Sooner or later it was going to happen
Nov 29, 2008 | 5:11 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Burlingame, CA
Programs: TK Miles & Smiles, AF Flying Blue, AA Advantage, AS Mileage Plan
Posts: 2,159
Sooner or later it was going to happen
"MECHANICAL DELAY" - those dreadful words still resonate within my mind weeks after the incident. By the laws of probability, the more one flies the more likely it is that one will experience it. I knew that I had to come face to face with one eventually but I was living in denial always hoping that I was fortunate enough to be on the good side of the gods - but not this time.
This was going to be a nice weekend trip and judging by the lucky circumstances that surrounded its development it was destined to be perfect. It all started when my friend Dennis decided to assemble a small get together in Boston in honor of our friend Pnina who was visiting from Israel. I jumped at the chance and started checking the airfares right away. Most of the fares were in the range of $150-200 one way. Kind of decent but then it occurred to me to check the balances of my frequent flyer accounts and I stumbled upon 24,000 orphaned miles on AF. I logged into their website and started playing around with awards availability and voila - there was a F one way from SFO-BOS on the day that I wanted for 20,000 miles on NW. I tried to book it but unfortunately I was encountering technical difficulties so I called Flying Blue in Canada directly and it was taken care of smoothly. All I had to pay was $5.00 for taxes and that was it. SWEET ^ Want to hear something sweeter? I was deducted 12,500 miles instead of 20,000 for this F ticket. The gods were definitely on my side. My return was booked using AS miles and this time I flew back in Y for 10,000 miles. Again, I paid another $5.00 for the whole transaction and this time I was able to book it online on AS's website without a hitch.
A couple of days before the trip I was checking the weather and rain was predicted for San Francisco on my day of departure. I started to get a bit antsy knowing how a cloud in the sky can possibly disrupt operations here at SFO. Sure enough, the weatherman was right and it started to rain on the day I left. I watch those ominous dark clouds rolling above me on my way to the airport and when I checked online the day before I already knew that there was a 15 minutes delay due to ATC. This was not such a big deal and chances were that we will make time once we were airborne. I could live with it.
NW 342 SFO-DTW
Seat 2C F/C
Equip. 752 Dept. 12:40 - Arriv. 8:20P
The airport was crowded and once I passed security I was able to relax a bit at the gate. Next door the flight to MSP was also delayed by about 20 minutes and you could see people getting anxious. Gate announcements were minimum and I saw a couple of French passengers around so there were quite a few connections on the DTW-CDG flight this evening.
I made myself comfortable on 2C and there was no one next to me. About 10 minutes passed and still no person showed up so I was already anticipating a great flight with a vacant seat next to me. My optimism was shattered when 5 minutes later a mature couple showed up and asked me if I could switch seats to 1B so that they can sit together. I hardly contained my enthusiasm and yielded to their request. An aisle for an aisle is a fair trade and besides, karma will come back to me - but not today. By the way, I need to clarify one thing at this point. On seatguru.com, seats 1AB are listed as having some "drawbacks" on the 752 because legroom is restricted. What is not mentioned is that there are cutouts just like on 2CD which are considered the best in the F cabin. So 1AB are not as "restricted" as they claim to be on seatguru.com. Seat pitch is about 37" and there is a closet opposite these seats.
Picture of the galley
Dawn was our purser and she proved to be the best FA I had encountered in all these years of flying NW. She was professional, provided service with a smile, joked with passengers and addressed them by name, hung the coats prompty and fetched the pre-departure drinks with clockwork precision. I had to write a letter to NW to commend such an exemplary employee.
As soon as the door closed the cabin was prepared for departure. We left the gate and halfway through the safety announcement a FA came back from Y and informed the purser that the oxygen masks from one of the rows fell down. The co-pilot came out and assessed the situation. Minutes later the captain informed us that we will return to the gate and mechanics will come onboard to fix the panel. I started to worry at this time expecting the worst. In the back of my mind I knew that there was a AA nonstop at around 2:00P something with 2 F seats for sale. It was around 1:30P and it will be cutting it short to change terminals and run from NW to AA - that is provided that they will protect me on a free ticket from AF. (Yeah, good luck). However, they did not let anyone out of the plane so there was no sense in even trying. Finally at 2:20P the panel was fixed and we were on our way to DTW. I knew I misconnected at this point, but will they hold the flight because it was the last one of the day?
