When deciding upon a choice of carrier for our return trip to Las Vegas in June, price rather than past experience was the key, and not wanting to part with £1000 each for return flights with Virgin Atlantic my wife and I elected to fly with Northwest Airlines (NWA). Personally I had never heard of them, but managed to read one review prior to departure which although evenly balanced didn't leave me feeling like the Virgin experience was going to be repeated.
NWA do not fly direct to LasVegas from London Gatwick so we therefore had to fly into Minneapolis change planes and fly onto Las Vegas. In total, rather than a 9-hour journey it took 16 hours however the economy price more than made up for this at £395
per person return. Very cheap indeed considering the season and the fact we would have to change.
After arriving at Gatwick a good 3 hours before we were due to depart we collected the tickets and attempted to check-in our luggage. Although the tickets were booked in my wife's maiden name and her passport was in her married name the clerk at the desk was very helpful and checked that all was OK due to the strict controls on flights to the USA. Prior to our luggage being checked onto the plane we were taken to one side and in addition to the standard security checks we had our cases searched. Again, the security staff from NWA who approached us were friendly and helpful and we were more than willing to go along with them for the 15 minutes it took for the thorough search to be carried out. As we had been plucked from the queue we were then taken straight to the front and waved goodbye to our bags, secretly praying I'd see them again!
At the gate the fun started. The plane began to board on time and as they called out rows to be seated it quickly became a free for all with no signs of control from the staff at the gate. We joined the mob and after around 30 minutes were on the plane, strapped in and praying we made it off the runway. The plane for the transatlantic journey was a very old (older than me) DC10 which looked like it had seen better days in all honesty and I gave the Virgin plane a longing stare as we taxied down the runway.
The first thing that struck me when I sat in my seat was that there was no legroom at all and the actual seats were very narrow and I felt as though I was being squashed into my seat. Removing all of the items from the magazine holder in front of me did very little to alleviated the problem and the passenger in front nearly crippled me when moving his seat forwards.
Once in the air it was obvious that this was an American version of Easyjet. There were no earplugs, the in-flight magazine was poor in content and we were so far back we couldn't see the entertainment (I use the term loosely) being projected onto the bulkhead. The bulkhead was so far away I couldn't actually see what was playing during the flight!
As the review I had read prior to travelling had pointed out. NWA use more experienced cabin crew. Translated, this means that they were middle-aged to pushing pensionable age and were nothing to look at but this converted into the more personalised (or as personalised as you'll get in Economy) level of service we received. They were polite, answered questions freely and without "getting back to me".
Over the course of the flight we were served with one meal, and a snack. The meal itself was a choice of Chicken Pesto or Spinach Cannelloni, a gorgeous cake and a salad. Like all airline food I didn't feel the urge to break out the Michelin stars, but I was hungry and I wasn't repulsed at all and did find it enjoyable.
The snack was a cheese and tomato hot bread which although dry was just enough to keep hunger at bay until we landed in Minneapolis.
Both take off and landing were smooth and my fears of the plane falling apart mid-air were unfounded but once again when we landed a farce ensued as 250 passengers attempted to be the first off the plane. At this point the cabin crew had disappeared and control was sadly lacking.
Once we had passed through immigration and collected our bags there were no signs of any tampering and no dents, bumps or scratches to our cases. These were then checked in again for our onward flight to Las Vegas in a 757. Again apart from the look of the aircraft and the lack of legroom there wasn't anything I could really grumble about. Yes it was uncomfortable for a few hours but it did save us £1200 which contributed towards having a wonderful time in Sin City.
NWA are a long way away from the level of service provided by Virgin Atlantic and British Airways but they do the job they are paid to do. We were only delayed due to the weather in Detroit on our return journey and the pilot kept us informed of what was happening at all times. Despite the cramp and despite the lack of unlimited alcohol on the plane I was a happy bunny. If I had the choice (and an unlimited budget) I would fly with Virgin ten times out of ten, but if you are on a budget and are looking for an average carrier NWA are for you.
I wouldn't hesitate to use them again if it saved me £600 per ticket.
Sounds almost identical to my travels to FL (9 hour direct taking 16 hours instead) although we had earphones and AVOD... it was certainly cheap and cheerful and on the changeover flight I was rather squished into my seat! -FT
mjsmjs 02.12.2007 19:44
good review
anonymili 06.01.2006 23:53
Brill review. Sounds far better than the last few airlines I've used including British Airways! Mil x
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Advantages: Cheap, wide connections, Drinks are on the house, available all the time Disadvantages: Entertainment? Nice cabin crew! Unusual noises and lots of 'em
monkfeesh 20.04.2003 (03.11.2004)
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Review of North West Airlines
Advantages: Member of Flying Dutchman Frequent Flyer Program, Extensive USA network Disadvantages: Attendents don't give wine to under 18/21 yr olds, Delays, Nothing Special, Legroom not brilliant, Lack of Inflight Entertainment.
NESMA 14.04.2001 (22.04.2001)
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Review of North West Airlines
Advantages: High turnover of passengers, but doesnot feel as stress out as London or Paris airports Disadvantages: Lots of missing baggage lieing somewhere
Advantages: Operate an efficient service, fly to over 500 destinations via many partners, excellent customer service Disadvantages: none so far..
Connoisseur_Haggler 07.07.2001 (07.07.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
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Jul 5th, 2005
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