San Fran- the bad, or Dear Northwest Airlines: you suck!

Dear Northwest Airlines:

I regret to inform you that after my most recent trip with your airlines I will no longer fly Northwest for any of my travel plans. I have taken your airlines for each of the trips I have taken this past summer. Inevitably, each one has left a bad taste in my mouth. I write this letter not expecting to get a response or any positive resolution. It is my current belief that your airline encourages passengers to write these letters so you have something funny to pass around the office to know how you have made someone’s vacation miserable.

On my first trip, I flew to Seattle, Washington from Washington, DC. On the way back, a gate employee notified the passengers that the flight on one of the legs was oversold and would anyone be willing to change their flight and get a voucher. I was willing to do so. I got a voucher (which due to the extremely high price of this trip, I didn’t really save any money compared to what I could’ve gotten through your competitors through Orbitz, Hotwire, or any of the other travel price comparison websites. And then when I finally did arrive back home in Washington DC and I went to the baggage claim area since my flight should’ve already arrived. I found my luggage destroyed. Correction, I found my new luggage destroyed- luggage that was used only once before was now unusable. Technically, I knew there was no way to prove if it was Northwest’s fault, or the fault of the TSA. But at the point I am at now, I believe that it’s the fault of Northwest because your employees seem to have absolutely no regard for anyone else.

Regardless of how the Seattle trip ended, I was thrilled to be coming out for another trip to San Francisco. Oh the horrors of travel though. On the first leg of my flight (August 7, 2007), from DCA to Detroit, Michigan, we were informed that there was bad weather at the airport and for thirty minutes we needed to fly over Ohio until we had permission to laugh (or land as the case may be- thanks for pointing out the error). That thirty minutes turned into an hour and a half. Triple the time that was announced. Now, I completely understand that the weather is out of your hands (though I’m starting to doubt that as well). The fact that the pilot didn’t inform us of continuing delays was inconsiderate and rude, especially to have to extent a flight that is normally just over an hour to become two and a half. When we landed, we were informed to see the gate agent who was there to meet the plane about our connecting gate and not to worry because most planes had been delayed that were in Detroit.

So I stopped to visit the gate agent and she was informing people whether their flight was still there or if they needed to proceed somewhere for rebooking. She told me my flight was still there and that my gate was the other side of the Northwest Terminal. So I jogged to catch my next plane. Maybe I should’ve ran, but it’s a long distance to go from one end of the terminal to the next- even with the new tram you put in. I get to the gate only to find out that the plane took off three minutes after my first flight had ended. Clearly the gate agent knew this and decided not to tell me. So winded, I missed the next connection. The next gate agent gave me my new connecting flights, this time instead of a direct leg from Detroit to San Francisco, I now have to go through Denver. After I paid for an increase to be sat in an exit row. I was told I could not get a refund for that money because it was due to weather and was not the fault of the airline. So I should learn from that (you’ll see later that I do not).

Then the flight from Detroit to Denver was equally horribly bad. We were delayed boarding the plane by almost two hours because the flight attendants did not show up on time. I’ve read recently how your employees are often having sick-outs and intentionally creating delays and it seems that this is the case for this flight. I figured by this time there would be no way to catch my connecting flight in Denver and god knows what would happen next. When we landed, again we were told to speak to the gate agent about connecting flights. When I exited the plane, knowing at most I had 10 minutes to connect, I asked very quickly where to find my United Airlines flight (an airline that I have no problem using again mind you) that Northwest booked me on. A stout woman with an unfriendly demeanor and a bad perm for her black hair got snippy, flippant, and sarcastic. Something I didn’t need, but I was in a rush and had no time to deal with it, so I ran (yes, this time I had to run). I made the flight right as they were closing the doors. Unfortunately, my luggage did not. There was not enough time for your airlines to get my airlines my luggage (and if that’s not how it works then I want to know exactly what happened to my luggage in the meantime and why it wasn’t there when I arrived). So, the entire day I had to wear the same clothes I was traveling in (And mind you I lost half a day in San Francisco due to these changes). The next day my luggage had still not arrived. I went out and bought a new outfit as it was cold and I needed something clean to wear. I also bought some toiletries. Yes, these are all things that I can wear/use again. However, I am on a budget and having to put down $80 for a new outfit is not within my plans and so now I have to find other things to scrimp on financially to make sure I stay within my budget. All thanks to Northwest Airlines.

I only prayed that this would be the end of it. But today, as I checked in for the first leg of my flight back (August 11, 2007) from San Francisco to Memphis, I was told that they rebooked me for a later flight. While I would normally not have any problems with this, there is a major flaw in this customer service. The rebooking had occurred before I got to the airport, which means that someone could’ve notified me which would have allowed me to sleep in today. Since flights from the west coast to the east coast are unbearably early, this sleep would’ve been nice. After being booked on the new flight, the ticket agent printed me one set of boarding passes, which was nice since I had again (without learning my lesson) paid the extra money for an exit row. This ticket had an exit row on it. Then she takes my tickets back saying they were done in error and gives me a seat further back and in the middle seat. Then I had to ask specifically about the money I spent on the seats and she begrudgingly refunded me the money. Is Northwest Airlines in the business of robbing their customers blind (other than the ridiculous prices you charge for everything but oxygen)? Apparently it is because they are willing to do pretty much anything to get $15 from me, a flight at a time. Hopefully my luggage will make it home with me this time, but again I doubt it.

I hope this letter has entertained you. I don’t expect you to change your ways because of it. And God forbid you send me another voucher because it will go straight to the trash. I will never ever fly your airline again and I hope that I can be persuasive enough to my friends and family to do the same.