Northwest Airlines Consumer Reviews - Page 3

I thought I got a great deal on my flight from LAX to ICN (South Korea) on Northwest, a part of Delta Airlines. Little did I know, the service quality was going to be so horrible. If you're in economy, forget about asking for anything beyond what they give you. More than half the flight attendants were rude and don't realize that the money we pay for our plane tickets helps pay their salaries. They should reconsider their profession in customer service. They're doing a bad job representing Northwest/Delta.

We were on flight 302 from Tokyo to LAX. There was an older Japanese female flight attendant with bleached blond hair with more attitude than I've seen in all flight attendants put together, although she was friendly towards and joking around with the males on the staff. The worst one of them all was a young Asian male with long spiky hair. The only pleasant flight attendant was a nice, elderly American gentleman who had trouble hearing.

We pressed the FA button to ask for some water b/c we were sitting next to an aisle sitter who had fallen asleep and we didn't want to disturb him by getting up and asking for water. The rude Japanese flight attendant came and gave us water with some attitude on the side. While my bf was waiting for the bathroom, he saw the water pitcher on the cart and poured some into his cup. The young Asian male FA immediately stopped him and told him that was only for business class passengers and that we needed to ask for water.

Maybe if asking for something was met with a little less attitude, we would want to talk to the FA's. When did water become for business class passengers only? With all the recent and upcoming layoffs, I'm thinking Northwest/Delta needs to reconsider employing people who make their company look bad. I know we will never fly Northwest/Delta again, and we will make sure we tell others about our recent, horrible experiences.

Just wanted to share my displeasure with NWA. We are flying out of town today, my wife, our daughter (under 2 years old) and myself. We have 3 seats reserved since we wanted our daughter to have more room for the long flight. Long story short, I wanted to make sure we had 3 seats together.

Logged on to and tried to reserve the seats last night. It showed a few groups of 3 seats available at the time. It would not let me. It kept assigning us random seats all over the plane. So I decide to call NWA and see what was going on. I can't talk to anyone. They were experiencing high call volume and told me to try again later. Fine. It was the evening so I thought I would try this morning.

So this morning comes, I log in to the website. All the seats are now gone. I can't change them. My 15-month-old daughter is now seated alone in the back of the plane. Nice. They know she is under 2 since we had to specify it at the time of reservations.

Anyway, back to my complaint. I try to call NWA again. This time I get through and get their automated response system. It takes me through a series of hoops where it makes me talk to the computer, and the computer tries very hard to understand me by repeating it back 5 times. Each time it messes something else up and starts all over. Finally the computer gets my information correct, and then tells me they are having system problems and they will connect me to an operator. Great! That is all I wanted to begin with.

A few seconds go by, I get a message that they are experiencing high volume of calls and cannot take my call at this time. It hangs up on me. I spent 20 minutes battling the automated system for them to tell me they can't help me. Nice. Hopefully we can get at least two seats together when we check in at the airport. Otherwise I'm going to leave a bottle with the flight attendant and tell her good luck. ;-)

My six-year old son flew for the first time as an unaccompanied minor on Northwest Flight 1549 from Minneapolis to JFK. I was repeatedly assured by NW employees on the phone and at the Minneapolis airport that my son's mother would be allowed and expected to meet him at his gate at JFK. She arrived an hour before the flight with her ID and was told to wait in a specified room and our son would be brought to her.

When she informed the NW employees that she was assured that she would be able to meet him at the gate she was sent to see no fewer than five other employees. When she was finally allowed to go to his gate she was told that my son had been placed on a bus and was being taken to a waiting area at another terminal. He had been assured that his mother would meet him. He was finally brought to her half an hour after his flight had landed. He was, thankfully, fine, resilient lad that he is, but his mother was understandably upset by the events as was I.

After I contacted NW Customer Support at a non-800 number and waited nearly fifteen minutes for an agent, I received an apology and the offer of a hundred dollar flight voucher for a future flight. I explained to the agent ** that I was interested in neither.

