Northwest Airlines customer service reviews

Read the reviews below to see the experience other people have had when dealing with customer service from Northwest Airlines.

Posted by mckinney90m


Becareful of N.W.A when making reservations over the phone. Had a death in family needed tickets found some online for $489.00 round trip husband wanted all seats together so he called Northwest directly and gave flight info and they said they had that flight for $499.00, he figured the difference was ok to get the kids close to him. The tickets priced to us for breavement was $520.00 so the other tickes were cheaper. To make a long story short when we got our credit card bill they charged us $859.39 per ticket. I believe the reservation person made a BIG mistake somewhere and now we are the ones that have to pay for their mistake. With numberous phone calls they said they could not do anything, after weeks of e-mailing back and forth they finally gave the difference in vouchers but they must be used for the original ticket holders within a year. We will most likely only be able to use the one for my husband. He is military and gone a lot so that money will not be wasted. My daughters are student and they will not travel. All we asked for them is that the vouchers can be used within that year for any immediate family member. They said no, only the original ticket holders. What does it matter who uses the vouchers? They would only let me talk to one certain customer service rep and she was not going to budge on her decision. I will not fly with them again and I want the public to be aware of their little tricks when they price a ticket for you over the phone.

Posted by Anonymous


Was on Flight 1732 on Feb 21 and was cancelled due to flat tire and was flown out next day in Am.Computer system was not working and check in took 2hrs and was at airport from 1000 am until 1830.
No one spoke english to assist with process.
Voucher? ect.. and wanted to commend an agent of your airline for helping out with connecting people to flights.

Posted by Anonymous


I made round trip reservations between Seattle and Hawaii for my wife and myself. I made these reservations, online through ORBITZ. During the application process I was presented with a block where I was to enter my seating choices. Upon taking a look at the aircraft seating arrangements, which showed well over half the seats as AVAILABLE, aisle seats 23D and 23C. My wife and I are each in our mid 70s and I chose these seats due to medical reasons. There was absolutely no delay in charging the travel to my visa card. I was billed immediately. But, an hour sor so later my confirmation, by email, indicated that my wife's seat would be 45A and mine would be 41F. They were window seats at the rear of the aircraft on opposite sides of the plane. I made a phone call to ORBITZ and the agent replied that for some reason Northwest was assigning the seats without consideration of my request for seats. So, I called Northwest Customer Service at there 800 line and was informed, "Sir, you may request a seating change, through me, at this time, for $50,00 per seat (50 bucks per seat).

Posted by Anonymous


Ditto on all of the complaints. I was in St. Louis on 1/16/09 and they cancelled our flight due to a baggage door that the sensor wouldn't shut off. I was traveling with 2 small children, one noticibly sick (vomitting). The agent at the desk would not even help me, said I had to stand in line behind the 100 other people waiting to get rebooked. I ended up on a flight 12 hours later, with NO HELP! I won't fly NW again.

Posted by mr info


everybody needs to realize nw airport agents
are not true nw employees.they fired the real
employees in a save money program several years ago.they contracted out the jobs to
menzies,swissport and others.get names and dates for poor service,send letter to the
customer care office or fax or email
they do respond.there always is a gate and a
ticket counter supervisor on duty.ask them
if problems to call or use walkie talkie

Posted by traveller who wants to help othe


the phone listed above 800-692-6980 is for
people at the airport to rebook a cancelled
flight.for complaints comments compliments
send email to customer care from nwa.com
send fax or letter or call 701-420-6282
mon-fri 730am to 7pm central time
calling reservations is a waste of time
they cant help.send a email or fax or letter
is best...hard to get on the phone.

Posted by Anonymous


I just booked a round trip flight from Detroit to Tampa, FL. for my wife and I. As no seats were assigned for the flight down, I called NW Airlines to get assigned seat numbers. I was told I had to wait until 24 hrs. before the flight to get assigned seats as 60% of the flight was already booked. Now what that had to do with no assigning the remaining 40%, the operator didn't know.

I amd very angry at this policy, and will not use NS Airlines again!

