Has anyone ever flown Northwest Airlines before?

[balletandbroadway]

Posted: 3/5/08 at 9:09pm

I'm flying to DC tomorrow on Northwest. It's my first time flying with them, so I have a few questions for anyone who would know the answer!

1) Are they normally pretty good about having flights leave on time?
2) I have a layover. Are they pretty good at transferring luggage without losing it?

Thanks to all who answer :)

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 3/5/08 at 10:17pm

To be honest, its not the airline that has the problems, its the airport. That being said, I've flown Northwest a few times before, and its been fine. Just like every other airline.

[Jilani]

Posted: 3/5/08 at 11:44pm

Check out this website - you can enter in your specific flight numbers and see how they have performed historically. Of course, weather is always a wild card.

http://www.flightstats.com

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 3/5/08 at 11:50pm

It's been over ten years since i last flew them and apart from getting a banana nut muffin on every flight, they seemed to be o.k

[cmleidi]

Posted: 3/5/08 at 11:52pm

they're about as reliable as other airlines, but I've never had a delayed flight from them and I've actually been early on all my trips overseas.

[blueroses]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 12:02am

I did once a few years ago. It was fine.

[Parks]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 12:03am

Just flew NWA about 3 weeks ago, actually.

Almost NO leg room in the seats...
Not much to do in their terminals...

...but a great deal! Saved me 150 dollars which I would have spent on American! Not bad. :)

[vbplayer]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 12:12am

Northwest (as stated)is as reliable as any other airline. If you are concerned about your connection time, book a longer layover at the connection instead of booking the "published" connection flights. The carrier always posts the minimum connection time at an airport regardless of the on-time performance of the specific airline or flight. Your fare will remain the same as long as your layover is within the airlines layover time limitation. (They have tons of rules that the public is unaware of)

PM me if you need more details.

[lildogs]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 9:58am

It's just a hair better than Southwest if that tells you anything--I hate flying both of them.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 10:21am

I'm from Michigan, so I used to almost always fly Northwest (they do heavy traffic out of Detroit Metro). It's just like every other airline.

Posted: 3/6/08 at 12:41pm

Southwest is the best- in terms of safety and on-time performance actually.

My tips (as a former very frequent flyer);

1) Fly on Tuesday. Lowest traffic, emptiest planes.
2) Try whenever possible to be the first leg of the plane's trip. It's more likely to be on time. If a plane comes from Tampa into O'Hare then on to Reno, there are a lot more chances it will hit a storm, have engine trouble or get behind schedule for some reason.
3) Bring a book- because delays do happen and when they do you might as well sit and relax and read your book.
4) Be nice to your flight attendents no matter what. It's not their fault.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 1:01pm

they suck. I was supposed to be on a non-stop deom detroit to San Fran.....a non-stop that ended up going from Detroit to DC, then to Dallas, then they switched us to American from Dallas to SFO.......

After that I did not fly them for 5 years, until this past year, and they were fine. (It was afree ticket)
They are my least favorite airline

Theya re also the airline that had the issue about three years ago where people were not allowed off the planes due to snow (so they said) and people were stuck on the planes on the tarmac for hours......an ungodly amount of hours, ran out of food, water, and toilets plugged up.

From DTE to New York, you are probably fine, but for anything longer I would not fly them.

Luggagewise they were fine

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 1:10pm

I fly them often, mostly because it's usually the cheapest between Seattle and DC, and I can use the miles on Continental when I go home.

I usually don't mind them on local flights. Ok service, nothing outstanding. You won't get any perks on the flight, that's for sure. They've never lost any luggage - unlike United, which always seems to lose my luggage and therefore I don't fly them.

And by now you've left an it doesn't matter any more.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 1:18pm

Day, very true about United and luggage, which is why we're only doing carry-on next month to Europe.......frankly few American carriers are any good anymore.....certainly not like the old days.

But many European ones still know the meaning of service. We flew Malev from Krakow to Budapest tw years ago, maybe an hour flight......and in coach got a hot meal, treated like royalty....it was like the old days.

We're flying a bunch of different carriers within Europe this year, which we've never flown, British Midlands, Air Europa, and SAS....should be interesting.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 1:21pm

It amazed me that in the city-hopper flight between Frankfurt and London we got a warm breakfast meal (served and picked-up), and yet on the recent flight to CR it took them 1 hour to SERVE a cold meal and a beverage. People at the front were getting up to get rid of their garbage and they were not even halfway down the aisle serving.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 1:24pm

can't you fly SEA to Baltimore pretty cheap on Alaska?

[Shawk]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 1:26pm

British Midlands is nice-- good attention to detail about special meals, very nice flight attendants, good leg-room and cozy blankets.

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 1:31pm

I have flown Midlands and SAS, both, FABU

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 1:41pm

What you save flying to BWI you spend taking a cab or the train. I prefer to pay a touch more, fly into DCA and take the subway to my sister's place.

eta: Alaska is not usually the cheapest alternative.

Updated On: 3/6/08 at 01:41 PM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 2:05pm

My experience with Northwest has always been positive.

[lildogs]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 2:22pm

"And by now you've left an it doesn't matter any more."

That made me chuckle--thanks Day!

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 2:35pm

Northwest is fine, but Southwest...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/06/southwest.planes/index.html

Updated On: 3/6/08 at 02:35 PM

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 5:02pm

Cary Grant and Leo G. Carroll had no problem with Northwest, getting to Rapid City.