What I wanted was for him to take down my complaint and to have someone research the situation and get back to me with an explanation of what happened and why. He informed me that my complaint was being duly noted and would be passed along to the relevant people so that this would not happen again. I responded that my confidence level in NW assurances was not high and wanted someone to get back to me. He said that was not possible but that I could file my complaint online and someone would get back to me.

Surely, it was not impossible for me to receive the service for which I asked, simply inconvenient for him and/or NW. They prefer me to email. I preferred, after their botching the treatment of my son the unaccompanied six year old minor, to speak to a live person and then receive a response, which could have been via email, explaining the how and why of what happened and what steps were being taken to rectify the situation. I didn't want a hollow apology nor a flight voucher from an airline so unwilling to address my request after their screw up.

I had flown with Northwest for many years while in the military, and then after. I swore by them, and would always tell anyone to fly with Northwest. I would not ever again. We went from Oregon Wisconsin to Memphis, with our final destination being Montego Bay, Jamaica. Our flight in Memphis scheduled to leave at 10 A.M. was cancelled due to crew. 200 and some odd people all going on vacation, honeymoons, or in the case of my brother-in-law going there to get married.

There were 13 of us on that flight who had planned this trip for over a year. NWA cancelled the flight for crew that day in Memphis. Oh yes, they put us all in hotels as there were no other crews or airlines available. Yes, they gave us a meal voucher that would not cover anything, much less make up for the all-inclusive resort we were to have been staying at. They made the bride and groom be forced to be married in Memphis in a makeshift ceremony due to them not being in Jamaica for 48 hours prior to their wedding.

Beyond all of that, they really ruined a vacation for my wife and I, basically ruining 2 days of our vacation, and all we got for it was an extremely rude manager at Memphis, no seat assignments on an overbooked US Airways flight (Kudos to US Airways for making it right and doing EVERYTHING they could to get us there), and a very polite "Go pile sand" letter from the complaint department.

I am in the most polite tone going to say and spread the word just as much as I used to when I would say 'go Fly NWA'. Well now I am saying I will never fly them again, nor would I ever recommend them. I will also NEVER fly Delta as they are now partnered. What a shame that a company can treat its customers this way and not even care. In this time when the economy is the way it is, I find it shocking that an airline would act in this manner.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA -- Okay so tell me why we all 9 family members booked tickets to visit D.C. to go to my uncle's wedding on Friday, & today is now Thursday and our flight WAS for Wednesday. We missed it & thought it was midnight Wed. but it was midnight Tue. which confused us (ESPECIALLY MY PARENTS & RELATIVES WHO BARELY SPEAK ENGLISH) & the associates said that they'd be confused too.

But when we called customer service we go trying to get another flight they tell me that NO we have not missed it, they tell my sister we have and they tell her we need to pay $7,000 dollars first then they tell her we need to. And then after 30 min of being on the phone he changes his mind and says "oh the prices were just raised to $11,000 DOLLARS from SFO to DCA." WOW ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS???

So then they go "no it's $150 per person plus $30.00" which is still too much but when we said OK then he jumped up to $8,000. At this point we are PISSED & now we can't find a cheap flight to fly out today noon so we can get there in time for the pre-wedding dinner & the wedding the next day, not to mention everyone is MAD at me for booking it with these CROOKS. They do this to SCAM MONEY!!! I recommend everyone to NEVER EVER USE NORTHWEST AS THEIR AIRLINES!!!

People like them should rot somewhere trying to use us people that make an honest living unlike them scamming innocent people. I swear anyone who flies with this airline is almost never satisfied because they are scam artists. And we don't get our money back so we just spent almost $3,000 for no reason & now we have to pay $500 per person to go & we don't have that kind of money. You don't want to know how much I cried, I still am. It's heartbreaking how heartless people are. We work hard for our money & there's people like NWA who screw us over. Shame that I live in a world like this.

