Originally Posted by
bocastephen
The agent was totally wrong - until CO leaves ST or an announcement to the contrary is made, recip upgrades are still a benefit. You should have escalated - not that NWA F is anything to get worked up over anyway.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with NWA first class. I've heard that a lot over the years and, as someone who's flown a ton of NW flights I can say that it's simply not true. I've also found that NW treats me better as a CO elite than CO does as their own elite. Go ahead and fly NW and enjoy.
As far as what to expect, it's true that if you are in coach you would have to pay to check bags. But if you get upgraded (as a CO plat your chances are excellent - better than they would be as a CO plat flying CO), the bag fee is waived. If there are seats available you will get upgraded 6 days out as a plat, most likely even with one of the cheaper fares.