I will deeply miss Northwest. I feel like I am losing a family member. It did not consciously hit me that the account merger is happening NOW until I clicked today on the Elite Extra Perks web site and received the notice that it is closed while they convert to Skymiles.

NW always offered reliable service and a consistently high level of upgrades. I liked their policy of rewarding those who actually flew rather than everyone who games the system with elite qualifying bonuses. I became Preferred in the early 90's, made NW Gold, subsequently Gold Elite in 98 and then Plat starting in 2005. Not sure if I simply grew with the airline but in 11 years as gold or plat, I don't think I had more than 5-10 segments that did not upgrade. I've really never cared about the miles I earn other than for international upgrades, so I'm unfortunately sitting on a huge hoard of miles which will undoubtedly devalue. However, NW really gave me what I cared about-- superior customer service on the Elite Line, consistent upgrades, great lounges and an overall excellent travel experience.

I'll cross my fingers I remain happy with Delta, but I don't think the experience will ever fully be what it was with Northwest. I've had more luggage delayed or damaged in the last two years on DL flights than I ever had with NW over the past 20 years. NW/DL added M class to upgradeable fares for miles and coupons, yet M class to European destinations I fly is significantly higher than some B fares I was able to net last year so the new policy is not attractive. The elimination of the Plat Companion Upgrade program ends the general assurance I had when flying with a family member that we would be flying upfront. (Now we have to buy a more expensive fare for a non-elite companion to be considered for an upgrade, and I don't know whether it's even worth the extra money when I know I commonly miss upgrades as a Plat flying on a high fare.) I have missed a number of upgrades on domestic DL flights, most notably last Fri when I flew DCA-SLC on a 5:30PM flight with a Y ticket. When I checked in at noon, I was #3 on a waiting list with 12 seats available, by 5:30PM I was #13 on a DL waiting list with 12 seats. My goodness, were there really a dozen DL Plat passengers on full Y tickets to place me that far back on the waiting list?

I guess key in the future with DL will not just be flying frequently but also learning how to "game" the system with all the bonuses offered everywhere. I guess I went out with a bang on my NW account on this last transcontinental weekend trip in Y class, as I netted about 31,500 miles-- somehow the computer awarded me 1,000 Plat guaranteed upgrade bonus for every segment of my itinerary= 4,000 (this was the first time it happened on a DL flight). I received my 100% Plat bonus, another 100% bonus for being a Skymiles AMEX cardholder, and another 100% bonus by reaching the Elite Extra Perks 175K threshold (i.e. 25K bonus for flying 25K between 150-175K), plus another 50% bonus for flying Y class and then another 5,000 mile loyalty bonus (whatever that is for).

While I wish NW could live on, I hope programs such as the Million Miler and 2 Million Miler lifetime silver/gold medallion status will at least ameleorate some of the pain in saying good by. It's just too bad that million milers below the 4million level don't receive SkyTeam Elite Plus status similar to the Star Alliance Gold that United flyers receive at 1 million miles with the guaranteed international lounge access, wait list priorities and *A guaranteed luggage allowances.