First let me say that I got myself into this mess but would really like a way to make it better. Any advice / help will be greatly appreciated.

I flew NW from LAX - NRT r/t to get the year started with 10K +. Then on a couple of trips on DL I used my NW FF number so I am close to 16K on NW.

We use PBI as a home airport and have been doing a bunch of travel on DL --Enough to make Silver for 2006. I figured I would barely make Silver but as I look at my upcoming planned trips I have close to 10K in planned trips on DL. So now I feel like a moron (hey I screwed up) because if you add the 16K on NW to what I have (and planned) on DL that would make me Gold on DL.

I am assuming there is no way in that DL or NW are going to give me credit for the each others miles relating to status which means no Gold for me.

So here are my questions:

Am I better off getting NW miles for my next legs on the DL flights to achieve NW Silver? Of course this will eliminate me from getting upgrades on DL, right?

Is there a difference between a DL silver with 26,000 MQM and one with 36K MQM other than 11,000 miles?

Can someone please point me in the right direction?

One other piece of data. My wife will earn Silver on DL for '06 on her next trip.

Thanks for any and all comments.