NWA (like many US carriers) now charge for carrying bags ($15 for the first $25 for the second)but the nice check -in agent generously waived the charges as we were 'visitors' to the USA.Bags dumped we had a bit of time to kill so went for a quick bite to eat before heading towards security.
Until recently MCO has been my least favourite US airport (this has now been usurped by the vileness that is known as MIA)-this has probably been because every flight I've taken from there previously has been with either VS or BA ,and there have been hoards of badly behaved Brits and their equally badly behaved offspring maurauding about.This time I was pleasantly surprised- the airport itself is actually OK (admittedly not a Brit in sight).We headed towrds security where things were moving fairly quickly.This came to an abrupt standstill when one of our carry-on bags raised some concern and we after much deliberation by several TSA agents, we were asked to step to one side for secondary screening.The agent who dealt with us was actually very pleasant and explained that several items which could not be identified needed to be examined manually.Having unpacked the bag she was wholly satisfied with the contents (a whole load of obscure parts for a '53 Oval Beetle [:w])and thanked us for our patience.
We headed off to the gate and after 20 mins or so boarding commenced.Priority boarding was enforced and 5 mins later general boarding commenced.In one word, it was chaotic (think easyjet only worse).Most of the passengers had loads of oversized baggage and once on board the reason for the scrum became apparent, as all the overhead lockers were fit to bursting and there wasn't an empty seat to be seen.
The cabin interior of our Airbus 320 was grim- grey upholstery that was threadbare and dirty and the cabin crew who looked much the same (grey and grim).The seats were like sitting on concrete with about as much space as Ryanair give you. The loos looked like they hadn't been cleaned in days either[:$]. Luckily the flight was to be just over an hour and a quarter or so, and following a hasty round of drinks we were descending into Memphis.
Disembarkation was swift, and after the marathon trek from the gate we arrived at baggage reclaim just as the claxton sounded and the belt started up. Our bags were amongst the first off and we were in the car depot 10 mins following that.
In summary NWA were pretty grim and I'm in no hurry to use them again if there's any alternative.
DL
Just is.
