Yes, I was able to do PHX-MSP-EWR-MEM-SAT-MEM-CMH-DTW-PHX over a Sat and Sun for $193 plus $35 for a Priceline hotel in SAT.

And yes, you must requalify for status every year on NW. Even if you're Plat, if you don't fly at least 25k the next year, you drop to no status.

Edited to add: 7,189 base miles + 50% Silver bonus + 2,000 miles first time new nwa.com purchase + 1,000 miles visa purchase + 1,000 Mileage Mania miles (35 points, couldn't use kiosk for check-in due to 4 segments, so lost 5 points there, but won't matter anyway because I won't make the 50 point threshold) = 14,783 miles. This equals 2.68 cents per mile (cpm) before bonuses and 1.31 cpm after, not a bad deal. The reason for the trip was primarily to get Gold, not miles - everything next year is double miles, yeah!

FYI, try this cool mileage calculator when dreaming of trips.

[This message has been edited by Western Airlines (edited 11-11-2002).]