Hi,

I'm trying to get a handle on the advantages of the KLM Flying Dutchman program vs. the NWA Worldperks program. I currently live in Japan, but will soon be moving about 1/2 time to Germany. Since I will be maintaining two residences, I can basically choose which program I prefer. Note that in general I will actually be flying Northwest, not KLM but my understanding is that this shouldn't matter. I am Platinum Elite.

In browsing the two websites and the forums here, I've come up with the following pertinent differences:

• Both FD and WP-Asia give free lounge access, but in the US, only Northwest gives access to Delta (but only with a Delta boarding pass), and only Northwest gives access to all Continental lounges (FD only gives to Newark and one other). This is an issue for me since I often fly to Seattle, where the worldclub closes quite early and the Continental lounge doesn't.
• Only Worldperks gives credit for Delta flights.
• The % of miles for EQM is confusing. Both the WP-Asia and the FD sites imply that they give 100% miles for all paid Continental fares, regardless of fare class (excluding special travel industry fares). The American WP site, however, indicates that Continental only nets you 50 cents on the dollar for fares Q, I, S, W, T, X or L. At face value, this implies that FD and WP-Asia are the same, but I worry that the WP-Asia site might not be up to date, and that WP-Asia (but not FD) may match the lower EQM rates for Continental.
• FD sometimes allows rollover of Platinum Elite EQM (over 100K, not 75K), but this seems to only happen some years, not always. Plus I generally fly only about 110 per year so this doesn't get me much cushion.
• FD gives lifetime Platinum Elite if you've maintained PE for 10 consecutive years. I probably won't do that so not such a big deal.
• Neither WP nor FD actually require that you fly their airline at all to maintain elite status (i.e. I could go 100% NWA, 100% KLM or 100% Continental or Air France for that matter)

Anyway, these are the main differences I've found. It looks like I'll probably just stick with Worldperks, as they appear to have better perks for the USA trips I make, and the lifetime Platinum Elite thing is kind of pie in the sky anyway. Thoughts? Does it sound like I'm making the right decision?

Thanks
Bill