I was scheduled to fly from OKC to IND on 1/28/09, but I am 26 weeks pregnant and very sick. I have a physician's note documenting that I cannot fly. On 1/27/09 I spoke to a NWA.com and reservations agent to see my best course of action to reschedule my flight. I was told that I could cancel my flight and would have until 1/28/10 to reschedule a trip. I specifically asked the reservations agent if I would lose any ticket value or pay any fees for this change. I was told by the agent that I would not. I now understand that this information was incorrect, but it is clearly what I was told.

Today I tried to rebook my flight for Feb. 5 to Feb. 12. When I search flights 6385/6104 outbound and 6284/6339 return on NWA.com, the total price of the flight is $238.90. My e-cert value is $226.89. Given what I was told by the reservations agent, I expected the cost of the ticket to be $12.01, but the cost to exchange the ticket is $1390.02.

I immediately contacted the reservations department to try to resolve the situation. I spoke to an agent and to a supervisor named **, neither were friendly or helpful. When I asked ** if I could speak to her supervisor, I was told that there was nobody higher than her within NWA that could help with this situation.

To say the least, I am extremely frustrated with this situation. I understand that the information that I was given was incorrect, but it is not my fault that I received false information. If I had been given the correct information, I would have used the weather waiver option and moved my outbound flight at no fee. I hope that you can assist me by waiving the reschedule fee to book a roundtrip between OKC and IND from Feb. 5-12. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

OAHU, HAWAII -- Let me start by saying I am a Minneapolis native, and though I've lived in San Diego for 20 years, I still do my best to support companies from my hometown. Unfortunately, time and again, Northwest has proven to be the most unfriendly, uncooperative company I have ever come across. We just had another experience that has finally broke this camel's back. My family and I ended up spending the night on a cold cement floor on the outside of the Oahu airport instead of getting on our flight which didn't leave for another 4 hours after we arrived at the airport. There was a complete blackout in Oahu and it caused some major chaos.

We had come on the last flight allowed in from Kauai. When we went to the "mainland terminal" to catch our flight to LAX the employees refused to allow us to get to the gate, because it was "closed" even though the flight could not go anywhere until the control tower had power again. When we finally got a supervisor, he literally threw a hissy fit, said "I've had a really stressful day. I can't take this. I'm outta here" and left. I doubt his stress included laying his head on a cement floor that night. As we lay there, cold, thirsty and tired, I could hear our flight take off at 3 am. NWA refused to help us in ANY way.

They would not try to get us an earlier flight the next day on any other airline--including Delta (the only flight from Oahu to LAX is at 11:10 pm) and they basically said, "go find a nice spot on the floor". I WILL NEVER USE NWA AGAIN. The employees are treated like crap, taking pay cut after pay cut while their CEO get multi-million dollar bonuses. It's no wonder they treat their customers like crap. I finally got some resolution, but from Hawaiian Airlines. They were absolutely phenomenal. We've decided that no matter the cost difference, the next time we fly to Hawaii, we are use Hawaiian Air.

I bought a ticket to Harrisburg, PA to see a doctor and never even made it to PA. My flights were delayed and cancelled to the point that I couldn't get to my appointment. Had to spend a night in Newark out of my own pocket. Now I have to fight NWA for a refund. I have enough medical expenses without NWA trying to steal $410 for not even getting me to the state of PA!

Addressing First Two comments: My initial flight was changed to a Continental flight arriving at Newark. Later delayed/cancelled flights were Continental. Flight home was NWA. Why is NWA using Continental? I paid NWA for the ticket. NWA has my money; they are responsible for giving it back. I did not choose Continental, NWA did. If one sleeps with rats expect a few bite marks. I was told my initial flight was delayed because of FA. Prove it! How can I tell I'm not being lied to? What a perfect excuse. There were no more connecting flights that night - nothing till the following morning (more delays and a cancellation).

