Northwest? Buying Tickets?

[Princess2BsMom]

Planning on flying on Northwest. This will be my first time buying tickets. I have flown before but it was always with a vacation package. I am worried that if I don't go ahead and buy the tickets now --- the way the gas prices are headed I will pay a lot more if I wait too long. Just really wanting some feedback on Northwest and buying the tickets.

By the way we are going in September and the #1 reason for choosing Northwest is the location of the airport and it is a direct flight!

Thanks for the help!

[TIdoubleGR]

Just so you know, if you are buying tickets on NWA.com, they usually have their promo fares on Thursdays. The nice thing is that if you keep checking their site and have a lower fare after purchasing your ticket, they'll usually give you a refund for the difference so long as it's in a specific window.

I always fly northwest because we have a hub up here in Detroit...never had a problem with them. Good luck!

[Bear]

Just saw a story on the news about Northwest raising prices and offering fewer flights starting in the fall due to rising gas prices. We are going back in the fall as well. We usually fly spirit but sometimes Northwest. I am going to grab the first deal I see.

[MNNHFLTX]

I think it makes sense to buy your tickets soon. I have also heard that Northwest may raise their rates again in the near future.

I totally understand your reasons for choosing Northwest, but cannot recommend them myself, unfortunately. I grew up in Minnesota where Northwest was king, at the time (it was their homebase). Sadly, after flying them a couple of times in recent years, I will not do so again. Customer service was greatly lacking and the nickel-and-diming for every amenity was a total turn-off (although I suppose that's the future for many airlines). However, for a short flight, I'm sure they are fine.

[PetefromRI]

We had a horrible time with NW 3 years ago.We had a death in the family while on vacation and not only didn't they give us a bereavement rate to leave our vacation early,they charged us more for changing our flight.I'll walk to Disney before I ever fly NW again.

[MOJoe]

I had the same dilemma a couple of months ago. Since i like to fly out of Memphis, and that being a Northwest hub, i struggled to get "good" airfare.
Something that i noticed with my incessant price checking, was that the days that the price of crude oil was higher, airfare prices quickly followed. I keep CNBC on the TV quite often at work, so it was easy to keep up with. And when there was a price drop in oil, down below $100, sure enough, airfare dropped. By keeping on top of this, i saved as much as $400 for my family of 4.
You may not be inclined to follow the oil market, but for those who can, this really helped save a significant amount of money.