Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kprrok]

Hey all:

Anyone have any opinions of NWA? I'm looking at flights home for vacation and they're the cheapest by at least $200 US, but I've heard that their service isn't the best.

Any stories?

Cheers

KPRROK

[cmr]

I'd say you heard right. They're cheap but, unfortunately, you get what you pay for.

[kat2]

Yeah, they'll get you home in one piece, but thats about it. I mean its not terrible, but its not like Cathay or anything. I'm always willing to go for a smaller blanket and pillow for $200 bucks though. I always fly NWA b/c it is so much cheaper.

[jazblanc77]

NWA agent error almost put me on the streets of Amsterdam once. The agent misprinted the validation date of my ticket when I bought it (it was a one year open, K-class, ticket), so when I went to check-in to a flight on which I had a seat reserved 10 months after my departure, they wouldn't let me board. They refused to confirm that there was an error on my ticket. They wanted me to buy a new ticket, but I had no money after being a student in France for 10 months which was exorbitantly costly. They would have preferred letting me be one of the many beggars at the Amsterdam train station than help me.

I contacted my travel agent who talked to NWA headquarters and sorted it out. I was informed that if I simply told the ticketing agent at the airport a confirmation number that I would be reconfirmed and allowed to board the plane. However, the ticketing manager refused to enter the code into her system and threatened to have me arrested by airport security if I didn't leave the desk. By this time I had already been on the phone home and to my travel agent for 4 hours and my plane was about to leave. I was forced to wait until there was a shift change and then went back to the ticketing desk where there was finally someone who would help me. They entered in the code and they printed me a ticket. The flight was to leave in 10 hours and they didn't want to give me a hotel after all the trouble I had been through. My travel agent ended up giving me her personal visa number to put me up.

I will never EVER fly NWA again, even if there are substantial savings involved and I am terribly inconvenienced by a different itinerary.

[ttompatz]

[Woland]

Just flew them roundtrip to Seattle in the last two weeks.

The good: Very polite and helpful ground service in Incheon, Narita, and Seattle, even when I was cranky in Seattle. The plane was good, with comfortable seats and in-seat entertainment system that beat KAL's Seoul-Chicago line. Surprisingly good food. A more spacious bathroom than I've seen on a plane for while. I suspect it really wasn't bigger, just better organized.

The bad: Going to Seattle, I was given the worst seat assignment you could get, D row - center center, with the control box for the entertainment system under the seat so I couldn't straighten my legs (I'm 6' 2"). (Good news, the polite help in Narita got me reassigned to a bulkhead window seat to Seattle.) Coming back, I was actually given no seat assignment because the flight was overbooked. It was good I got to the airport early because it made me first in line to get a seat when someone bit at the $750 offer to not fly. I got aisle seats all the way to Incheon.

In all, little to complain about, and a pleasant experience in general.

NB: Drinks will cost you $5 apiece, but if you're saving $200 on the flight, this is a small matter unless you plan to drink them dry.

[Tiger Beer]

I've flown Northwest many times.. as they have a major hub in Detroit, Michigan.. (where I've flown in and out of many times in and out of Asia).

The airline is very mediocre compared to others.. but it gets you where you gotta go.. its not bad. its not good.. its just very very very mediocre and the price is alright.

(Northwest Airlines also has great summer fares from Incheon to Honolulu for 550,000 won every summer before June 29th.. and I'm hoping to do that for the 3rd summer in a row.. )

[bixlerscott]

Flying NW? I am not sure how much it costed one way to Korea on NW as my recruiter bought the ticket. I flew NW 3 months ago on the flight mentioned above. I would guess it was less than $1000 US one way and not much more if round trip.

Is that fare mentioned above, RT or one-way?

Better bring something to eat. As for enough food to eat, your on a lean diet. As for enough water to drink, your outta luck as you cannot bring your own and they come around like only 3 times to offer a small glass of water during the whole 14 hour flight to Tokyo from Detroit. During the flight, I could not find a way to just buy or get drinks when I wanted one as I tried by getting up, walking around, and asking attendants hanging out in the galleys. I went some 10 hours between the 2 small meals and was very hungrey, thirsty, and bored while the sun remained at high noon in the sky the whole time. It was a very very cramped seat configuration on the 747, so cramped you could not use a laptop and barely could use a small DVD player on your dinner tray. You could not slip past the passenger next to you to get up out of your seat, you had to wake them up and make them get out of thier seat; no room. Was the same on United and American last year in the states too, but those were only 2 or 3 hour flights.

In the 1990's, I remember having much more room, could step around past seated people, had good food, and plenty of drinks on flights to Europe and around the states. In 1996, on NW Detroit to Frankfurt, in coach class, I had fillet mignon with wine and all the fixins which was delicious and filled me up. Used to be about the jetset experience or good service, now it's about getting there at minimal cost in the spirit of profiteering, nothing more. Since 2002, things got tough, unless you have big money and willing to spend it. At least we still get to fly places a little.

* Would be several times more cost if you opt for business class where you have enough room, food, water, and entertainment to not be so frazzled upon arrival. So for those of us not big in finance, just getting there in coach class will sufface.

[Endesu]

My wife works for NW here in Korea, and they do get a fair bit of angry passengers, yeah .

From what she tells me, it doesn't sound like a company I could ever work for, or fly with for that matter. Luckily, we only pay taxes to fly business with them, so I tend to use them anyway;)

[pharflung]

Hey, if the airline won't let you bring water on board, bring a watermelon.

[kat2]

[ttompatz]

[the eye]

I fly with them every chance I get as they are the cheapest, usually.

Regarding those who complain about the small quantity of juice / water they provide...just ask for more. They always bring me what I ask for.

They ruined a peice of old luggage once and gave me a 400USD voucher.

[bluelake]

Oh, I have many stories, good and bad, from over the years. Let's just say there were times when they were NorthBest and others when they were NorthWorst.

[oxfordstu]

Northwest sucks donkey balls. I just flew with them over here. Never again. $5 a drink? WTF is that? I thought all international flights provide free booze, regardless of the origin. Fugly flight attendants, and a very small baggage allowance puts them on my blacklist.