Is Northwest web site good for anything?

[erikthewise]

I found a good fare on Orbitz for a Northwest flight (not to Orlando), and tried to see if I could book it on www.nwa.com. It wouldn't even mention the flight unless I chose the "build your own" option, and then gave me a price WAY higher than Orbitz! This is completely the opposite of my experience with Delta, where I can always find the flight easily, and at the same price as Orbitz. What give with Northwest? Do you have to call them to get a decent price, or what?

 

[Roha]

sorry to hear you're having trouble with nwa's website. i did the same thing you did when i booked my flight. i used orbitz to find the best rate and then went to nwa's site. my only thought is that did you change the times of flights to match what you saw on orbitz? like changing to afternoon, or whenever the time of the flight was? that i remember changed results for me when i did it. just a thought. i have flown northwest several times and have always been very happy. also, when i had a question about something, i called their 800 number and had a great experince with one of their workers. very helpful. hope you get things figured out!

 

[CarolMN]

The problem is probably with the way the Orbitz site works. On more than one occasion, I have been unable to book a flight for the price Orbitz first shows. I have been told that after you actually try to book a flight, Orbitz then looks again for available seats. The "first dip" just shows the published prices, not necessarily available seats.

I do the same thing that you do - check Orbitz or www.itasoftware.com for prices. Then I go to NWA to actually book the flight. I do not want to pay the fee Orbitz charges (although I have tried to book via Orbitz when I encountered the same problem you describe. That's when I found out how Orbitz actually works). Also, I want to get the extra FF miles for booking via NWA's site.

NWA is not the easiest site to use. You often do have to "build your own trip" to find the fare that Orbitz shows. If it shows a different, higher price, then the low fare option shown on Orbitz is sold out or no longer available.

HTH.

 

[kamgen]

I noticed the same thing on NWA. I was trying to book from DTW to MCO and Orbitz offered more times. When I looked at NWA, the times were not listed. SO, I did the build your own and found the flights I wanted.
Orbitz helped me locate the best fares and times, but I booked on NWA site because it saved me the $10 fee.

Kamy

 

[erikthewise]

CarolMN,

Thanks so much for the ITAsoftware link! It's so much better and faster than Orbitz!

 

[Tiger926]

We use NWA's site all the time - it is easy to use. If it comes back without your flight, more often than not, it's not available. The best thing to do is just start from the main page and build your own flight - it only takes seconds, and this way you are assured of getting the correct info. It is quite specific about flight times, and dates, but once you make sure that this info is correct, you're good to go! I would give them another try, or call them on the phone - but a word of caution, sometimes their web prices and promos (extra points) are better. Also, make sure that you're not in the vacation package section, when you're checking air prices. Good luck with your search - there are great air deals to be had at the moment.

Tiger