Southeast Asia by Northwest: JFK-MSP-NRT-SIN Jan/Feb 06
Written: Feb 25 '06 (Updated Aug 19 '06)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Strong SkyTeam alliance, excellent website functionality, frequent-flyer program meets expectation
Cons: Better service on SQ, KE; unfriendly fees, 66% on-time arrival record Dec 06, Chapter 11
The Bottom Line: Is NWA soon making it's final boarding call?
|
|
|
| javajoop's Full Review: Northwest Airlines |
Part of my series of essays on my trip to Indonesia Jan/Feb 06
I've used Northwest Air (NWA) numerous times because; 1) it's one of the few American carriers that gets me to Jakarta, Indonesia via Garuda (GA), it's erstwhile airline partner; 2) I'm a Worldperks member which allows me to earn/redeem miles, which never expire, on KLM, Continental, Delta and other aviation members of the SkyTeam Alliance - named the 2005 Best Airline Alliance by Global Traveler Magazine; 3) I don't have to go through hoops to redeem them like other carriers. NWA once boasted excellent connections from NYC/JFK-Tokyo/NRT-Singapore/SIN then onward on GA to Jakarta/JKT; however, the recent bankruptcy filing has curtailed routes system-wide and added Minneapolis/MSP as another hub. The upshot of it all is their extremely competitive pricing to Asia because of their financial status. More on that later.
Booking via Website vs. Telephone Agent
The routing described above was already booked for me in coach class so I was all set. In the past, I would utilize both the website and phone agents to cross check favorable prices. This current winter season is the "low season" so you should see some bargains out there. We can start at Northwest excellent NWA.com website and search by flight price, length, number of stops, award availability, etc. as a price benchmark. Check also other travel sites such as Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, et al but my experience is that their lowest offerings are non-domestic carriers going to Asia. Korean Airlines (KE) has wonderful service if you can get it as NWA code-share flights, JFK-ICN-JKT if available. If your aim is to earn frequent-flyer miles, make sure the fare basis or rules is eligible to earn miles. Recently, even web fares are becoming stingy in giving up the points in exchange for a bargain flight.
Another issue is fees. Good news is there is no booking fee if you use their website. The bad news is change fees vary from $25.00 to $200.00 on very restrictive fares. There's a telephone agent use fee of $10.00 but that maybe offset by a sale fare not offered on the site or of a "fare break" at a major city stopover like Tokyo or Amsterdam to Jakarta, depending of the flight routing. A fare break is taking two sale fares from two fare points such as NYC-NRT and NRT-SIN, both roundtrip respectively, in my instance and combining the two. It may be less costly than buying a through ticket; although, I only recommend this tactic if you have enough time in the transit city of two hours or more for you may have to recheck the baggage at that location and have the prerequisite passport/visa combination. Not for the faint of heart, fans, so be forewarned and travel light.
Check In - Outbound
We checked in at NWA desk at Terminal Four/JFK, formerly known as the International Arrivals Building, one of the largest air terminals in N. America stretching nearly 165 acres, sharing space with 47 other airlines and encompassing 1.5 million square feet interior space. Wonder at it's resemblance to it's corporate cousin Schiphol's in Amsterdam. Leave it to our former colonial brethren to make this a great terminus for giant vessels to berth at.
We're pointed to a bank of electronic kiosks nearby the check-in counter for our boarding passes. More and more airlines are implementing these (in)conveniences to allow for shorter lines. This facility is also available through NWA.com 24 hours within of departure but no less than 60 minutes. However, unless you hold an e-ticket, have only carry-on baggage and don't need special services, i.e. pet on board, this may not be an option. I even couldn't pass the process because of my particular international itinerary.
Baggage
None the less, our check-in agent patiently issued our boarding passes through SIN and processed our bags. Remember, bag allowance is at two pieces per passenger at 50lbs each. Not long ago it was 70lbs but now cost you an additional $25.00 to that total, $30.00 to the next 30lbs. Over 100lbs, they won't accept the piece. These are domestic allowances so check with NWA with international rates for your destination. Again, hold to my adage, "carry half of much of bare essentials and stash twice the amount of cash." Another tip is to have any of your most fragile items marked accordingly. The CTX/TSA agent recommended to place the "FRAGILE" label at the handle so the baggage handler will notices it. I was carrying a belated present for my nephew: a remote control car, boxed securely and it returned safely in Jakarta. That's a plus in my book.
