NORTHWEST AIRLINES Passenger Reviews and Customer Trip Reports

NORTHWEST AIRLINES customer review :  31 August 2009 by Nathanael Lim   (Singapore)

I travelled to Orlando from Singpore on Northwest Airlines. There were 3 flights to take. I was only impressed by the flight Singapore to Tokyo because the new A330 was being used and it was the only flight with personal televisions. However, food was not that good. The worst flight was the 12 hour flight from Tokyo to Detroit. No personal televisions, blankets were uncomfortable, movie shown on the big screen was boring, and food not good. Flight attendants were very unfriendly on this flight - I sense that they were unhappy they had to work on the long flight. They refused to answer me what drinks were offered and demanded that I just tell them what drink exactly I wanted. The flight attendant who served dinner commanded me to put down my tray table in a very rude way. I feel they should do something about their customer relations and passenger comfort to prevent themselves losing more customers as there are many much better airlines out there.

NORTHWEST AIRLINES customer review :  30 August 2009 by A Larmonie   (Netherlands)

A lot of US domestic travel with Northwest mostly in F (first/business class) in the past month. The best flight was on my way to Toronto but my other experiences were also positive! I found the F seats on the Embraer 175 much better than those on the DC-9 and Airbus 319 and 320. Priority luggage honored at every airport I was and lounges at an ok standard. However there's lack of food options but good on drinks. Even on flights where I was in Y (economy) the crew did a good job.

NORTHWEST AIRLINES customer review :  12 August 2009 by R Witt   (USA)

FRA-DTW-LAX as part of a mixed itinerary (Delta/NW), this leg in Y class, so low expectations. Surprised by free newspapers in FRA and excellent AVOD system on A330. Cabin service poor though, FAs didn't respond to calls and made every attempt to ignore pax. Self-service kiosks for the two meals on FRA-DTW would have provided same level of service. In FRA, two "ships"-worth of FAs (22 in all) were displaced and had to be shuttled (integration problems?). Getting them seated on crowded aircraft time-consuming, then further delay by maintenance issue (computer had to be swapped). 2hrs+ delay out of FRA. Missed connect in DTW, agent waited on arrival w/ new ticket, but for very last flight out of DTW (6hrs delay in DTW), for a total travel time of 21 hrs! A meal or beverage voucher would have been nice - but my audacity to ask was only met by a snicker by gate agent. Airline travel in coach these days reminds me of getting on a Greyhound bus. You're lucky your money gets you where you need to go. Expect no more.

NORTHWEST AIRLINES customer review :  8 August 2009 by D Reynolds   (USA)

I was shocked to find that the NW flight from AMS-BOS was actually run by Delta and was a tiny 757 with limited room, extremely poor food service, and staff that treated international travellers with the same "courtesy" as domestic flights (in other words, not much). The food was the worst I have had on an international flight - a bag of crackers as a "snack," had almost no beverages available, and the worst tasting coffee I have ever had on a flight leaving Europe. I have flown NWA many times in the past transiting through Europe, and flew NW on my outbound flight, but if they are offering this extremely poor option on flights now, I will avoid them like the plague.

NORTHWEST AIRLINES customer review :  8 August 2009 : by L Pemberton   (UK)

Amsterdam to Boston, good seats on the way out, very attentive staff. Good inflight entertainment, meals as per usual. The return flight was ok but window seats are not comfortable due to restricted leg room.

NORTHWEST AIRLINES customer review :  3 August 2009 : by N Ericsson   (Japan)

HNL-NRT Boeing 747. Worst service and equipment I have ever seen. No individual TV screens. In fact, not even any music channels in the headphones - only the sounds from the inflight movie. Staff extremely unfriendly. While waiting for my flight to depart I headed to their airport lounge, which is open for holders of a certain credit card. It just so happened that the lounge was closed for reconstruction on this particular day, but a sign on the door informed me that I was welcome to instead use Continental's lounge, which was next door. As I entered the other lounge I was however flatly refused at the door. They told me I was wrong, and as I argued the staff simply went out and changed the writing on the sign! They then proceeded to threaten to call security unless I left! No apologies. Nothing. When we called the manager from Northwest, we got the same treatment. The trouble continued in the air. When my child, who is an energetic 3-year-old girl, left her seat and ran back in the plane only to be swiftly caught by a male flight attendant. He then started to threaten to report me to federal authorities unless I “controlled my child”. And although she had only left her seat for a few seconds, the same person then proceeded to give me parental advice for a full five minutes with a very angry tone. When I protested to the treatment I was called “rude”.

