I have not flown TWA in over 15 years and was wondering how they are. How do they compare to the other airlines and are they making positive changes. Versus the rest of the majors how would you rate them . Your experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'm willing to defend TWA. In the past few years of flying with them about 80% of the time, I think they compare well to the rest of the majors. Most of all I believe that TWA is willing to try new things and make changes that benefit the passengers.

I think that the service agents, pilots and FA's do a nice job taking care of the passengers. I haven't run into any rude ones lately.

The route structure is not the best except if you fly out of St. Louis and maybe JFK to Florida. For me, St. Louis is ideal because it's small enough to get in and out quickly, but I imagine that most connecting passengers don't like it too much. I haven't been delayed much at all over the past year, maybe 10% of my flights and never more than 30 minutes late landing.

If you fly enough to make higher elite levels in their Aviator frequent flyer program, the free, unlimited upgrades are outstanding. Not only that, but any member of the frequent flyer program can purchase an upgrade 2 hours before a flight based on availability for $25 and up. TWA is the only airline to offer this.

I can't speak much about their coach class comfort because I haven't been back there in over a year. Up front it compares well with all the other majors (except to trans-con premium flights and on United domestic first catering which is the best offered I believe.)

The fleet is getting better. This past weekend I had a flight on a brand-new (2 weeks old) 717. It's nice to fly on a really new aircraft. It seems to me that more of the heavily traveled and longer distance flights are being serviced by 757 and above. Personally, I don't mind flying the MD80 out to Seattle.

I am absolutely happy to fly TWA. There are a few improvements I'd like to see though. I wish they had better service to Europe or at least better partners. They are fairly limited on both of these. I wish they would go back to the expanded legroom in coach (even though it really doesn't affect me.) They were obviously ahead of the curve on this one. I hope at some point they have the resources to upgrade their fleet of widebodies. Some of their current 767's are pretty old and ratty. I wish they would put an Ambassador's Club back out at the end of Concourse C in St. Louis. No one wants to trek all the way back to the terminal no matter how big and nice that one is.

You won't find very many active posters here on the TWA board but I know there are others around who still like TWA. I think they're doing a nice job.

I hope that tfjim and myself will not be sole supporters of TWA here, but I agree - TWA is improving. I like the attitude of FA's and CSR's, and planes are much newer than TWA used to fly. That said, I must share some negative things associated with flying TWA. STL is far from the ideal (ask anyone who had to to connect from D34 to C38, or just walk from the parking lot to C38). I wish they revived their old routes to Europe. But all in all, most of my experiences with them are quite positive. And their Aviators program is quite good, giving Elite1 and Platinum members unlimited upgrades.

tfjim & Eugene,

Thanks so much for your insights on TWA. I am currently looking to move to a new airline from UAL hell and TWA seems like a good choice. I fly out of ORD and BOS the most often and want to carry my PreExec status with me. TWA is reviewing and will let me know so hope to see you both on the board soon. Take care.

mktozd

BTW, does TWA have reciprical club agreements with UA or Continental by chance?

No system wide club agreements as far as I know, but TW has clubs at both ORD (Northwest) and BOS.

As far as flying TW, I'm happy w/ my Elite 1 status. Upgrades are generally extremely easy, except for the popular morning flights to/from STL and East Coast business centers. Service is usually good to very good, with catering lacking some. A lot more personal feeling service than most airlines, without some of the polish at times. However, I'd take F on TW over Y on UA anytime. And the 757s and 767s are quite nice up front. And while STL can get bad when the weather hits, TW's operational numbers have been quite good.

socalterp,

Thanks for the info on the clubs, as I have the CO Presidents club I can get into the club in ORD as it is Northwest. It looks like the Ambassadors club is otherwise $200 which seems like its worth it based upon what you, Eugene and tfjim have said about TWA. Thanks so much and hope to see you soon.

Socialterp,

You are right on with your comments. I was trying to come up with a way to describe the service and catering at TWA but I'm just not wise enough. They seem to try hard, but lack polish. I don't think it's because they don't have the experience, TWA has been around long enough. I'd say that the "polish" just costs too much right now.

An example: I haven't had a table cloth put down on my tray table in over a year. Hot towels are very infrequent and seem to be disappearing also. The meals seem just a little slimmer.

Now, I know this sounds tedious complaining about such things, but I do buy first class tickets most of the time and only rely on upgrades for occasional personal travel. Mktozd, you will be slightly disappointed compared to United 1st.

However, in the back of the bus I don't think much has changed.

I would expect you'll have a good chance of getting comped status with Aviators. The people there seem very reasonable. If you fly Y fares often, I would think that the YUP fares that TWA offers would be a big benefit to folks who would need to connect through St. Louis or JFK.

