I will be flying on a full fare coach ticket (day-den via St.louis) and so am upgraded to 1st class. I will be flying on a md-80. Does anyone have any experience flying first class twa in an md-80? How was it?

fyodor

Don't expect the world, but if you are lucky, you will have your coat hung and water or orange juice served prior to take off. If you are really lucky, they may give you an alcoholic bev. of choice.

The meals vary depending on the flight kitchen. Last week we received a good turkey sandwich on rye with mustard (no mayo thank god) on the side, a pasta salad that had seen better days and
a little thing of cherry garcia ice cream. We had that meal stl-jfk, stl-sea. They must of changed the menu for the autumn finally.

Seats are okay. I am a petite person so most fc seats are okay with me. I know my beloved hates anything in row 3 on a md-80. I like the bulkhead or row 5.

No video or audio. No laptop plug ins.

I haven't flown fc on any other airline but
Alaska, so I would rate it okay.

It depends on how cranky your flight attendants can be.

Actually, on the 3 domestic segments I completed last week, we had hot towels offered to us on 2 of them. V. nice.

If you are really lucky, you'll get someone elses' coat!not.

lala

I just flew first class from Kansas City (MCI) to Denver (DEN) through St. Louis this past weekend. All flights were MD-80's. However, it appears that TWA is flying 717's to Dayton now. These are all quite brand-new.

As to seating on the MD-80, I agree with lalala, bulkhead or last row. If you have lots of carryon luggage, stay away from the first-row bulkhead as you have no room ahead of you, and the overhead compartment is smaller than further back due to the slope of the aircraft hull.

On the 717 the seats are a grey leatherette, still pretty firm because they are so new. I find the window seats on the 717 to be a bit claustrophobic because the overheads are so large. I would opt for any aisle seat on these.

Depending on time of day, you will most likely get only beverages from Dayton to St. Louis, and then possibly a meal from St. Louis to Denver. My flight from St. Louis to Denver was the 830pm departure and we didn't get a meal. On the return flight to St. Louis at 540pm we received dinner. I chose the salmon salad, which was not all bad, though the fish was a bit dry. It was accompanied by a small cup of pasta salad which I liked. Then some form of cheesecake. Also available was chicken and pasta. My seat-mate had this and it looked quite good.

Beverage service on TWA is quite fine. On the short flight you will be served in plastic cups, but you will get whatever you want. One nice thing about TWA beverage service in first is that when you ask for a cocktail they give you two small unopened liquor bottles so you can serve yourself. If you're not for getting juiced-up, it's nice to use one bottle and pocket the other. On the longer flight you will be served in glasses. I believe the plastic vs. glass service is simply a function of flight length. In any case, having a plastic cup allows you to hold onto your drink as long as you want.

As a full-fare ticket holder you are allowed to use the Ambassador's Club. Not sure if they have one in Dayton. It's not worth going to the one in St. Louis unless you are going between concourses C and D or you have alot of time.

Dayton has (or had 4 months ago)an Ambassador Club, but no attendent. Just ask the Ticket counter agent for the code and punch it in at the Amb. Club door. It is very close to the TWA gate. They had some drinks and snack there, TV, etc. No one else there when I was.

First Class on TWA is, as others say, ok. Not great as they don't always have the music, laptop plug-ins, etc. But really depends on the plane type you are on. Some of the new ones are pretty nice.