Lunch was scheduled for today's flight and what a disappointment this turned out to be. We started with a drink service with nibbles and followed by a choice of entrees between a plate of cold cuts OR a warm turkey and cheese sandwich. You call this lunch? this was more like a snack served on a red eye flight. I chose the sandwich and it had two bacon strips inside. It was accompanied by a bag of chips, a small side of cole slaw with raisins and a pre-packaged chocolate mint brownie. I am not a fan of mint with chocolate so after one bite I put it down. Dawn was very proactive in refilling the drinks and completed the service quickly. I then purchased a snack box and was pleased with its assortment of items. There was a nice mix of savory and sweet items to please almost everyone.
Drinks with cocktail snacks
Lunch
Snack box
Midway through the flight Dawn came to each connecting passenger with information about their onward flight status. She approached me and said something along these lines: "Mr. aw - I show that you are connecting to BOS and you are the only passenger from our flight. I don't know if they are going to hold your flight but one of our flight attendants is supposed to work that flight also. Perhaps they will delay it but check with the agent as soon as you arrive. I'm sorry that I don't have more information. " I thanked her profusely and said that it was not her fault, these things happen and being a former airline employee I knew better.
An announcement was made about the 15+ passengers connecting to CDG advising that their flight was delayed, so they lucked out. On arrival an agent came to the airplane and asked that we all remained seated until the CDG connecting passengers got out. First time that I have seen this enforced so diligently. Then it was a long walk to the Customer Service desk where only one agent was handling the misconnects. In the meantime I saw the line grow bigger by the minute. Some passengers decided to pick up the service phones and ask reservations to reaccomodate them. Unfortunately they were told that in the system the flight was not showing a mechanical delay and couldn't do anything about the hotel situation, so in frustration they hung up and stood in line. Another agent came eventually to assist. I was expecting an interaction akin to the warmth of a Soviet babushka but surprisingly I was proven wrong. The process was time consuming but the agent was very professional in her demeanor thanking customers for waiting. Since I was in F she provided me with a 10,000 miles voucher, a dinner and breakfast voucher, a $25 off coupon and an extra 1,000 miles or free cocktail voucher.
The only disappointing aspect of this whole transaction was that I was placed in the Clarion hotel. You would think that F psgrs would be reaccomodated in a better property like the Westin inside the terminal but alas, this was not the case. I followed the caravan to the shuttle station to wait patiently for the van. Once I arrived at the Clarion and made another line waiting to be checked in, we learned that the restaurant was closed. I then went to my room and consumed my snack box and some fruits that I brought for dinner. After a nice shower I was knocked down and got some restful sleep.
It is said that when life give you lemons, you make lemonade. Armed with that attitude, I decided to get to the terminal early and take some shots of DTW with the NW presence still intact. NW's logo will soon fade into history and I will try to preserve some scenes for posterity. Perhaps I can even publish a book in the future.
Here are some shots:
Views of the tunnel connecting terminals
NW 372 DTW-BOS
Seat 4C F/C
Equip. A320 Dept. 10:27A - Arriv. 12:13P
After a fruitful morning of picture taking, I headed to the gate for my connecting flight to BOS. Upon boarding I recognized the FA that was supposed to work that flight coming from my inbound the night before and she did the same. She greeted me with a big smile and for the rest of the flight she was confined to the back of the plane.
The flight was non eventful and the purser did his work as expected without much enthusiasm. This is the type of service that I am used to with NW. The snack basket was passed and I took a bag of pretzels and a banana, enough to hold me for dinner tonight.
We finally arrived in Boston on a beautiful sunny day. Here's the plane at the gate:
Taking the T from the airport to the Hilton at the Back Bay was easy and convenient. I was given a room in one of the upper floors with a nice view. The room was well appointed and comfortable with a balcony. The thread on the carpet was a bit frayed but I can't complain much since I got this room for $95 plus tax at Priceline. Considering that rooms were selling at the normal rate of $195 for this date I think I got a decent value.
Room
View from the balcony the next morning
View from one of the windows from the hall
I met my friends at the "Living Room" restaurant in downtown. It was a cozy and relaxing way to grab a bite and we all had a great time. The following day I caught a ride with my buddies to Falmouth in Cape Cod where I had a fantastic stay. The place was so serene without the summer crowd and we took pictures everywhere.
