Originally Posted by
dmitzel
Curious... what are you proposing NWA fix? I hope your druthers are not for NWA to eliminate the -UP fares. Those of us that are prohibited by travel policy from purchasing FC fares (P,F) would be shut out of Y0 flights if NWA did away with the -UP fares.
That, and I'd likely be sitting in the back of the (DL, CO, AA) bus as an alternative.
I believe NWA knows this restriction is in place for alot of its customers and offers these upgradable "coach" fares accordingly. I personally am glad they do, as I would be on an alternate carrier otherwise.
I agree with you on the EQM bonus, although I have earned 150% on B-UP fares in the past. I have never seen an M-UP, so I cannot comment there.
Personally, I believe what needs to be fixed is that NWA.com should show you that you are actually purchasing a COACH FARE and that the upgrade is not guaranteed. Yes, it might be available at that moment but if you change your flight or you get moved to a different flight, etc. - the rules of the fare say you are upgraded only if "P" class is available.
I'm in the middle of a transcon trip and the outbound (flown yesterday) booked into "P". I thought I was buying P but after the purchase I realized I bought a B2P fare. So, I'm OK either way because I will still earn 150% EQM for purchasing a B fare...but those M2P or Q2P fares will only earn 100% EQM. Most unsuspecting flyers think they will automatically earn 150% EQM and might count on it in their year-end totals.
Possibly the easiest fix is for NW to implement something like CO's system where it tells you the percentage of miles that will credit towards EQM. This way when you see "FIRST CLASS (P)" and "100%", you know something is up and you can research the matter.
-RM