If flying to Asia from the U.S., coach class, and the only choices were Northwest or Continental, which would you choose? I'm inclined toward Continental because I know their planes to Europe have seatback entertainment systems, but didn't know if this was true to Asia also. Also, just from personal experience, it seems like a lot of Northwest's planes are older than Continental's (at least on domestic flights I've taken), but would like to hear impressions from those who've flown either or both to Asia. Thanks.

Continental only flies (new) 777s to Asia, and they do have the seatback video systems. NW flies a mixture of (old) DC10s, (old) 747-200s, and (newer) 747-400s, but none have the seatback systems in coach. I suspect that Continental's seats would be more comfortable, too, given that they are newer.

I flew NW from RIC to DTR to PEK and enjoyed the trip very much. Flying over the North Pole and Siberia was fascinating. Returning via Japan was a pain as it made the return flight to DTR packed and uncomfortable. I will pay the surtax and fly the less used PEK to DTR route. Continental is ok, too, but NW has fantastic food and service.

We flew to SE Asia via Cathay Pacific, terrific airline....they have an All Asia Pass for $1,000. Allows you to travel for up to 30 days, select up to 15 cities to visit....The only delay we had in the entire 30 days was our flight coming back to the States was delayed for 2 hours. check it out.

Mark Z is correct in saying that NW aircraft are older. I fly about 7-8 times a yeas from Honolulu (HNL) to Tokyo (NRT) and then on to Bangkok (BKK). NW flies B-747-200 from HNL to NRT, this version is called a “dense pack” which crams the Japanese tourist in like sardines. From NRT to BKK they fly the newer B-747-400 which are very nice, but do not have TV screens in the seats. At some times during the year I have also been stuck in one of NW old DC-10 which are probably older than most of the people flying on the plane. Not sure if the DC-10 service went to NRT or to Osaka. Either way don’t want to fly the DC-10 if you can help it. At this point I must say that being a Gold Card frequent flyer on both NW and United I do not like NW and will avoid them at almost any cost due to what I believe are deceptive or at best misleading claims associated with their frequent flyer programs. If you are planning on becoming a frequent flyer then it would be best to do it on another airline other than NW. <BR> <BR>I would agree with Mark and suggest you fly CO. The B-777 is one of the nicest aircraft in the shies. I often fly the United B-777 and they are wonderful. <BR> <BR>BRAD <BR>