Cape Cod
My return flight on AS from BOS-PDX was smooth and the service was nice as expected from AS with frequent drink service. I purchased the cheeseburger for $5.00 which was one of the best buy on board meals I had. It was very satisfying and a great value compared to similar buy on board from other carriers.
Cheeseburger
Thanks for your time in reading this report. I hope you enjoyed it.
This was going to be a nice weekend trip and judging by the lucky circumstances that surrounded its development it was destined to be perfect. It all started when my friend Dennis decided to assemble a small get together in Boston in honor of our friend Pnina who was visiting from Israel. I jumped at the chance and started checking the airfares right away. Most of the fares were in the range of $150-200 one way. Kind of decent but then it occurred to me to check the balances of my frequent flyer accounts and I stumbled upon 24,000 orphaned miles on AF. I logged into their website and started playing around with awards availability and voila - there was a F one way from SFO-BOS on the day that I wanted for 20,000 miles on NW. I tried to book it but unfortunately I was encountering technical difficulties so I called Flying Blue in Canada directly and it was taken care of smoothly. All I had to pay was $5.00 for taxes and that was it. SWEET ^ Want to hear something sweeter? I was deducted 12,500 miles instead of 20,000 for this F ticket. The gods were definitely on my side. My return was booked using AS miles and this time I flew back in Y for 10,000 miles. Again, I paid another $5.00 for the whole transaction and this time I was able to book it online on AS's website without a hitch.
A couple of days before the trip I was checking the weather and rain was predicted for San Francisco on my day of departure. I started to get a bit antsy knowing how a cloud in the sky can possibly disrupt operations here at SFO. Sure enough, the weatherman was right and it started to rain on the day I left. I watch those ominous dark clouds rolling above me on my way to the airport and when I checked online the day before I already knew that there was a 15 minutes delay due to ATC. This was not such a big deal and chances were that we will make time once we were airborne. I could live with it.
NW 342 SFO-DTW
Seat 2C F/C
Equip. 752 Dept. 12:40 - Arriv. 8:20P
The airport was crowded and once I passed security I was able to relax a bit at the gate. Next door the flight to MSP was also delayed by about 20 minutes and you could see people getting anxious. Gate announcements were minimum and I saw a couple of French passengers around so there were quite a few connections on the DTW-CDG flight this evening.
I made myself comfortable on 2C and there was no one next to me. About 10 minutes passed and still no person showed up so I was already anticipating a great flight with a vacant seat next to me. My optimism was shattered when 5 minutes later a mature couple showed up and asked me if I could switch seats to 1B so that they can sit together. I hardly contained my enthusiasm and yielded to their request. An aisle for an aisle is a fair trade and besides, karma will come back to me - but not today. By the way, I need to clarify one thing at this point. On seatguru.com, seats 1AB are listed as having some "drawbacks" on the 752 because legroom is restricted. What is not mentioned is that there are cutouts just like on 2CD which are considered the best in the F cabin. So 1AB are not as "restricted" as they claim to be on seatguru.com. Seat pitch is about 37" and there is a closet opposite these seats.
Picture of the galley
Dawn was our purser and she proved to be the best FA I had encountered in all these years of flying NW. She was professional, provided service with a smile, joked with passengers and addressed them by name, hung the coats prompty and fetched the pre-departure drinks with clockwork precision. I had to write a letter to NW to commend such an exemplary employee.
As soon as the door closed the cabin was prepared for departure. We left the gate and halfway through the safety announcement a FA came back from Y and informed the purser that the oxygen masks from one of the rows fell down. The co-pilot came out and assessed the situation. Minutes later the captain informed us that we will return to the gate and mechanics will come onboard to fix the panel. I started to worry at this time expecting the worst. In the back of my mind I knew that there was a AA nonstop at around 2:00P something with 2 F seats for sale. It was around 1:30P and it will be cutting it short to change terminals and run from NW to AA - that is provided that they will protect me on a free ticket from AF. (Yeah, good luck). However, they did not let anyone out of the plane so there was no sense in even trying. Finally at 2:20P the panel was fixed and we were on our way to DTW. I knew I misconnected at this point, but will they hold the flight because it was the last one of the day?
Lunch was scheduled for today's flight and what a disappointment this turned out to be. We started with a drink service with nibbles and followed by a choice of entrees between a plate of cold cuts OR a warm turkey and cheese sandwich. You call this lunch? this was more like a snack served on a red eye flight. I chose the sandwich and it had two bacon strips inside. It was accompanied by a bag of chips, a small side of cole slaw with raisins and a pre-packaged chocolate mint brownie. I am not a fan of mint with chocolate so after one bite I put it down. Dawn was very proactive in refilling the drinks and completed the service quickly. I then purchased a snack box and was pleased with its assortment of items. There was a nice mix of savory and sweet items to please almost everyone.
