Originally Posted by
SAT Lawyer
In principle, I understand your beef with double elite qualifying miles. However, do you realize that DL is already offering double elite qualifying miles on all fares to its own SkyMiles members? Do you really think we NW elites should enter the merger at a competitive disadvantage -- most troubling, in the zero-sum race for complimentary upgrade space -- because the carrier we are loyal to stubbornly refuses to fall into line?
Couldn't have said it better myself. If it was just UA & AA that were doing the double promo, I wouldn't be as worried - but I feel that I'll be disadvantaged as a plat if there are more plats after the proposed merger.
Slightly similar...when US & HP merged, I was a US Gold (and a NW Plat - didn't earn on UA as much then, but had Premier status with them too). The US program, post merger, went to 25K, 50K, 75k, and 100K levels. Previously, it was 25k, 50k, 100K levels. So a person at 51k was treated (theoretically) the same as someone at the 85K level. With the merger & the multiple elite levels, 50K became the new 25K & 25K became the new base member & the base member remained a nobody. I switched to UA as my primary *A carrier because the benefits weren't as welcoming, IMHO, with the new US.
And to the points that NW can't tell us stuff - I understand that may be the case - however, they're talking about how they'll have multiple hubs & are giving information on how their services & processes would be better - why are they not addressing the loyalty program part of it? Sure, that may not be a regulartory concern, but I guarantee you, it's a customer concern. And at the end of the day, its customer dollars, not regulatory dollars, that give cashflow to the companies.