Stinking Airlines

We've recently come back from a trip to the states.

We usually use BMI from Manchester to Chicago and then from Chicago to Phoenix but BMI appear to no longer go from Manchester, so we looked elsewhere.  Last year we used KLM to go to Tanzania and really liked them so decided to use them again. As a bonus we could fly from Leeds/Bradford to Amsterdam to Detroit then to Phoenix. It's more flights but the trip between Leeds and Amsterdam was so small that we didn't mind.

Oh how dissapointed we were to find that the major leg of our journey, from Amsterdam to Detroit, was not to be with KLM but their affiliate, Northwest Airlines who have recently been taken over by Delta. Two of the worst airlines I've ever used.

The service was appalling. Jon is a vegetarian and specifies this when booking so that he can get the special vegetarian meal. On the way over to the states they didn't have this down and instead of being apologetic, the attendant gave us really bad attitude and told us that the pasta was vegetarian and practically threw it at him.

Their inflight entertainment system was buggy on both flights. On the way there they had to keep rebooting the entire system which took 15 minutes every time. You'd be halfway through a film and they had to do it again! On the way back Jon's system didn't work at all. We reported it a couple of times but, again, instead of apologising they just said there was nothing we could do about it.

I was really shocked at how bad the flights were. We've never experienced it as bad as this. Jon was quite ill on the way back. I think part of it was due to the food.

Never using them again. I'm also super annoyed that when we booked the flights we were never told we'd actually be using another airlines. I anticipate that we would be using an American airline once we got into the states but I foolishly believed that KLM would be doing the major leg of the trip.

It's such a shame because KLM were always really good but their affiliates suck bum.

DH used to do that run with KLM from Yeadon to Amsterdam and then Boston and it very often was Northwest for the overseas leg. And it was fine in those days.  Do you think airlines are just getting crappier in general? We've been using American most recently and have found that they have gotten worse. I particularly find it offensive that they now serve the coffee/tea in those flimsy cardboard-y cups rather than the plastic ones.

Ugh. Sorry you had such a bad experience. I always just go with BA these days. I made a few flights with AA in the beginning, and the customer service was so awful that I vowed never to fly with them again and so far, I haven't. That really sucks, though, that they had you fly with another affiliate company and you didn't even know in advance. I would be pissed off, too!  

Northwest was always a decent airline - nothing special or fancy, but decent.  However, since they were bought/merged/whatever with Delta, they have taken on all of Delta's horribleness.  I used to not mind booking with KLM/Northwest, but now it's like Russian Roulette as you never know what carrier they're going to dump you on.

Sorry you had such an awful experience.  Nothing takes away the fun from a trip like a miserable flight experience.

That sounds pretty horrible, my friend is a vegetarian and when we flew with BA she'd forgotten to specify she was veg, they went out of the way to combine a couple of meaty meals into a veg meal, (i'e they removed the main meall) so she got double salad, double fruit and then they got a cheese sandwich out of the snack box leg and gave her that as her main course. They were really apologetic about it, which I thought was nice as it wasn't their fault at all and my friend definitely had enough to eat on what wasn't a long flight to NYC.

I love continental for transatlantic, you get a proper power socket between every two seats, and the entertainment is brilliant. I've converted my DB from AA to continental

I've got international flights scheduled with American, US Airways, and United between now and May...I'm sort of dreading them all.  I flew twice this summer with Virgin and had GREAT experiences both times, but the lure of cheap flights on US carriers was too hard to resist this time around.    I can't eat dairy and Virgin so far has been the only airline I've found that has been able to accomodate my dietary requests.  The US carriers will either offer vegetarian with dairy or meat with dairy...nothing without!  I have learned by now to bring food with me on the plane--usually a combination of snacks from home and a sandwich or larger meal purchased at the airport just before takeoff.  I once came really close to fainting while getting off a flight because of not having any food on a really long international flight and now I never trust airlines to get the food thing right!

