I just received an e-mail from Jim Cron, thanking me for my support as NWA emerges from bankruptcy....Very thoughtful....Sad thing is, I haven't flown a NWA flight since March of '06, because of their deceptive practices.

In late ’05, I started flying to Minneapolis regularly, and NWA offered me, a new customer, with Silver Elite status for the period October 4, 2005 through February 28, 2006. All I had to do was fly four additional “segments” by February 28, 2006 to qualify for Silver Elite status for all of 2006! Thrilled with the offer, I immediately switched from my primary carrier to Northwest Airlines.

In the meantime, I flew 12 “Elite Qualifying Segments” in 2005, and 4 “Elite Qualifying Segments” before February 28, 2006, literally transferring 90%+ of my business to NWA. When I logged into my account on March 1, I was indicated as a “Base Member.” Intrigued, I called customer service for clarification. I found that only 3 of the 16 segments I flew were of the proper “fare code” to qualify as a segment under the promotion. The agent was kind enough to review the 10 or so “fare codes,” which of course was quite confusing.

What’s ridiculous about this, is that I took flights on NWA that were in some cases 3 times the price of the competition, just to ensure my status for 2006. I also took flights that required layovers, when my previous carrier offered direct service.

Simply put, I find that the “fare code” requirement was deliberately deceptive, regardless of whether it was reviewed in fine print or not. It’s painfully obvious that I provided Northwest Airlines with a significant amount of business to show my appreciation for their promotional offer, and made a more than reasonable attempt to satisfy the promotions requirements. It’s obvious that this “promotion” was designed to draw in business for 5 months, while the uneducated consumer gets nothing in the end due to some pretty well thought out deception. The most irritating thing is that in the process, all of this mileage could have been credited towards my American Airlines account, where I would have achieved Platinum status.

I was so angered by this that I sent the CEO a letter via FedEx……..No response. I fly upwards of 100K miles/year, and I will not step foot on an NWA flight, even if it means 10 layovers, unless they were to restore my status for an extended period of time.