Mktozd:

I'm Elite 1 on TW out of Boston and can say they're both good and bad. Coast-to-coast they work fine for me because I smoke and I like the idea of an airline that puts the plane down in the middle of the country for my to satisfy my nicotine habit. I can always grab a smoke, even w/tight connections and my experience there has been largely delay-free. OTOH, Lambert-St. Louis Airport has all the ambiance of an old K-Mart and TW has a habit of putting my flights at the furthest-apart gates of the two terminals they use. The Ambassador Club there is nice, if somewhat distant from any gates. Only useful to me on long layovers - I'm usually in and out in 20-30 minutes at most. An Amex Platinum card will get you and a guest in on flight days w/o a membership (NW and Continental, too, I think) so the $300 spent on the Plat card seems a better deal than 3 memberships totalling $800-900.

The planes tend to be new and clean (mostly) and the upgrades are great - even on the MD-80s which is it out of Boston (no more 757s) and I've never been turned down for an upgrade on early mornings westbound (just lucky, I guess) but I can't agree on the crews: some nice people to be sure but as a rule they don't impress: most Boston-based employees need personality transplants as the ones they've got aren't working. Dunno if they aren't happy with the job, the pay, the airline, the Big Dig, whatever - but am struck by just how short/cold/rude you can be to FC passengers. Not just on board - at the ticket counters and in the Boston club, too. I'm treated better at LAX, SFO and JFK.

So, overall, they need improvement but I guess every other airline does too. Food could be better, wish they went more places more often but overall it works for me due mostly to few delays. Try it for a year and let us know.

Bostom,

You make a great point about AMEX Platinum, i will have to get one (currently us Diners) and save on club renewal. The ever critical nic fit breaks are much needed and I am glad to hear that they have a smoking area. Do all the clubs allow smoking or just STL? Eiter way, being relatively delay free is always good. (take it from a UAL person)

Its interesting that the BOS employess are so different from your comments. Perhaps they should take a day off and enjoy a local band in Harvard Square.

tfjim, thats good to know about Aviators Management, from everything I've read I don't know why I didn't look at TWA sooner.

Thanks again for the insight it is really helpful. Take care.

Bostom,

You make a great point about AMEX Platinum, i will have to get one (currently us Diners) and save on club renewal. The ever critical nic fit breaks are much needed and I am glad to hear that they have a smoking area. Do all the clubs allow smoking or just STL? Eiter way, being relatively delay free is always good. (take it from a UAL person)

Its interesting that the BOS employess are so different from your comments. Perhaps they should take a day off and enjoy a local band in Harvard Square.

tfjim, thats good to know about Aviators Management, from everything I've read I don't know why I didn't look at TWA sooner.

Thanks again for the insight it is really helpful. Take care.

Mktozd:

Smoking is (unlike Logan) in the airport but not in the clubs: they have these glassed in rooms convenient to most gates where you can smoke - or just breathe: it's so concentrated you don't need to light your own.

Likewise, get an MBNA Mastercard for 5000 miles to start and 1.5 miles for each TW purchase $ in addition to the miles for each $ spent on ff F and Y tix. It's $85 but useful for building up miles in the account.

I respectfully disagree with that suggestion, as I don't believe that $85 annual fee is justifiable, even with 1.5 miles for TW purchases. None of those miles would qualify for the status.

I can see both points, but given that I do not yet have any miles with TWA I might be wise to get the card to help build the much needed critical balance neccesary for larger and more valuable awards. Granted they dont count towards Elite; however, @ $0.0170 it is still below the much bespoken of 2 cent rule and MBNA's service is amongst the better of the banks.

Bostom,Thanks for the tip on the smoking lounges vs airport rules. No place to smoke legally can be tough.

Thanks and take care.

yes,i've been very negative on the so called airline.Just got off a 10 1/2 hr flight the last few hours there wasnt any toilet paper or tissues in 4 of the lavs I tried to use!! There simply isn't any possible EXCUSE for this. I found last month on the 8 dom segments that they were trying hard although they did come up short a few times. But what occured today has to be the worse. It seems all they want to do is get their planes in on time and the heck with everything else. Also my suitcase wasn't tagged for 1st class as it should have been so that meant hanging out at the carousel for 20 mins longer than I should have( I was glad that at lest it came on the same flight).

I thought that the longest TWA flight was STL-CDG, and it's only 8 hrs. 40 min... Also, from your comments in this and other threads, it appears that you've run into an incredible number of bad experiences with this particular carrier. Any particular reason why you are still flying them? I mean, if I was treated that bad by TWA (and I was not, in fact, even as a lowly Elite I've been treated there better than on most other US airlines), I wouldn't give any business to them any longer!