The NWA folks at Newark gave me 800 number as a complaint number. The menu did not include anything about complaints. I was given a pay number but after about 30 times over the course of 2 days I never got through. My travel agent called several times and never got through.

I believe NWA's complaint number is a bogus number. Folks with problems aren't supposed to get through, they are supposed to get frustrated and give up. It's a scam. NWA's dirty laundry wouldn't be getting thrown across sites like this if they would answer complaint phones. This isn't the only place I'm spreading the word. Folks like me who are traveling to find answers to medical issues need to know that NWA is more than willing to screw over folks who are ill. I'm posting my story everywhere.

KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN -- I'll start off by saying that I missed an important flight today. I arrived at the airport less than 2 minutes past the "allowed check in time" (this information was not anywhere on my ticket or information. I arrived at 7:32 for an 8 am flight). This was because my little boy had a seizure this morning and I was doing my best to get there. When I arrived at the airport, I stood at the Northwest Counter for 15 minutes waiting for someone to come and help me.

AFTER they loaded and sent my flight on its way, they came out and told me that since I was 2 minutes late, there was nothing that they could do. I called their customer line and was told by them that there wasn't anything that they could or would do for me. I finally got someone from customer service to acknowledge that the time that you need to check in by is a Northwest policy and not an FAA requirement. I was eventually booked on a later flight which caused me to miss a very important business meeting at my destination.

Bottom line is/was that NWA just doesn't care. When I tried to contact a customer service manager simply to express my disappointment, I was told that they do not accept phone calls. I completely understand why companies need to have policies and procedures, but Northwest is one of the worst organizations that I have ever dealt with for lack of customer compassion and assistance.

If I ever have a choice in airlines, I do not choose Northwest! Save the time, contacting the 800# doesn't really do anything besides add to your frustration. They are rude, unhelpful and just make things worse. Customer care (701-420-6282) was better. Best bet, fly a different airline. I have had excellent service on American, Delta, and United.

I have flown Northwest frequently over the past few years, and I have to say that overall, they've been quite good. Until recently, they were the cheapest airline on my Boston-Montana route, and I always found that they were dependable, had few delayed flights, the customer service was helpful and friendly, and my luggage always came back to me in one piece with nothing missing - no problems.

I'm a musician who always travels with a guitar, a laptop, and other music gear, in addition to loads of other luggage, and they were always as accommodating as could be expected and I was never charged for extra baggage, and I was never forced to check my guitar. My travels would often go so smoothly I'd actually look forward to them! Even when my last roundtrip of flights turned out to be a disaster, they were actually rather commendable in most respects. On my way out, one of my connection flights was cancelled due to a bad snowstorm, and given the circumstances, I decided it'd be best to return home and try again the next day.

They said that my luggage would follow me, but unfortunately it didn't. So I spent the next day waiting at home, checking the internet luggage tracking database and being told repeatedly that there was no new data on it (so a small point deduction there). Finally I called and was told that it had continued on its way to my destination, and finally knowing where it was, I rebooked a flight. They did not charge me extra to reschedule, which I really appreciated. I finally reached my destination the next day, only to find one of my bags still missing. However, it was delivered to my mother's house the next morning, so it was frustrating, but not too shabby.

On the way back, my first flight was horribly delayed, which from my observation was primarily due to some confusion and incompetence of the staff. When I got to my first stop, my next flight, which was the last for the day, had already left, and I was told that the delay was classified as "weather-related", and as such, I was entitled to no compensation for having to stay there overnight.

At least they automatically put me on the earliest flight the next morning, but their only help for the night was a voucher that would supposedly give me a discounted stay at a nearby hotel; that discounted hotel room turned out to be $85, and as a student-musician, I wasn't willing to pay that, and spent the night in the airport. In the end, I got home safely, with all of my luggage intact, and I never had to spend any extra money for all the flight changes. It wasn't any fun, but I suspect it could have been much worse.