"Greg Beaulieu" wrote in message
news:cke6al$a02$1@News.Dal.Ca...
> Hi, my first post here.
>
> Thought I'd share my experiences on a trip from Halifax to Seattle I took
> at the end of September. This was my first trip to the USA in 5 years.
>
> I booked myself on Northwest out of Halifax to Detroit, then connecting to
> Seattle. I had flown NWA to Detroit 6-7 years ago and back then it was a
> DC-9 if memory serves. This time it was a Canadair regional jet and I have
> to say I didn't like the aircraft much. The seats were cramped, the
> windows rather low, and although it seemed fairly fast it was a bit noisy.
> Plus at both airports there were no jetways used and we had to walk onto
> the tarmac. I have to think there would be enough traffic to justify a
> bigger airplane on that route.
>
> Customs in Detroit was easy enough and the NWA terminal there is very
> impressive. After a short layover I caught their flight to Seattle on a
> 757. Great flight, good service, quiet and comfortable. Landed in Seattle
> on time and Sea-Tac airport seemed to be somewhat run-down, but
> functional. I had a rental car booked thru National and that was an
> ordeal, both finding their desk after a long trek on foot thru a parking
> garage, then getting served. The whole rental car scene at Sea-Tac seems
> very poorly thought out, forcing you to make very long walks thru the
> garage with poor directional markings.
>
> I enjoyed nearly a week in Seattle and eastern Washington before heading
> back on a Saturday morning. I arrived at Sea-Tac around 7AM, returned the
> car with no problem, then trekked forever to find the NWA counter. There
> was a mob scene there, as it seemed that all of their positions were
> self-serve and people were not having much luck with them. I had a senior
> couple on one side of me, and a party of 4 oriental people on the other
> side of me, only one of whom seemed to speak english, and they were all
> having great difficulty with the kiosks. As did I, to start with, as my
> Expedia itinerary did not make the ticket number obvious. Once I figured
> that out, I was able to make it work, but still had to wait for someone to
> tag my bag and check it. Self-serve makes sense in some circumstances, but
> I think it needs more work and NWA shouldn't make it the only choice.
>
> The security line at Sea-Tac that morning was huge and slow. Everyone was
> being made to remove their shoes for some reason - I had seem some of that
> before, but not universally. Seems ridiculous. Rest of the trip was
> uneventful, although the long walks at the NWA terminal in Detroit made me
> grateful for the moving sidewalks. Halifax airport needs to do something
> about the non-jetway gate positions too, as they are at the far end of the
> terminal and the walks are very long, and the area is pretty primitive.
>
> All in all, not a bad trip all things considered. I don't like the airport
> experience generally and overall these ones were no better or worse than I
> expected, and the travel itself was fine. Seattle is a great city that I
> really enjoyed, so that made it worthwhile.
>
> --
> Greg Beaulieu ab348@chebucto.ns.ca Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Hi Greg,
Glad you enjoyed your trip in general.
YHZ (Halifax) is going to go through a $70 million upgrade. This is the
latest phase of the $220 million Airport Improvement Program.
You can read more here:
http://www.hiaa.ca/Default.asp?id=190&pagesize=1&sfield=content.id&search=427&mn=70.1.14.64.166
For years I have despised having to deal with flying in to Halifax on
international flights. I have seen improvements in the last 18 months.
Let's hope they continue.
toodles
HeatherM
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