E-MAIL CHRIS   PRINT   2008 COLUMNS   ARCHIVES   SEARCH ARCHIVES NORTHWEST AIRLINES NOW: IT WORKS By Chris Barnett October 15, 2008 -- Northwest Airlines' reputation has taken such a fierce pounding over the years that I was reluctant to buy a roundtrip ticket from San Francisco to Madison, Wisconsin, even though I snared a good fare. I'm glad I did. The one-stop flight was uneventful. Just plain, no-frills air travel that didn't sit on the tarmac or at the gate and arrived on-time. Yet buying the ticket was frustrating. Example: I tried booking the flight on Northwest's Web site and found the perfect itinerary for $319 roundtrip. But when I tried to lock it in and pay, the system electronically rebuffed me three times. A colleague told me that Northwest, like most airlines, presses you to pre-register and makes endless demands that you enter your frequent flyer number. Rather than waste any more time looking for the "book as guest" function, I called Northwest's phone-reservation system. After a few voice prompts, I wound up speaking with an agent named Pat, who was friendly and helpful. Mercifully, Northwest's telephone-reservations system does not have an automated agent grilling you with questions before you are passed along to a human. (By contrast, Delta and United have computerized voices that interrogate you first; hitting the zero on your phone doesn't always let you get out of their digital clutches.) Like most airlines today, Northwest charges extra ($20) to book a flight via telephone. But it was worth it because Pat replicated the exact itinerary and fare that I could not book online. That was important because I wanted to connect through Northwest's Minneapolis-St Paul hub rather than its Memphis hub--where you're often jammed into a claustrophobic regional jet for the final leg to Madison or other destinations. (Still annoyed because I couldn't book easily and online, however, I called the NWA.com customer service line and waited about five minutes. An agent suggested that I was thwarted because of a credit card glitch. If the name entered for the reservation doesn't exactly match the name on the credit card, the reservation will be rejected--a factoid most every business traveler should know.) Checking in at SFO at 5 a.m. was refreshingly easy. An agent called Coco changed my middle seats to aisles on the two outbound flights and collected $15 for checking my garment bag. I could have saved a few dollars, the risk of a missed connection and a lot of time at the baggage carousel by taking my garment bag aboard. But every one of the flights was packed to the gills and overhead bins were stuffed. So pay the $15 unless you're traveling extremely light. Northwest's boarding procedures are a pain unless you are a first-class flyer, an elite member of Northwest's WorldPerks frequency plan or paid extra for certain seats via Northwest's Coach Choice program. If you are, you board first and on a red carpet. After that, instead of loading the back of the plane first, economy boarding is a cattle call, especially on the narrow-bodied Boeing 757s, DC-9s and Airbus A319s and A320s that Northwest flies. Loading is especially slow and agonizing. We took off 20 minutes late, but the pilot made up the time. On my flights, the flight attendants went through the motions without much personality. The exception: One guy who was a real charmer and seemed sincere in telling me he loved his job. That takes a lot of loving because Northwest flight attendants have suffered 40 percent pay cuts and benefit reductions in recent years. There is no meal in coach on the nearly four-hour flight from SFO to MSP. No sandwiches available for sale, either. The $5 "snack box" is mostly chips and cookies and calories and carbs. (First-class passengers on this flight received a cold breakfast.) Solution: Bring your own vittles from home and read the labels on any packaged food you buy. One $9 turkey-and-cheese sandwich I eyed at an SFO food outlet had more sodium than the average human should ingest in one day. The return flights from Madison via Minneapolis were 100 percent sold out and, this time, I couldn't wiggle out of my window seat. And I couldn't use my laptop because the woman in the seat in front of me leaned back and slept. Worse yet, Seatguru.com reports that Northwest's seat pitch on its 757s series starts at a misery inducing 30 inches. If you have to work en route, take some yellow pads. Or fly first class. Ron and Kelly, who work for the same pharmaceutical company and fly regularly between Madison and Minneapolis, are Northwest elites. And they practically chorused that "These flight attendants are phenomenal." Said Ray: "They greet you when you come aboard and you feel welcome." Added Kelly: "That's not always the case." On the other hand, Kelly said Northwest's WorldPerks frequent flyer program is "better on upgrades than any other airline." If you're a road soldier, that's the endorsement you want to hear.

ABOUT CHRIS BARNETT Chris Barnett writes about business-travel tactics and strategies that save time and money and help minimize hassles. He is based in San Francisco and has written for a wide variety of major newspapers and national magazines. Barnett on Business Travel is syndicated by Creators Syndicate. THE FINE PRINT Joe Brancatelli makes this space available to Chris Barnett in the spirit of free speech and to help encourage editorial diversity and the wider discussion of important travel issues. All of the opinions and material in this column are the sole property of Barnett. This material may not be reproduced in any form without the express permission of Chris Barnett. This column is Copyright © 2008 by Chris Barnett. JoeSentMe is Copyright © 2008 by Joe Brancatelli. All rights reserved.