Baggage claim on our return was rather lengthy at JFK. Once we deplaned on our domestic flight at Terminal Four, we walked conservatively nearly a quarter of a mile to reach the baggage carousel. I'm sure the purpose was to have passengers shop at the concourse once again before heading to their final destination. We waited an unusual half an hour for our personal effects which arrived securely.
JFK-MSP
Airbus 319-100, 3-3 coach configuration, 17"w/32" pitch, outbound (3hrs 16m) & return (2hr 37m)
We were one of the few stragglers to come on board and we promptly stowed our cases and coats above the overhead bins. Cabins were clean on both segments and orderly. Food service consisted of free beverage choices of water, soft drinks, or juices; then your choice of a $3.00 snack box or $1.00 3 oz. snack/trail mix. I brought on board my homemade cold cut grinder to the envy of others. Flight into MSP was delayed due to heavy head winds by nearly 20 minutes. As disclosed on their website, this flight has a 40% on-time rate.
The return flight back to JFK was late departing for unknown reasons. We actually swapped for the same equipment but at a different gate from D4 to G14, clear across the airport! Luckily, we kept our seat assignments and we left MSP 25 minutes later. We'd made favorable tailwinds to approach near the scheduled arrival time. The saving grace was both planes were fairly new, oh, about less than 2 years old.
Transit MSP Lindbergh Terminal
I was fairly pleased with the overall layout of Lindbergh Terminal. Bright and airy with wide paths, each concourse had automated walkways whisking you away from one building to another. They even have a tram to connect Concourse G to Concourse C from their further reaches. The Shopping Concourse included an array of shops like Roots, Minnesota! and Tie Rack and restaurants such as Caribou Coffee, Quiznos Sandwich, and DQ (my fav). One particular service is a cell phone recharger at Concourse C for a hefty $5.00. Useful, I suppose, if your Treo 650 was nearly dead.
On the return, we encountered US passport and custom control. Less surly than JFK's but more folksy than ATL's, MSP agents seem to be the epitome of federal agents. Once you pass custom declaration, rechecking your luggage, you're back to the magnetometer hokey-pokey and off you go to your next gate.
MSP-NRT
Boeing 747-400, 3-4-3 coach configuration, 17"w/32" pitch, outbound (12hrs 30m) & return (10hr 55m)
First thing I noticed at G4 was this was going to be a full flight. Gate agents began preboarding by commencing passport checks followed by allowing World Business Class, Elite status, and those needing special needs to board. We were below freezing at departure so out came the utility de-icer truck. Nice touch with the captain's announcement regarding procedure and cautioned the slight odor as result of de-icing. All announcements were followed by the Japanese interpretation.
Our aircraft which happens to be the same plane on our return made for a uneventful trip. Most of my time was either catching some zzz's, book reading, chatting up a conversation or eating. However, one passenger on board became increasingly ill midway to NRT. The FA on my aisle got the senior FA, noted by their chevron stripes and nurse certification, brought to the ailing occupant. They provided oxygen and, soon, paged the entire cabin for a doctor on board to signal themselves. Two different doctors were brought back to the rear of the cabin and whisked to the tail where they mended the infirmed. We arrived in NRT with no gate assignment so we waited on the tarmac for nearly five minutes, cutting our connection time to our SIN flight by 15 minutes.
Transit NRT
Compact and efficient, Narita airport offers many amenities for the busy traveller but, oddly, left me very cold. Maybe it was my short duration there (less than a 1 hour) and the onslaught of luxury goods such as Hermes and Mikimoto pearls next to shops selling Pocari Sweat soft drinks and Hello Kitty merchandise. It as if I was experiencing a flashback from the movie, Lost in Translation. Signage throughout the airport, thankfully, is clear and concise. Be patient though when you read the information board scrolls from kanji to roman alphabet. Just be aware of the awkward escalator taking you to from the jetway to the transit concourse; it's just plain narrow and leads to congestion for deplaning.
