Which Airline Do you Prefer?

[Jun aka Pekto]

I don't start that many threads. But, I'm planning another trip abroad and it struck me that the most enjoyable airline I've flown in thus far is Northwest Air during my trip to USA-Japan and back.

Why? The amenities. I'm not sure if this is standard fare among most airlines nowadays. But on the way to Japan, I rode in a Northwest Air 747. I only flew coach. However, some things got me smiling:

* The seats were fairly spacious
* All seats have an lcd touchscreen.
* A "huge" selection of movies and music all organized by genre
* Online duty-free shopping.
* Video games for a small fee
* A remote for the lcd screen which doubled as a gamepad and a phone (I think)
* Business class has internet capability plus power outlets to save battery power of laptops
* Business class also had some very nice seats which were literally beds when stretched out
* Add the usually good food and courteous crew

On the round-trip portion back from Japan, I flew Northwest Air again but this time on an Airbus ??? Same amenities. But the seats on coach and the spacing were even better than coach on the 747.

I haven't tried any other international airlines recently. So, I'm wondering if the amenities with Northwest Air is more common now on the other airlines. If it's not, then I'll have to stick with Northwest Air on the next trip. With the amenities on coach, I really don't see a need to go business class.

[OTEP]

No help from me. I also fly Northwest coach.

The airline whose cabin crew is composed mainly of lolas. hehehe.

[sequoia]

Na try ko na PAL, Cathay, Lufthansa at Singapore Airlines. For me singapore Airlines ang pinaka ok, kasi kahit economy class may LCD screens with free movies and free DOS video games. Ang se-***y pa ng mga stewardes.

[Isuzoom]

mr. jun, what are you travel plan? maybe i can help...airbus is my midlle name. tama is doc otep grumpy lola ang FA ng northworst airline.

[Jun aka Pekto]

mr. jun, what are you travel plan? maybe i can help...airbus is my midlle name. tama is doc otep grumpy lola ang FA ng northworst airline.

We'll see if my wife can't find anything. But, she has a lot of travel agent contacts on the "Pinay Grapevine". In fact, she's the one who arranged that last trip because she said I didn't know how to save.

Add: Anyway, the trip involves me and our daughter staying in Japan with my cousin while my wife, the (by then) newborn kid, and my mother-in-law continue on to the Philippines. My mother-in-law will stay in the Philippines while my wife and new kid head back to Japan where we'll meet and go sightseeing before heading back home. Tentative time is summer of next year.

[OTEP]

To be fair, the Asian leg of most NW flights are composed mainly of younger cabin crew members. It's the North American part that seems to be full of grannies. I don't have anything against older citizens. It was just an observation.

[Isuzoom]

CX economy trans pacific flights is always nearly full 85% load. If you are going to US east coast try singapore premium economy SIN to EWR (newark) world's longest non-stop flight 17HR30Min.

[CVT]

I always fly NorthWest para sa mileage. Suwerte kami dahil business class kami palagi all the way to CA. Normally, 2x-3x a year ang biyahe ko. Base sa mga airlines from Manila flying this route (MNL-SFO), pinakamura ang NW, followed by PAL. Iyon ang alam namin sa opisina....

Ngayon, video on demand na, dati hindi Mga lola nga from Narita-SFO, at suplada sila,- asar nga,-pero I make them work harder. Tipong tumitingin sa kulay. Pero Narita-Manila, mga bata at mababait ang mga cabin attendants. Iba talaga ang mga Asians.

Once, a couple of years ago yata, I needed to change plane dahil mas maaga akong umuwi, and I couldn't get confirmation from NW. I flew UA from SFO to Narita and JAL from Narita to Manila. I was impressed with JAL, malinis ang eroplano at masarap ang pagkain. And since 1 hour earlier ang arrival sa NAIA vs. NW from Narita,- wala kang kalaban sa immigration at madaling lumabas ng airport.

PAL,- ayos din sa mga panahon na ito. Direct flight pa kaya mas maigsi ang biyahe... Madali raw makakuha ng free flight vs. your accumulated mileage sabi ng kasama ko,- hindi katulad ng NW na 'madaya' at mahirap makakuha... Kailangang idoble mo ang mileage vs. published numbers para ka makakuha ng round trip ticket to the US. Hindi tuloy kami makapagbakasyon sa US na aking pamilya....

Cathay Pacific or Singapore Airlines,- maganda ang service, masarap ang pagkain - pero mahal ang pamasahe....

2901:pokemon:

[n2knee]

To be fair, the Asian leg of most NW flights are composed mainly of younger cabin crew members. It's the North American part that seems to be full of grannies. I don't have anything against older citizens. It was just an observation.

i think they are required to conform to the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of the US, which prohibits them from screening employees based on age, ***, religion, etc. kaya marami sa kanila ang matanda or overweight...

[chua_riwap]

Preferred airlines.....

- Singapore Airlines
- Cathay Pacific
- Emirates Airlines

The best ang Singapore. Mga ***y at ang babata. Lagi pang nakangiti, kahit pagod na sila.

Papuntang Tate naman, usually....

- AA (yung Class J nila, Bose Noise Cancelling HP ang bigay nila Galing! )
- UA
- Northwest

Mga lola na nga mga flight stewardess nila. Kundi naman lola...........ang lalapad! Hirap sila dumaan sa aisle.

