excited....

I see you're in F on DC-9's. These planes have the most uncomfortable F seats in the fleet. You'll probably get the snack baskets.

Service depends. Drinks before take off. Sometimes. Snack basket. No one polices the overheads, so if you want overhead space, get on first. (I watched as the first class overheads filled with bags of coach passengers on Tuesday.) A couple of later boarding first class passengers had to put their bags way back in coach.

This flight is operated by Delta.

ALB to DTW will be unremarkable. Their presence at ALB is quite small though usually the flights take off with a large carry airplane to DTW for all their connections.

I love NWA's business class while flying internationally. It's rather lackluster (esp. out of ALB) while flying domestic. But that's true for all airlines.

Obviously enforcement of the overheads is spotty, as I was on MSN-DTW a few weeks ago and the FA warned at least three coach passengers not to put their bags in first.

I wouldn't risk it though--board early.

Too bad your return flight MSY-DTW isn't in FC -- you might have a meal on this flight in FC and also the seats and room are better than on the other planes. Try to get upgraded if you can, since it seems like you already used the miles and are eligible if space opens up.

I've been very pleased with NWA FC, EXCEPT on the DC-9s. DC9 first doesn't have a whole lot going for it over coach. I also suspect that the narrow DC-9 aisle inhibits beverage service, as I virtually always get served prior to flight on non-DC9 flights, but rarely get more than water pre-takeoff on DC9 flights.

Haven't had a chance to do 1st on the new CRJs yet though.

Too bad you're missing out on meal service, NWA meals are generally pretty nice.

Probably wouldn't cost too much to put large yellow stickers on the inside of the overheads that say something like "Overhead Bins Reserved for First Class Passengers."

It looks like you got an F saver award ticket but the MSY-DTW segment didn't have any saver seats in F so they just stuck you in Y. NW is tricky about that. I would periodically call NW (and/or CO if it's a CO award) to see if any F saver seats open up and get them to move you. You might also ask if you could be put on a waitlist for F.

As for the F experience, you're getting one of NW's least impressive. No meals and the DC-9's are a bit worn and have the tightest F pitch of any in the fleet. I particularly find the window seats cramped. I prefer one of the aisle seats in row 1, so you might log in and try to switch on at least one of the segments.

But it is F and it certainly beats sitting in Y.

One other note: if you end up in Y on MSY-DTW, do OLCI and move yourself to an exit row or the first row in Y. Much better leg room.

Unfortunately since your flights are less than 3 hours, you won't get any meal but snack basket on your flights.

And IMO, F seat in the DC-9 is pretty comfortable. The only complaint I have with them is the size of the overhead bins.

Edit: When the snack basket comes around, try to grab the Pita Chips :D

Certainly. I fly NW often to AMS and their food is superb - only Virgin Atlantic has better food, in my opinion.

In my own opinion the best F fair I have ever had is from MSP - HNL and HNL - MSP. Last I knew they had only this one flight a day. The aircraft they use is the A330. I love it even more because I can get a really cheap F ticket from TOL - DTW - MSP - HNL for about 1500. Compared to that they want 3000+ for the same service but just change the name of it from First Class to Business Class.