My flight experience on US Airways a couple weeks ago was similar. They delayed my first leg by several hours, causing me to have no chance of making my connection, so they sent me back home to catch the next day's flight (into a different airport, of course, so that screwed up my travel plans). No apologies, no "here's a voucher for a free flight", just "yeah, go home, come back tomorrow". (I even asked, foolishly, for a $10 credit to cover the parking I'd paid to sit in the airport and not go anywhere, and was told they have no control over that.)

My entertainment system didn't work on the outgoing leg, and my vegetarian meal choice was ignored both times (like your husband, I was informed that the pasta was vegetarian, but it was still disgusting and did make me queasy).

I think airlines in general are going downhill. Southwest is the only one I've flown recently where it's been a vaguely positive experience.

I love continental for transatlantic, you get a proper power socket between every two seats, and the entertainment is brilliant. I've converted my DB from AA to continental

I flew Continental this summer to the UK, and was very pleased with the entire experience.  I'd definitely fly them again!

I flew Continental this summer to the UK, and was very pleased with the entire experience.  I'd definitely fly them again!

My friend flew Continental from Newark to Edinburgh and really liked it. I would give them a go, otherwise, I stick with BA as they seem to be pretty consistent, IMO. The attendants are always VERY nice on BA, while the ones on American Airlines were so incredibly rude on two different flights, that I decided I would never fly with them again. Jerks! 

We recently flew BA and have always been so pleased with their service. This past trip, however, ALL the attendants were the RUDEST bastards I've ever encountered on a flight. Not surprisingly though, they announced a major layoff a day or two after we flew - maybe the flight attendants knew that was coming?

Anyway, I agree that service on airlines seems to be going downhill all around.

I used to fly Continental from Bristol to Newark and I can't think of any time when I was disappointed with the flight, but I don't have any special requests (i.e. veg meal, children, etc) so I'm not sure how they would work with that.

I generally find Continental okay, but at least in my experience--and I don't know if this is still the case!--I've found that some of their transatlantic planes only have one aisle. Maybe that's only the case on their lesser travelled international routes, but I was stuck a couple of times on long flights on 757s (3+3) configurations. Not too much fun when getting on and off...or on getting out of your seat during the flight.

Are they now using 777s on their European routes? If they are...I might make the switch to them too!

The Bristol-Newark was always a 757 on Continental.

Virgin has always been good for Mr. A.  One time they messed up his meal (and IIRC, there was something else that was amiss) on a flight over for our anniversary, and a card "from" Richard Branson (I don't think it was literally sent from him) and a bottle of champagne was waiting for him when he landed.  When we were doing LDR, it was only Virgin or BA.  We had some problems with Continental, but this was years ago.

One of the best flights for Mr. A was being bumped to first class in Virgin.  He's been bumped on BA, Continental, and Virgin, and he says being bumped on Virgin is best.

I absolutely hate flying, so this is good information for me. I am a "bad flyer". I am not sure when we are going to be able to visit the States again, but I don't need to have really bad service on top of being a pile of nerves.

I've always flown United. Excellent Customer Service with the reservations staff when I've phoned them to request my veggie & DD's Children's meal and the check in desks are very understanding when I refuse to use the self-service check in and insist on using the manned check in.

The only issue we've had is with the Cabin Crew, but I can say that the incidents we have had with them have been out of the ordinary (this trip the little boy next to me started throwing up 2 hours into the flight and I had requested to be reseated away from them to keep DD from catching whatever bug he had and they told me that 'it was too late to request that' when he had just started to be sick). DH seems to think it's the British cabin crew members that when hearing my husbands accent (and apparently I have picked up a bit of one as well) that is why we're treated the way we are. He seems to think we get better service when they have a mostly American Cabin Crew.

I'm not sure. But overall it's probably the only airline I'll fly going back to California since they're one of the only ones that fly direct from LHR to SFO and then connect to the teeny tiny airport 10 minutes from my parents house. I've flown United for 20 years and I'd say they're at least above average.

They have 777's going transatlantic, plus have always had our special meal requests.