Posted by GGW


We recently flew NWA roundtrip from Seattle to Columbus-via Minneapolis, OH for a conference. The conference ended early, so I contacted NWA reservation by phone and asked if it was possible to leave on an earlier flight. After giving my confirmation number, I was told that there were seats available on an earlier flight to Seattle from Columbus via Detroit, but we would have to pay a standby fee of $25 per leg of the trip, or $50. We were scheduled to leave Columbus at 7 p.m., the Detroit route left at 5 p.m. We therefore made an effort to get to the airport as soon as possible so that we would be first on the standby list. We checked in at about 2 p.m. and were told that we could not do standby we would have to pay a change fee of $150, plus the difference in the ticket cost. The total was over $700! We tried to explain that this was not what we were told over the phone or we would not be at the airport 5 hours early. The only response we received was that the information we received was wrong. We decided to try our luck at the gate, knowing that there were seats available and hoping that the information we received over the phone was accurate. We were finally told that the standby rate did not apply as we were changing routes! When we asked to speak to a manager, we were told that management did not work on weekends. We could not believe this. Weather was questionable as snow storms were predicted for both routes and snow was falling in Columbus. I would assume that an airline would want to get as many customers to their destinations as possible and the sooner the better. The icing on the cake is I shared this story with a friend who said the same thing happened to him while flying NWA. He too refused to purchase a new ticket. However, when it was time to board his flight the plane was overbooked and they were asking for volunteers to give up their seats!!! Get it together! Have some foresight and empower your employees because they sure appear to be ignorant. I am an extremely frustrated consumer.

Posted by Anonymous


My story is the same as most. Delays,cancelled fights, last second gate changes, no help from airline reps. We were stranded in Minneapolis for two days without our luggage because the flight crew for our plane ran out of allowable hours to fly. Of course the airline had no other crew so we were on our own. No reimbursement for hotel, food and transport. Rude counter personnel. We had this going to and from our destination. When we finally got back to our starting point our luggage was again missing.
They said they would deliver it later that day but once again it didn't happen.
In this day and age when companies are going bankrupt and out of business this is truly one company that deserves to fail. I'll never use them again. Northwest, you SUCK!!!

Posted by Anonymous


Your Customer Service is horrible!! We were on flight #NW 162 from Seattle to Minneapolis- Our flight was late arriving in Minneapolis they did nothing to help us. We were traveling with 6 adults and 4 small children. We ended up renting a car and driving 300 miles home in the middle of the night costing us an extra $800 for 2 cars. We were told repeatedly this was not Northwest Airlines fault- Our bags were lost and we were told this is not our fault but your fault- How can it be our fault when your airlines loses are bags! We will never fly Northwest Airlines again nor will any of our family members! You can take your $25 voucher and use it for toilet paper!! Our son just called and him and his wife are now stranded in Minneapolis with no help to be had from Northwest Airlines- Your Airlines has terrile Customer Service- I work in Customer Service and would never treat a customer the way your Airlines does!!

Posted by Amber J. Buntin


I have never been this dissatisfied with a company and how it handles its customers. The ticketing agents in the San Antonio Airport are uncaring, unhelpful, and extremely unsympathetic with customers. My flight was delayed and instead of attempting to find another flight for the same day, I was rebooked with united. The new flight did not fly out until the next day in the afternoon. No other compensation was even offered.I am having to pay for extra daycare, gas, and cab fare. I am also loosing 3 days of military leave. No one appologized for their rudeness or attempted to help. I also attempted to contact customer service via telephone with no results. I waited for over fourty minutes and still did not get through to a customer care operator.

Posted by Sherrice


I made a reservation on NWA - first tried to make reservation on line and then got to end and this VISA verification came up and would not allow me to finish..Guess what that means i have to contact NWA via phone in order to make a reservation. It costs $20 extra for a Customer Service agent to make a flight reservation- no matter what the circumstance. WOW. Ok got pass that and I tried to get my seat assignments for flights. The only seats available are seats you purchase-premium seating and choice seating. I call Customer Service and they tell me I cant get a seat until 24 hrs prior to departure. They got my money 2 weeks prior to departure but i cant get a seat until 24hrs prior because they want to try and make passengers pay extra money for seats to get now and not wait until 24 hours prior to departure. NWA is a rip off and I will never fly with them again. Customer Service agents are very rude and do not help at all. CSA starting yarning while I was explaining my problem online..

Posted by Anonymous


I recently traveled Northwest Airlines from Washington DC at Washington Dulles airport on NW 1874 bound for Taipei, on November 21, and then returned to Washington DC on NW 0096, December 2. I requested diabetic meals through the travel agent when booking, online through www.northwest.com, and through discussions with the flight crew just before departing. I did not recieve the special diabetic meals to meet my dietary needs on these flights. I am very unhappy with my travel experience on your airlines. I will never fly Northwest Airlines again, as I have never encountered this inconvenience with any other air carrier. I will tell all my friends, family, and coworkers never to travel Northwest Airlines. If there can be any kind of compensation for this I would feel better.

