Several weeks ago, I posted about a friend who was shut out of 836 (and his grandmother's 90th b'day) due to crew scheduling. The responses were pretty much along the lines of, "s*** happens." No big deal I thought; at least my flights usually have crews.

But, during the course of the subsequent 10 days, the crew scheduling beast has reared its head twice on my flights. The first was ORD-SFO last week, which was delayed for an hour+ while we tried to find a pilot. I lived.

Yesterday, however, things weren't so pretty. I was scheduled to fly PDX-SFO-PEK on the 10:18a flight from PDX. It was imperatative that I arrive in PEK last night because my boss wanted me to attend his son's 5th b'day party.

So, I showed up at the airport at around 9a and proceeded to Mr. Chicken, who turned out to be the bearer of bad news, "there's no way I can get you to SFO in time to connect to 889," he told me. "Would you like me to search for other options?"

"Sure," I replied.

Then he told me, "no dice, sir moondog; you'd better stand in that really long line behind you."

At this point, I knew I could get to PEK via YVR if I could somehow get through that line and onto the plane in 15 minutes. But, that just wasn't in the cards.

While in line, I called up reservations and was told I would need to wait a day because my ticket was non-endorsable; they also told me to take the 6a flight to SFO in order to avert a repeat performance (i.e. suggesting that I was to blame for only scheduling a 2.5 hour layover). Since that wasn't really an option, I decided to try my luck with the airport people.

The woman that finally helped me was great. It helped that my girlfriend was with me and they had hit it off well several days prior. She spent the next hour putting me on NW5 and NW11, much to the chagrin of the angry folks behind me in the very long line (if any of you were among this group, I owe you a drink).

In the end, she got me onto NW5 with a great seat (27a; infinite legroom plus a window). Then, my gf and I killed around 2 hours at the sushi bar, which was great, as always (the salmon is good right now).

NW5 was fabulous in that good seat and I made friends with one of the FAs who hooked me up with free drinks (NW charges for booze to Japan now). Recently, I've started flying UA on 777 routes because I'm tired of the 744, but NW's 330s really are in a different league. Aside from the AVOD and superior Airshow, there was a power outlet, which allowed me to watch 4 episodes of 24 and 3 episodes of Prison Break that I had downloaded during the days leading up to my flight. The food wasn't terrible either.

During the flight, it occurred to me that I had been a jackass for not upgrading my Y fare for 15k NW miles, so, upon arrival in NRT, my first order of business was to upgrade my connection to PEK for 5k miles.

Then, I stopped by the RCC to grab a shower and play with everyone's favorite beer machine.

NW11 was heavily oversold and they were seeking volunteers. I didn't bite because I really needed to get to Beijing, but I did rise to the podium in order to counsel another traveler who was about to accept a free domestic ticket instead of the $400.

Business class to PEK was pretty good, but I can't comment on the service because I slept almost the whole way.

In the end, I am happy to be here and was really pleased with NW. They might have their problems, but their NRT thing (well, the 330s, at least) is certainly a feather in their cap.

In terms of miles, I received NW miles plus a class of service bonus and was told that my UA miles for the originally intended flights will post automatically.

So, I made out pretty well in the end and only arrived 5 hours behind schedule (after the party, but getting here on the same day was of symbolic importance).

On the other hand, as my gf pointed out, the majority of non-FTers would have been (and probably were) SOL in the same situation. On that note, I suppose I owe all of you a big, "Thank you."

Yikes! Didn't I read somewhere (here on FT) that UA had gone back to an old method of not keeping crews with airplanes all day? And is this the reason for the problem? I've been on a couple of flights where we've waited for crew to arrive from somewhere else. AFAIK, a poster (UA employee?) said it was going to be a disaster.

The NW A330 sounds nice in both economy and World Business. Maybe I'll try it one day if UA ever lets me out of her 1.5 EQM grasp for full fare .

Well, moondog, you did very well.

It also helped that NW has a 330 flying out of PDX to NRT.

