Originally Posted by
GTITAN
Here will come the real interesting part. Slightly O/T and I throw it out there for the board's consideration, but I wonder if the DL side of the house will get the plethora of 2x EQM promos while the NW side does not this year? I really expect one or more of the airlines to offer a 2x EQM promo this year with the miserable economic conditions. Yes, I know that the FT types really don't like these, and I am not saying it is a good idea, but I expect it to happen. I also worry NW WP types would not be eligible for it while DL SM types would be. Why you ask, because as much as we don't like to say it, the NW and the WP brand is dead. It is going away and not coming back. If you were the DL folks, would you really try to drive folks to a brand that will no longer exist, I would not. 2009 is not going to be fun IHMO for WP folks. YMMV.
Aside from when in 2009 you hit your threshold, it won't make a difference whether you're on Delta or NW. So if Delta throws a bonus program, book your flights on Delta. It'll all get combined at the end of the year anyway, if not sooner (target merge date is end of 2009, and I don't see how they can merge programs mid-year without counting EQMs from both.)
I personally plan to earn my miles on NW since I'm gold there, but might pick up an Amex card to squeeze 20k EQM out of my business spend.