Posted by Anonymous


I called this number, 1-800-692-6980. After explaining that my seat mate had dropped her overhead bag on my glasses and broken then, she explained that she was in reservatons only. True, or is NWA now lying, too?

Posted by Anonymous


I forgot to tell you that the reason "I" think that the supervisor DID NOT WANT TO DEAL with this flight, was that a couple of hours earlier ANOTHER FLIGHT to MEMPHIS had to be cancelled. SHE PROMPTLY GOT A BUS for the ones that wanted to get to their destination and then catch their connecting flights or newly rescheduled flights. MY QUESTION WAS...were WE NOT AS IMPORTANT as the group before us? DID WE not pay the same cash for our tickets. WHY WERE WE ignored and they were taken care of? AGAIN, were WE NOT AS IMPORTANT as they were? Why couldn't they have gotten another bus and gotten us to Memphis to connect to other flights??? IN MY OPINION, it was because she had had to put up with it once that day and didn't feel like she had to again. There was no one there to SUPERVISE after 6:00 PM and no one there to make decisions. EVEN THE GIRL behind the checkin-out said that she had NEVER seen this happen and she HERSELF couldn't understand why they wouldn't even give us a meal, another ticket, or a hotel ..or any ONE of the three !!! GRRRRRRR I am stilllllllllll mad !! AND STILL would like some type of compensation. WE NEVER EVEN GOT AN "I'M SORRY from NORTHWEST" even though the little girl was really apologitic

This is a closure to the post before this one.

Posted by Anonymous


I am wondering why you don't take care of your customers when the cancelled flight is YOUR FAULT. I was suppose to spend the weekend with my new granddaughter while her parents went to a formal affair. I was suppose to have left on a Thursday afternoon. I took off work that afternoon so that I could be able to be there at checkout on time. WHY? At the appointed time, the entire flight was still standing there as they said it would only be a few more minutes. At 15 minute intervals, this continued for 2 HRS !!! The attendant behind the desk didn't know what to do and the one helping her was the gentleman that LOADED OUR LUGGAGE on the PLANE !! AFTER 2 hrs. they passed out a 1-800 # saying that we might be able to book a flight faster that way. One customer called right after they told us it WASN'T cancelled, only to find it WAS !! People were sooooo mad ! I was upset because they were blaming my city instead of the airline! Finally the girl behind the desk, who had been the one to originally check me in at the front of the airport, told everyone that it was cancelled. If they wanted to talk further they would have to go back up front at the initial check-in AND the gentleman had to go back out and UNLOAD our luggage.

Once there, a few of us showed up. I was only going to have a layover for an hour and a half. I didn't take but $20 with me however, NOTHING was done for the passengers ! NOTHING !!! NO MEAL, NO FLIGHTS, NO HOTEL. As a matter of fact the girl behind the counter called her supervisor when we asked to speak to her. HER SUPERVISOR PLANLY TOLD THE GIRL ...DON"T GIVE THEM ANYTHING !!!!!!!!! SO WE SLEPT at the AIRPORT...no meal, no flight, no HOTEL. Our flights were rescheduled at 11:00 PM on another airlines!!! and it was scheduled for 5:30 A M the next morning ! Instead of going from ARKANSAS through Memphis to my destination of Kentucky, (originally a quick flight) NOW I WAS GOING THROUGH HOUSTON several HUNDRED MILES in the opposite direction. NEEDLESS TO SAY, we were NOT HAPPY !! When we switched planes in Houston...again mechanical trouble but they fixed it within 30 minutes. I GOT TO MY DESTINATION just 4 hrs. before their formal event was to start. I was tired, I was mad because I had lost precious time with my new grandchild !!! On the way back home, my son had just dropped me off at the airport and within 5 minutes I learned that NORTHWEST had cancelled on me AGAIN !!!!! AGAIN..no meal, no flight, nothing was offered. I asked for a meal since I got there at 10:30 AM on a Sunday morning and I was not to leave until 4:30 PM ! They declined to give me a meal saying WE DON"T DO THAT ANYMORE !

