Originally Posted by mdb
Exactly - NWA WBC award availability sucks. It is time for me to look at other options -- I have been holding out with NW - but UA offers so many better options, I think it is time to make the change.
This is the last straw.
I am basically out of here, probably.
UA has nonstops to China (which save a lot of time) and has better standard award availability.
You can upgrade from almost any fare to Business Class. And it is fairly easy to upgrade (NW's international upgrade, even if you buy expensive fares and use miles, is a true pain).
On top of that, now NW requires 30,000 miles more than UA to buy standard WBC award to Asia?
(Assuming there IS standard award, a big IF as thezipper correctly indicated.)
Not to mention that 20,000 miles Coach/30,000 miles WBC award within Asia are gone. Now it is 50,000 miles Coach/70,000 miles Business on KE.
It will be sad to leave NW and switch to UA after flying NW exclusively for more than a decade. But for folks in my position, I am afraid that it is a no-brainer. Ironically, I will become a NW Plat for the first time next month. Talk about wasted opportunity other than securing a status comp of Premier Executive from UA.
But I can not dispute the cold facts........