DLCorpTeam

Hi everyone,

Many of you are aware that this week marks a major milestone in the Delta and Northwest merger. After nearly 18 months of planning, earlier today, we started the full technical integration of the SkyMiles and WorldPerks loyalty programs.

I understand that the Northwest and Delta forum threads were also combined earlier today and I would like to extend a special welcome to the Northwest WorldPerks FlyerTalkers and an advance thank you to the moderators and to Randy Petersen for bringing the FT world together in such a timely way.

Back to the integration update, so far, everything has gone fairly well and generally as planned. The delta.com and Reservation teams, who are core to the integration, have reported minimal issues, and with the support of many employees and customers continuing to keep us informed, we have been able minimize customer issues. Tomorrow morning, we will start to drop emails to WorldPerks customers to advise them of their new SkyMiles numbers – and for the linked customers, to advise them that their redeemable miles, elite qualification miles and lifetime miles have been combined. We plan to continue sending emails throughout early next week. Don’t worry if you know someone who doesn’t get an email right away – if they have received e-mail from Northwest in the past, we will get to them, but there are a lot of members on the list and the process takes time….

Many, if not all of you, will receive a new personalized SkyMiles welcome kit very soon. Specifically, all WorldPerks Elites and any Members who had any account activities in the last 36 months or have more than 25K miles in their accounts, will receive a personalized SkyMiles welcome kit – Elite members can expect their kits to arrive in home by the end of next week and general members by the end of October.

We look forward to servicing all WorldPerks and SkyMiles members in the combined SkyMiles program. Below are some key points to keep in mind:

• For all SkyMiles members, it’s business as usual

• All former WorldPerks members are now SkyMiles members and have a new 10-digit SkyMiles account number. If you linked your SkyMiles and WorldPerks accounts, you should begin using your SkyMiles account now

• Existing bookings that included your previous WorldPerks account number do not require you to do anything – you will automatically earn these miles in your SkyMiles account

• For all new bookings, please use your new SkyMiles number

• Your WorldPerks PIN can be used to access your new SkyMiles number

Today marks a new beginning for the SkyMiles and WorldPerks Programs, and I am personally so pleased to share this update with the FlyerTalkers. I enjoyed seeing many of you at the Road Warrior luncheon last week and I look forward to meeting more of you.

~ Jeff

Janus

Jeff,

It’s truly a Red Letter Day (in more than one sense) for the (former) NorthWest WorldPerks members; marking the end of an era and the start of a new one. I hope the change is for the best, but as any frequent browsers of this forum will attest to, change is not without controversy. Looking forward after the integration, I hope that customer feedback (in addition to the bean counters) will be the driving force for new policy and the formulation of the 2011 SkyMiles program.

As a member of the IT industry, I realize that integrating two massive loyalty systems is a huge undertaking; my sympathies and well wishes are with your IT and reservations staff. I don’t think anyone can reasonably expect full integration over night, and I look forward to all the bugs being worked out over the coming weeks.

As always, thank you for keeping the FlyerTalk community up to date on the status of integration. And again, best wishes for you and your staff.

-Janus

DLCorpTeam

To clarify any confusion for readers, the OP was posted by SMI on behalf of Jeff. They ARE his words, we (his team members and colleagues) insisted that he get some sleep, so SMI posted his welcome and update to allow him much deserved pillow time.

SkyMilesInsider

DL Platinum

Jeff,

Thanks for the update! As another member of the technology industry, you have my sincere best wishes! I look forward to the welcome kit and moving forward as one airline.

fromYXU

Jeff,
Thank you for the timely update.
A quick question,

Many airliness were NW parterns but not DL.

For examples, miles earned on American Eagles (LAX-SAN) used to count for WP.

Will that continue for now if a ticket is bought through NW (012 fare)?

Stripe

Bookings on partner airlines like CO don't need to be changed manually? When CO sends the info to NW (or wherever it goes) with the Worldperks number your systems magic will ensure the miles get credited to the correct SkyMiles account?

mersk862

That specific one should still work, as Delta has the same situation on those LAX AEagle flights as Northwest has had. I don't see that relationship changing at all at this time.

Spent_All_My_Miles

It would be nice for DL to actually provide concrete answers to questions of concern to a number of customers, such as:

- Are CO EUAs now over and done with, or will they continue? If they will continue, will it be until the 24th, until legacy WP (now nominally SC) numbers disappear, some other time, etc.?

- It appears that legacy NW elites should continue using their phone numbers. When will we need to switch? When will we get those numbers?

- Where are the award charts?

- What are the MQM rates, especially for KLM flights?

- Do NW standby/flynow, etc. rules still control on itineraries with a legacy WP number? Will DL rules control only when the WP (now SC) number disappears, or at some other time?

All of the above have been discussed recently on this board. None, so far as I know, have a definite answers. All of them are undoubtedly known to Delta right now (even if the exact date of certain events is not known, which events will impact which actions must be known). And yet, DL is repeatedly choosing not to disclose them.

I'm sure there are a lot more.

WesNSpace

Thanks for the update. So far it looks good - imagine how great it will be when it stabilizes later on.