This time I was rescheduled on ANOTHER airline and stopping in NORTH CAROLINA !!!!AGAIN in the opposite direction. We got left late and while I was originally suppose to be at home by 5:00 PM. I was now getting to the airport ..not HOME...at 10:30 PM. I had spent more time going on a 2 hr flight than I had the entire time in KENTUCKY. I lost valuable time with my new granddaughter, no one was in a pleasant mood and they were so rushed and stressed and had to change plans to accommodate the airline changes that I WAS TOTALLY DISGUSTED. NORTHWEST YOU NEED TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS !!!!!!!! We booked with you on good intentions that you would. NOW I AM RELUCTANT TO EVER FLY WITH YOU AGAIN, unless you rectify this error and you can BETTER BELIEVE that I will tell EVERYONE I KNOW ...NOT TO FLY NORTHWEST..unless something is done to accommodate this situation !!!

Posted by Anonymous


I flew on NW 808 from HNL to MSP 27 OCT 2008. Denise Martin was a flight attendant working in coach. She is outstanding. She has a special concern for passengers you don't often find on board American major carriers any more. I strongly recommend you have Denise Martin teach other NWA flight attendants how to provide customer service. You could only improve your cabin service. I am in the Navy and was travelling to Houston, TX via MSP and I saw Denise help many passengers who were just not happy about various little things that most flight attendants would not have concerned themselves with. My request to move to another seat in a near full plane was not really reasonable itself. But Denise showed nothing but great attitude and customer care. Promote her, and beg her to teach your other flight attendants. She is a ray of sunshine in a dark stormy sky that is today's airline passenger experience. Aloha, Tom

Posted by Chad


I just flew with you from Seatle to Minneapolis on the 3rd of November. I was on flight 804 seat 42D which is an isle seat. I was with my wife who also had an isle seat across from me in 42C. We boarded the plane and there was a 400lb guy sitting in my seat and another big guy sitting by the window, with a empty seat between them, or should i say half a seat between them. Both of these guys had to have seat belt extensions.
This guy was in my seat and not moving. The flight attendant did not do anything to make this guy move. She acted like it was my problem. She said the flight was booked full and I should find a seat. I was clearly not going to sit between these to guys in a half of a seat. Eventually I did find a empty seat between to other big guys but not quite as big, big enough for the one to have his leg over in my area, under the seat in front of me, and we could not even bring the armrest down. On top of that I'm seperated from my wife.
Not a happy camper.

Posted by Anonymous


My flight was overbooked even though i booked my flight 3 weeks ahead of time i am a not happy travler

Posted by Anonymous


I have recently witnessed something on your airline that I find should be addressed. I checked one bag for a $15 price (I did this both going and coming for a total of $30). Most others carried their big bags to the door of the airplane and they had gotten a bag ticket at the departing gate. These bags were then put in a special compartment for no charge. After the plane landed they waited on the ramp for their bags to be given to them and did not go to the baggage arrival for their bags.

Posted by Anonymous


I just changed a flight from a thursday (almost 2 months away) to a wednesday, flying out of the same airport at the same time and was charged a fee of $200. If your hurting for business so bad you should find a way to make it more convienent for the customer. I find it ridiculous that i have to pay to take 2 seats that are already open on the same flight the day before. I will never fly Northwest again.

Posted by De


I attempted to book online for a flight. I have a hyphenated last name which many credit card companies will not spell out(use an initial) and therefore it does not exactly match my drivers license. Online booking kept saying I was using a third payer system. I called customer service who very bluntly told me they would not help without charging me a service fee since their system refused to take my card. I used another airline who had no problem helping me without a service charge.

Posted by sherrye synak


My husband and I flew out of Ft lauderdale Fl on flight nw1029 on August 14th. The flight was to leave Ft lauderdale at 1:10 pm however the flight left at 2:40 pm which caused us to miss our connecting flight #3318 minneapolis to Lincoln Ne. finally arrive at Lincoln at 11:03 instead of 6:09 which made it impossible for my husband to meet with his customers.

Our return flight 3250 August 18th Lincoln to Detroit was cancelled due to weather which is perfectly acceptable so we reschedule same flight time following day. We board that plane in Lincoln only to have generator problems again and ofcourse no other flights available causing us to spend another night in Lincoln (at our expense).

We finally fly out the next day on United.

The end result due to our flight with Northwest is it caused my husband to miss his business meeting (which was the orginal purpose of the trip. It caused both of us to lose a day of work due to the fact we were unable to return the 19th due mechanical problems with the plane. It caused us hotel accomadiations, and meals. We purchased the tickets for $500.00 which we thought was a great price only to find out it would cost us another $1000.00 due to delays and mechanical problems with the planes.

We would like to be reimbured the $500.00 we paid for those tickets.

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