NRT - SIN
Airbus 330-200, 2-4-2 coach configuration, 17.5"w/32" pitch, outbound (7hrs 55m) & return (10hr 55m)
Most people by this time would stopover in Tokyo by this time but we'd had a schedule to keep. I'm always impressed by the decor Airbus offers NWA or any airline. Seating is ergonomically comfortable complemented with Video on Demand embedded for your enjoyment. Nice touch is the adjustable winged-headrest and movable armrest at the aisle seats in my case. Engine noise is less intrusive than the B747 and made for a rather smooth flight overall. Ditto can be said on the return flight. Even better was my FA offering me a different seat because it was not at capacity.
Transit SIN
We arrived in SIN early in the morning before 1am and had nearly a seven hour layover. Changi Airport is truly a world-class facility that offers so much to detail here and is the standard to which all others follow. Our NWA flight alighted on concourse D and we girded ourselves for a long morning. Our transit desk didn't open for check-in for our GA flight until 5:15am. We could have slept at one of the transit hotels however most sleep rough in Changi. There are points in Changi where there are slumber areas which are darken - equipped with fixed chaise lounges. I do caution you do this at your own risk and mind your personal effects. The terminals are vigorously patrolled by armed police with automatic rifles though.
Our return flight on NWA was preceded with passport checks, security questions and issuance of our boarding passes. This particular flight left at 6am so imagine me, blurried-eyed, staring at the picture card of prohibitive items at 4 in the morning and trying to faithfully answer the security official. Isn't this a tactic they use in Gitmo?
Meals
My previous meals on other international sectors offered chicken, beef or whatever with choices unavailable by the time your near the service's end. This time I tried the other alternative which are the special meals offered, ie kosher, muslim, low salt, gluten-free, etc. My outbound flight choice was vegetarian dairy which consisted of primarily rice and beans for dinner/lunch and rice porridge with honey for breakfast. Both were very tasty especially at 40,000 ft. There's an added benefit that your served first before anyone else, again to the envy of others. For my snack, I had a banana labeled with my name on it. Insert you Monty Python joke here.
My inbound flight consisted of asian vegetarian, a separate category. Those too were palatable with curry and chick peas. The desserts were freshly sliced fruit and flourless chocolate cake for dinner service. Green tea was served throughout the cabin. Most of my drinks were water or tomato juice that left me less dehydrated than colas, wine and beer. I kept my caffeine consumption nearer to landing so as not to interfere with my sleep pattern. What I missed is the ice cream sandwiches offered in the past.
On-board Amenities
Sweet memories were made for those days of newspaper and magazines choices. No more. Fondness for the sweet tooth? Not in the flightplan. Not even junior flight pins for the younger jetset. Just have your reality checked along with your baggage and hope for enough miles for an upgrade.
Mind you ideally I'd rather sleep most of the way to and fro with noise-cancelling headphones wrapped on my noggin. Yet I couldn't be more pleased on the VOD system which offers nearly 3 dozen movies, 50 soundtracks and a handful of games. Track your flight in half a dozen languages and send email at $5.00 a pop. Make sure though the flight is on the A330.
Overall
This particular excursion met with my low expectations. I fretted that in the midst of our trip that my tickets were no longer valid. However, at each step of the way, I felt more and more confident to the point that, once I arrived home, I won this game of Chutes and Ladders. A better choice to Jakarta is on Singapore Airlines if you can spare the extra bones. Northwest airlines, as of this writing, is in the midst of contract negotiations under a trustee bankruptcy judge. It will be a real shame to see all this go down south, no pun intended. We wish them well and a much needed recovery.
© 2006 javajoop
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
javajoop
|
|
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 23
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Cacoethes scribendi - "Bad habit of writing"
caveat venditor/emptor - "Let the seller/buyer beware"
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.