Hi Atlas. I am an IAH WorldPerks silver elite. One advantage to going WorldPerks and flying NW is that you can rack up some pretty good miles by connecting instead of taking a CO nonstop. For example, I flew roundtrip to LA from Houston last year, and purposely chose a connection through Detroit on NW.

A CO nonstop roundtrip would be approx. 2740 miles. But the NW roundtrip through Detroit was 6100 miles.

Since you'd like to hit elite status you will definitely get there faster on NW. You will also rarely end up on the small regional jets on NW (unless you are flying to a small market) while they are becoming much more common on CO.

NW, as mentioned, also has a track record of great promos. Last fall it was possible to earn up to 5000 bonus miles that counted toward elite status. That's a great help in trying to make elite.

I have also found it more common to have a "deep discount" sale out of non-hub cities. So it is easier to get a great fare on NW at IAH than on CO. (Likewise it might work in reverse at Memphis!) For example, there were some roundtrips available Houston to west coast for around $100 last year on NW.

The argument for CO is that if you really prefer to fly nonstops if at all possible, you may prefer to stick with OnePass. Keep in mind also that your online booking bonus only applies within the airline. (Meaning that if I buy a CO ticket on continental.com using my Worldperks number, I get the miles but not the online booking bonus.)

One final tip: If you are flying Continental, and want to maximize the mileage, you can book your trip leaving from Ellington (EFD - near Clear Lake) and connect through IAH. That's 1000 extra miles (500 each way) for no additional cost. It does add up!

**edited to correct spelling and tweak 2 sentences

[This message has been edited by Watchful (edited 11-14-2002).]