I'm not an active NW flyer and have never had a WP Visa. But an easy 25K in any program is pretty tempting...

My questions:

- In your experience, does NWA typically pony up the miles after you complete the challenge, or do you always have to write emails and make phone calls to get bonus promo miles to post?

- Does NWA count iDine as 1 partner, or can one drunken pub crawl to ten iDine bars earn me 25,000 miles?

- Does NWA count small mileage conversions from Diner's, Marriott, Starwood, etc. as partner transactions?

- I don't see hardly any chatter here about this promotion. That tells me that the regulars here might not see it as a great deal. Any other insight - something a NW novice like me is overlooking?

Basically, I see my cost here as 1 annual fee for the CC, a small number of less-than-optimal (but minor) mileage conversions, and the loss of a few hotel/car rental points if I need to redirect those to NW. Looks like I could get up to around 35K pretty easily and take it up to 40K or 50K pretty quickly if needed by actually using the credit card. Sounds like a good promo. Thoughts?