MilesBuzz! - NW Worldperks vs. UA MileagePlus

I'm trying to decide whether to stay with NW Worldperks or move to United. What are the REAL pros and cons of each program at platinum levels (platinum elite vs. premier executive/1K)? The "benefits" listed on each website are not always what they seem.

I'm trying to decide whether to stay with NW Worldperks or move to United. What are the REAL pros and cons of each program at platinum levels (platinum elite vs. premier executive/1K)? The "benefits" listed on each website are not always what they seem.

You might be better off moving this question to the UA forum, since you may already know something about Worldperks and you'll get more UA FFs (some familiar with NW) viewing your question there. It also would help readers to know where you are based, what your most frequent destinations are, what class you usually fly, and perhaps even whether your priority is upgrading or accruing miles for vacations or whatever.

As a 1K (100,000 elite qualitying miles per year), I've been pretty happy with UA. I like the many Star Alliance airlines I can fly to both accrue and use miles. I also like the two confirmed regional (i.e., basically domestic) upgrades I get for each quarter that I fly 10,000 miles on UA metal--I can redeem them upon ticketing, so I don't have to wait to find out if an upgrade request clears before flight. On the other hand, unlike AA's equivalent executive platinums (which I recently also become), as a 1K I'm not entitled to unlimited domestic upgrades (space permitting). And I don't accrue as many EQM's flying on most Star Alliance partners as I do on AA partners. It's also fair to say that UA and its partners are much stronger to Asia, and AA and its partners much stronger to Latin America if that makes a difference to you. Sorry I don't know the comparison to NW.

Anyway, good luck with your decision!

I'm trying to decide whether to stay with NW Worldperks or move to United. What are the REAL pros and cons of each program at platinum levels (platinum elite vs. premier executive/1K)? The "benefits" listed on each website are not always what they seem.

Thunderroad is right; we need details. A brief comparison would look like this: If you do not live in a UA hub city, do not fly international, and do not easily fly 100,000 miles in a year, then the NW PLAT status is probably better for you.

Live in a UA hub? Fly Internationally? Fly A LOT, without effort? Then the programs become more competitive, and UA will probably eek out.

Thunderroad is right; we need details. A brief comparison would look like this: If you do not live in a UA hub city, do not fly international, and do not easily fly 100,000 miles in a year, then the NW PLAT status is probably better for you.

Live in a UA hub? Fly Internationally? Fly A LOT, without effort? Then the programs become more competitive, and UA will probably eek out.

I live in Chicago and usually make ~5 transpacific, 2-3 transatlantic, and 2 trips to South America so 100K is usually not an issue. For domestic routes, I'm almost always upgraded with NW. It's the international upgrades that I'm interested in. NWA says they do not do international upgrades "as a matter of policy." I hear from others that United does clear upgrades for international flights but it's unverified.

I believe that on NW your only uption for Intl upgrades is miles. On UA you have SWU's that you earn yourself or your company may get if they have a large enough account with UA.

I live in Chicago and usually make ~5 transpacific, 2-3 transatlantic, and 2 trips to South America so 100K is usually not an issue. For domestic routes, I'm almost always upgraded with NW. It's the international upgrades that I'm interested in. NWA says they do not do international upgrades "as a matter of policy." I hear from others that United does clear upgrades for international flights but it's unverified.

NW does do INT'L upgrades, it's just that you have to buy a high enough fare class (not cheap) and use miles. The UA folk can give you a better idea how the SWU program works.

For 1Ks UA gives 6 international upgrades per year, which are good for regular (C and D, but not Z) fares to upgrade from business to first and I believe for all but the cheapest (T and S) fares from economy to business. Since you're based in Chicago and flying all over the world, I would think that UA might be a good fit for you since Chicago is UA's main hub. But as before, I don't know the comparative perks of NW. And while, as I noted before, I'm pretty happy with UA you also might consider AA in view of your Chicago base and Latin America travel (though on the other hand AA has a major quirk in its link to One World partner BA, in that they compete on the transatlantic routes and don't accrue or redeem miles on each other's flights for those accounts). One reason I accrued a lot of AA miles this past year is that its OW partner Cathay Pacific's midnight departures from the West Coast let me do a lot of Asia travel without having to stop overnight along the way, while still accruing as many miles as AA.