I know I've posted/spoken of this issue in the past, but I'm still torn and need some more advice/info.

I'm about to be frequent flyer again, out of my new hometown airport DBQ. I've decided that NW is my airline of choice (over AA and UA), but with all of the negative talk on these boards regarding Northwest service, etc, I'm still considering making CO my preferred airlines.

Now, fully 80-90% of the flights I take will ACTUALLY be on NW equipment, but would it still be worth my while to claim CO as my airline partner? I know that I can earn FF miles and status on either airline, but CO has a segment Elite option while NW does not.

My big questions to you experts here are:

1. What will I be missing out by selecting CO miles and segment over NW stuff being that almost all of my flight activity will be on NW equipment?

2. How will my upgrade possibilities be affected being a CO Elite flying on NW equipment? Less days to claim them? Will they be automatic, or will I have to call for EVERY one of them?

3. Will I miss out on any additional "perks" offered to NW Elites (i.e. - gift packs, other upgrades, etc)?

Anything else I'm missing here folks, or should I just scrap this whole idea altogether, select NW as my airline travel partner, fly as many mile this year as I can to get status, get a NW Worldperks Visa to supplement miles, and just suck it up?

Help me!