NORTHWEST AIRLINES review :  24 July 2009 : by A Paragoso   (USA)

LHR to MSP, businesselite on NWA. A330-200 is showing it's age. The transition from NWA to Delta is interesting as I've flown this route, World business several times when it was still NWA. This time, the flight attendants wear the DL uniform. The duvet and pillow are DL. I found the food to be mediocre. AVOD is still very good, the slanted flat seats are comfortable.

NORTHWEST AIRLINES review :  21 July 2009 : by Sheenagh Simpson   (UK)

Boston-Amsterdam-Leeds/Bradford. Checked in online and still had to use check in machines at Logan. At the end of the process, was advised by the machine "next time, save time and check in online". Then had to queue in an all destinations check in line where only two desks were open for a queue of around 30 passengers, all of whom seemed to have some complicated baggage related issue - where's the baggage drop!! It was painful - we were advised to arrive 60 minutes before departure, allowed 90 but frankly, three hours would have been more like it. The approach was reminiscent of a really poor short haul budget airline or holiday charter company. On the outward journey, the first leg of which was handled by KLM, we checked in online and did a five minute baggage drop - as it should be!. The flight was OK - it was economy and a night flight so we didn't expect much. The 757 gave good legroom for two tall gals and the staff were pleasant if world weary, but really, I don't want to repeat this in a hurry!

NORTHWEST AIRLINES review :  14 July 2009 : by R Knecht   (USA)

LAX-DTW-ERI return Y class. Chaos checking in with Delta at T5 due to the malfunctioning kiosks, but agents circulated and tried to help everyone. On return, ERI-DTW was early and we waited forever for a jetway operator. Kudos to NW for holding the DTW-LAX flight for late arriving passengers. Worth the price for coach choice exit aisle on the packed A320 DTWLAX. Flight attendants were professional and friendly.

NORTHWEST AIRLINES review :  8 July 2009 : by Scott Welsh   (USA)

Pittsburgh-Detroit-Tokyo-Hong Kong and return Shanghai-Detroit-Pittsburgh in business class. B747 from Detroit to Tokyo or Shanghai are very old and in need of refurbishment or replacing. My seat was broken on the return flight and I had to move. The flight attendants provide adequate service, but nothing special. The food is okay. I have flown many times (more than 30) internationally in business class on NWA and I would say that in general the product they provide is good enough, but not exceptional. My overall rating would be 3½ stars. My few experiences in coach on these long flights have been very unpleasant.

NORTHWEST AIRLINES review :  27 June 2009 : by J Nagano   (USA)

JFK to AMS. Check-in disorganized, slow and staff were surly, rude and inefficient. No indication and no signage where Skyteam Elite passengers should check in. When I asked to talk to the supervisor,she was even ruder than her staff. I've never seen anything like this kind of behavior in 20 years of flying Northwest as a Platinum member. Must now be corporate policy. If this is the way that Delta is taking over Northwest, they'll end up alienating their customers.

NORTHWEST AIRLINES review :  17 June 2009 : by T Maxwell   (UK)

LHR-MSP-LHR. Spotless aircraft (A330) Efficient friendly crew. Shame you now have to pay £5 for a drink other than beer or wine. Had a slight personality problem, wasn't sure if it was Northwest or Delta! Meals a bit lacking in quantity for a 8 hour flight. Breakfast on the return flight particularly disappointing. Muffin which apparently contained cheese and egg. Even the crew joked about them. IFE - good selection. Seats OK, beware of window seats, IFE box inhibits legroom. Overall a perfectly acceptable experience and a great price.