After trying both NW's 330 and UA's 777, I must say that 777 is superior. Unless your seating is one of handful seats on 330, your legroom suffers vs. E+. Sooner or later NW's RoachChoiceTM will ask you to pay $15.

It's nice to get upgraded to WBC (personally I like 330's WBC more than UA's C). However, upgrade is extremely tough to get on 330 because of very low C/Y ratio. And you need to buy B/Y fares since there is no SWUs on NW. It's so much easier to get upgraded on UA. Not to mention that you need 120k miles for a saver NW C award vs 90k on UA from PDX to PRC.

Knowledge is power: a lesson learned here is that if UA can't keep the schedule we shall insist other carriers as an option. Time for me to memorize complete AA/CO/UA/NW's schedule to China.

Yeah, I hear you. The 330 is on a different planet than the NW with which most of you are familiar. In fact, the total travel experience on the route in question (PDX-PEK) is perhaps 2x better on NW (v. UA). But, I'm still not inclined to switch loyalties because: 1) MP is awesome; and 2) NW's darkside is pretty dark.

Plus, I spent a year with NW before when I was disgruntled with UA and eventually returned to the "Friendly Skies." Overall, UA is simply a better airline,..... but there is still room for improvement.

I would have been willing to pay $100 to sit in 27a. While, in principle, charging $ for exit rows sucks, I'm afraid my sentiments echo those of the NW apologists out there. Those other seats did look painful, but, again, the Airshow equivalent that lets you zoom in to view microscopic outposts in Siberia is pretty neat (almost neat enough to make you forget about your legs).

u/g wasn't that tough at all actually. The first flight had lots of open seats in J. The second was full, but they were glad to take my miles before doing op-ups (which were numerous).

That is a big problem. But, when UA FIMs you over to NW, your booking class is Y. So, not only are you upgradable, but you're upgradable at the cheap rates.

I agree. In fact, when told NW11 was sold out, being able to pull up the relevant screen on ITN showing availability all the way down to M class, proved useful. The UA agent wasn't trying to screw me; it was just that her system showed that NW11 was sold out.

Two quick questions, moondog

PDX-NRT-PEK uses 330-200 right? There is no 27A. Did you mean 29A (exit)?

How did you pull out ITN screen at airport counter? Free wi-fi at PDX?

You're right. But, I won't edit my OP because I suspect noone here cares.

Yes, it works pretty much anywhere in the airport, including the MAX station, if you have a sensitive antenna.

I'm thinking about my next trip to KIX on 4/14, booked on UA

BOS-ORD UA 533 10:00a-11:46a
ORD-KIX UA 877 12:33p-

If for whatever reason UA 533 is late for 30 min, I'll miss my connection at ORD.

Then NW looks good now

BOS-DTW NW 385 12:01p-2:11p
DTW-KIX NW 69 3:35p

Shall I hope that UA 533 be delayed?

Is it always the case that if you got kicked to another carrier your booking class (W or K or whatever) becomes Y automatically and you receive double dipping in FF miles from both airlines?

My understanding (also proved emperically) is that double-dipping only works when reaccomodated on a non-*A carrier.

Wrong.

Maybe I should expand a little.

If you are accommodated on a carrier other than your original one, then you can get mileage from the other carrier and the original one.

I was flying GRU-IAD-SFO in C on UA - but the UA flight cancelled so I was put on RG from GRU-MIA, and then connecting onwards on AA and UA. I received LH miles from RG, and UA miles from my original routing to IAD.

Moondog, might I ask you what fare class you were in with UA?

It doesn't matter much, rebookings are almost always into Y class.

I was booked in bulk V, but as qasr pointed out, it doesn't matter a whole lot. Officially my ticket was nonendorsable, which is why rebooking on NW was so difficult.

FlyUAyounger: I guess the key is being on the ball enough to sub in a different *A FFP when reaccomodated. I've been switched to other *A carriers twice and both times my new BPs already had my MP# printed on them.... so I ended up receiving partner miles only to have them taken away after my UA flights posted. I won't make the same mistake a 3rd time.