Drinks with cocktail snacks
Lunch
Snack box
Midway through the flight Dawn came to each connecting passenger with information about their onward flight status. She approached me and said something along these lines: "Mr. aw - I show that you are connecting to BOS and you are the only passenger from our flight. I don't know if they are going to hold your flight but one of our flight attendants is supposed to work that flight also. Perhaps they will delay it but check with the agent as soon as you arrive. I'm sorry that I don't have more information. " I thanked her profusely and said that it was not her fault, these things happen and being a former airline employee I knew better.
An announcement was made about the 15+ passengers connecting to CDG advising that their flight was delayed, so they lucked out. On arrival an agent came to the airplane and asked that we all remained seated until the CDG connecting passengers got out. First time that I have seen this enforced so diligently. Then it was a long walk to the Customer Service desk where only one agent was handling the misconnects. In the meantime I saw the line grow bigger by the minute. Some passengers decided to pick up the service phones and ask reservations to reaccomodate them. Unfortunately they were told that in the system the flight was not showing a mechanical delay and couldn't do anything about the hotel situation, so in frustration they hung up and stood in line. Another agent came eventually to assist. I was expecting an interaction akin to the warmth of a Soviet babushka but surprisingly I was proven wrong. The process was time consuming but the agent was very professional in her demeanor thanking customers for waiting. Since I was in F she provided me with a 10,000 miles voucher, a dinner and breakfast voucher, a $25 off coupon and an extra 1,000 miles or free cocktail voucher.
The only disappointing aspect of this whole transaction was that I was placed in the Clarion hotel. You would think that F psgrs would be reaccomodated in a better property like the Westin inside the terminal but alas, this was not the case. I followed the caravan to the shuttle station to wait patiently for the van. Once I arrived at the Clarion and made another line waiting to be checked in, we learned that the restaurant was closed. I then went to my room and consumed my snack box and some fruits that I brought for dinner. After a nice shower I was knocked down and got some restful sleep.
It is said that when life give you lemons, you make lemonade. Armed with that attitude, I decided to get to the terminal early and take some shots of DTW with the NW presence still intact. NW's logo will soon fade into history and I will try to preserve some scenes for posterity. Perhaps I can even publish a book in the future.
Here are some shots:
Views of the tunnel connecting terminals
NW 372 DTW-BOS
Seat 4C F/C
Equip. A320 Dept. 10:27A - Arriv. 12:13P
After a fruitful morning of picture taking, I headed to the gate for my connecting flight to BOS. Upon boarding I recognized the FA that was supposed to work that flight coming from my inbound the night before and she did the same. She greeted me with a big smile and for the rest of the flight she was confined to the back of the plane.
The flight was non eventful and the purser did his work as expected without much enthusiasm. This is the type of service that I am used to with NW. The snack basket was passed and I took a bag of pretzels and a banana, enough to hold me for dinner tonight.
We finally arrived in Boston on a beautiful sunny day. Here's the plane at the gate:
Taking the T from the airport to the Hilton at the Back Bay was easy and convenient. I was given a room in one of the upper floors with a nice view. The room was well appointed and comfortable with a balcony. The thread on the carpet was a bit frayed but I can't complain much since I got this room for $95 plus tax at Priceline. Considering that rooms were selling at the normal rate of $195 for this date I think I got a decent value.
Room
View from the balcony the next morning
View from one of the windows from the hall
I met my friends at the "Living Room" restaurant in downtown. It was a cozy and relaxing way to grab a bite and we all had a great time. The following day I caught a ride with my buddies to Falmouth in Cape Cod where I had a fantastic stay. The place was so serene without the summer crowd and we took pictures everywhere.
Cape Cod
My return flight on AS from BOS-PDX was smooth and the service was nice as expected from AS with frequent drink service. I purchased the cheeseburger for $5.00 which was one of the best buy on board meals I had. It was very satisfying and a great value compared to similar buy on board from other carriers.
Cheeseburger
Thanks for your time in reading this report. I hope you enjoyed it.
Last edited by aw; Nov 29, 2008 at 7:00 pm
