Originally Posted by NW scoop

The statement that Platinum members will no longer be exempt from the award ticket redeposit and reissue fee effective March 1, 2009 is correct. This decision was made in an effort to preserve award seat availability for the entire WorldPerks and SkyMiles membership. We have found that many of these award seat bookings were held until the last minute and never flown. As a result, other SkyMiles and WorldPerks members, including our most-valued Platinum members, did not have the opportunity to use those seats.

Platinum members continue to be exempt from the Award Ticket Fees which apply to awards booked less than three weeks before of travel. This fee exemption permits Platinum members to book awards without charge up until the very last minute.

While specifics of the 2009 program will not be announced until February, members of both programs are already enjoying benefits of the Delta and Northwest combination including, for example: unlimited, complimentary domestic upgrades for elites; 500-mile minimum accrual; and soon, the transfer of miles between both programs, no Saturday Night Stay requirement for award tickets, the introduction of a middle award tier for WorldPerks, and system-wide upgrades for WorldPerks Platinum Elite members. Look out for 2009 Program info next month.