[Jun aka Pekto]

Preferred airlines.....

- Singapore Airlines
- Cathay Pacific
- Emirates Airlines

The best ang Singapore. Mga ***y at ang babata. Lagi pang nakangiti, kahit pagod na sila.

I've flown Singapore Airlines once. I can't remember much of it because I spent most of the flight asleep. During the 90's, I flew on a number of Cathay Pacific flights on both coach and first/business class. Or maybe some of them were with China Airlines. I know business class on those airlines had a lot of the same amenities back then. but, coach didn't. Like I said, I'm a bit behind when it came to airline travel. That's why I was surprised with Northwest Air.

I should try Singapore Airlines again. I've heard nothing but good things about that airline.

[fireblade]

Just flew to Amsterdam last week on KLM (777). Business class was superb and seat can be reclined 180 degrees with matching massager. Food was great and entertainment was superb. Connecting to other European countries is almost hassle free in Amsterdam. Went to Paris for a couple of days and back to Manila all in one week. The Business Class seat was just so comfortable I didnt feel tired at all.

By the way, in Amsterdam MJ is legal and I was talking to a police officer on bike and he was actually rolling his "joots" and puffing after.

[Jun aka Pekto]

No help from me. I also fly Northwest coach.

The airline whose cabin crew is composed mainly of lolas. hehehe.

Well, the 747 I flew had an almost all-Japanese crew and some of the women looked quite young. On the Airbus... Yup. There were a couple of prunes. But, most I wouldn't consider too old...late twenties, early thirty's. Still, I didn't pay much attention to them because I was busy watching movies. The selection of good movies was plentiful enough that I actually never had to turn on my portable dvd player.

[Isuzoom]

emirates EK, cathay pacific CX, singapore airlines SQ.....these airline is the benchmark of airline industry...and they are all asian asian airlines.

[Rasputin]

My two cents worth..
EMIRATES Airlines- Skywards Freq flyer program( loads of perks ++++)
Latest aircrafts plus superb meals,best inflight entertainment.
Efficient, caring, gracious cabin crews even their ground staffs.

[BongersVX200]

No help from me. I also fly Northwest coach.

The airline whose cabin crew is composed mainly of lolas. hehehe.

I agree with Otep..When we flew from Narita on the way to LAX...halos lahat ng crew nila,,medyo matatanda na...

[Dekra]

I agree with Otep..When we flew from Narita on the way to LAX...halos lahat ng crew nila,,medyo matatanda na...

Mas lola yung crew ng American Airlines, yung iba di mo alam kung babae talaga.

Singapore Airlines gets my vote.

[swordsman]

Napag-usapan na lang din ang mga airlines.....

Nasubukan nyo na bang ma-delay ang flight ng 8 hrs? That happened to me with PAL! I was still working in Bahrain before (1996). Pabalik na ako ng Bahrain, from my vacation (via Dubai). From Dubai, connecting flight ako via Gulf Air na. Yung plane na sasakayan sana namin, never arrived (from Dubai). Na-cancel yung Dubai-Manila flight. Kaya wala kaming masasakyan. Nu'ng una, delayed lang daw ng 2 hrs. Then another announcement na another 2 hrs. Marami na nagreklamo.

Then eto na, since wala ngang plane na available, in-announce ng PAL, na yung plane na galing Sydney yun pa pinahintay sa amin. Yung flight naming hapon, gabi na ang alis. Yung mga passengers, sa NAIA waiting lounge lang. Di man lang kami pinag-hotel. Ang meryenda, napakasarap! Nakikita ko lang ito sa mga lamayan.........yung "walang kamatayang" egg sandwich at yung patok na Sunny Orange drink!

Eventually, ipina-cancel ko rin yung flight ko, since di ko na mahahabol yung connecting flight ko sa Dubai.

Nung sa Singapore pa ako, kahit yung mga PAL flights pa-Singapore, nadi-delay din. Kaya laging SQ lagi ako, kahit mas mahal. Dito sa Saudi, wala na ang PAL. Mahina daw kasi ang kita sa rutang ito. Eh, pa'no, masagwa ang serbisyo. Kaya mga OFWs, mas preferred yung Saudia, Cathay at Emirates.

Im sorry nasubukan ko narin pala ang PAL back in 1975 noong mag immigrate ako dito states Boieng DC 10 pa noon. Cancel din ang flights namin for almost 7 hrs. at hindi rin kami pinakain mabuti nalang yong mga naghatid sa amin nadoon pa rin sila at hindi sila umalis hanggat di pa kami lumilipad. Kaya kumain muna kami sa labas. Yan ang reason na ayaw ko na sa PAL.

After 20+ years, same story with PAL.

Ano ba talaga ang mga causes ng flight delays ng PAL? Technical, mechanical problems? Limited no. of units? Sirain ba talaga ang PAL? O talagang naging habit na nilang i-delay ang mga flights. Nakakabwisit na kasi itong airline na ito.

Baka nag-iintay ng mga pasaherong observing the Filipino time..hehehe.

[shadow]

I'm going to HK next weekend, and I'm flying with PAL, no choice eh sila pinakamura....hehehe