Originally Posted by vinnmann
Is one of the reasons that NW and AF are more chummy because AF bought KL which has always been a good buddy of NW?
Absolutely. They weren't just buddies. They had a highly developed integration and that has now spilled over into AF. NW flyers in Europe couldn't even join WorldPerks officially - they were supposed to join Flying Dutchman (now Flying Blue). Flying Blue members (I think Gold and above) now even get comp upgrades on NW US domestic flights as discussed in
this thread.