Just to update this. I emailed NW with the info Radiocycle gave me. No luck, standard canned response.

>Dear Jamito Cartero,

>Thank you for contacting Northwest Airlines.

>According to your account it was upgraded to Platimum on December 8,
2003. From that date on you will receive Platinum bonus miles on your
travel.

>If we can be of further assistance, please let us know.

>Sincerely,


>Patty Schmidt
>Correspondence Specialist
>WorldPerks Customer Service Center

I had addressed the email to the supervisor that Radiocycle had mentioned, but it obviously didn't get there.

I thought I'd call up the Platinum line and see if that got me anywhere. While the CSR was sympathetic, she said she'd never heard of anyone getting miles. She went throught the whole "It's a courtesy that we give you the status the year you earn it".

I was rather frustrated at this point. Since this was a decent chunk of miles (6000), I decided to give it one last try. I emailed Radiocycle and asked for any other email addresses to try. He gave me Beth Shultis', and after cooling down for a bit, I emailed her on Monday.

By Wednesday, I had this reply:

Dear Mr. Cartero,
Thank you for note and your comments. I have had an opportunity to fly with Robert and I agree that he is an asset to Northwest. I have passed your comments along to Hector Adler, our vice president of in-flight operations.
I looked into the matter of your account status and you are correct that Alaska Airlines did not send us the information needed to update your status. Per the rules of the WorldPerks program, the additional benefits associated with a higher status do not begin until the account has been updated. However, I can understand that Alaska Air's delay is not your problem and as a result, we have added an additional 6,000 bonus miles to your account to reflect Platinum mile earning during the time period.
Mr. Cartero, again, thank you for your note and letting us know your comments.
Beth

--------------------------------------------
I was impressed with the speed, and of course the result. It also gave me a chance to talk about some of the good experiences that I've had with NW in 2003. I hardly ever write emails with positive or negative feedback. It always seems I'm too busy, and never know the right person to send it to.

I decided that I'd preface my mileage request with positive things first. I had a super FA during the summer. I actually asked his name so I'd be able to write a letter about it. I didn't do this to help my request, but to let them know that they usually do a really good job.