I've been a a WorldPerks member almost since NW started the program. Over the past ten years I've been either Gold or Platinum. Several years ago I started doing a lot of business in Europe. Now I spend over 80% of my time here. My dilema is that I've accumulated a ton of miles on NW. In the past I routinely used them for upgrades. It was relatively easy to upgrade when I was buying the tickets in the US. I've found that NW has become much stingier with upgradeable fares. It seems that I need either Y or B tickets to upgrade, when I buy my tickets in Europe. In the past 3 years I've only used miles once to upgrade. Lately I've been using my miles for vacations with my wife...usually business class. I still end up with a lot of unused miles. In the past I've tried to find out about upgrade possibilities on KLM, but until recently KLM's website didn't offer too much information. However, after reading posts on this forum (and a few other places), it seems that I'll have a much easier time upgrading my KLM tickets as a FD elite. Is this a correct assumption?

Should I bite the bullet and begin accumulating KLM miles in 2005? I've considered doing this in the past, but I'm very reluctant to give up my 100% (or 125%) bonus miles that I receive as a NW elite. A friend at Lufthansa offered to give me its equivalent of Silver status if I made the switch. Would KLM do anything similar? If so, who might I contact?

What is the situation with upgrades for FD members in the US? I make several trips a year in the US traveling between the East coast and West coast. I love my automatic upgrades as a NW elite. It's also been really nice in the past couple of years getting the upgrades on CO flights as well. What is the upgrade situation for FD members?

I fly to the US next Saturday, so any help on deciding whether to check in with my WorldPerks card or a Flying Dutchman card would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!