I'm glad NW has decided to stay above the crowd, but I still gotta observe the marketing forces in action... NW in effect has debased its ff program yet again in terms of the cost of reward travel... and its customers are ecstatic because it wasn't worse! Debasing the program, yet gaining customer loyalty in one stroke. And in my ridiculous addiction to ff programs, I'm somehow grateful, and almost manage to ignore the bad taste in my mouth.