Without debating the warrants of having status with NW, the comp to their elite status was easy, and better than expected.

I asked them to comp my AA Gold (just dropped from PLT) to their equivalent level. I faxed them a copy of my two most recent AA summaries (which still showed me as PLT), and received a comp in less than two week to NW Gold. ^ ^

I have a couple of flights upcoming on NW, and sitting up front has to be better than sitting in the back, no? The opportunity to get upgraded on CO flights is a benefit, too. And, almost ALL of my travel is domestic US, and everything I have read says that NW has one of the most domestic upgrade friendly programs.

Worst case scenario? The pilots go on strike, the airline folds, and someone else will comp my NW Gold?