During 1999 I will earn enough miles on NW/CO to achieve silver elite status. Question: which elite program should I opt for? There is reciprocity between them, but not equality, so it seems. Please feel free to contribute pros and cons of each--for my decision. Pros seems to be favoring CO.

Pros for going silver elite with NW:
My wife will be silver elite on NW, thus both have same status/same program (I value simplicity). NW gives you 500 bonus miles per connection. Issue paperless upgrades when using fflyer miles to upgrade, no certificate that comes via mail, as with CO.

Pros for CO:
In-flight entertainment, NW has no movies on longer flights. CO will allow you to purchase up to 20 percent of the miles needed for a travel award. CO can waitlist you for fflyer upgrades, NW cannot--either the seats are avail or you don't get the upgrade. CO has more modern fleet than NW. More car rental partners.

Last thing: does anyone suspect that a married couple flying together, one with NW silver elite status, and the other with CO silver elite status will receive different treatment or priority on upgrade, eg. on CO? That's my only concern.

Of course, I could ask CO to comp my wife with silver elite and we could both be CO silver elite...

Thanks in advance.

My experience with this "alliance"....I am (effective 3/1) Gold w/CO. CO is very accomodating to my requests. The flights I am presently scheduled for on NW I have the worst seating on the plane, cannot get anyone in NW to improve my view. So, I believe you will get great service from CO, lousy from NW. And just the opposite for your wife. Hopefully this situation will improve on 3/1, buy I have this feeling that each airline (CO/NW) will secretly give the special priviliges to the individuals who actually hold FF accounts with them.

As I learned in a much earlier thread, upgrades on CO very, very much depend on where you're flying out of.

I had rotten, really terrible luck upgrading on CO from Houston to St Louis. Over a year, 3 upgrades as a lowly Bronze Elite.

Now, I know I'm comparing apples and oranges, here, but please bear with me...on Northwest, when I couldn't get a FC upgrade, I could at least get a DC9 exit row seat and still get the leg room and board first (which I NEVER got on CO..exit row, that is, not getting to board first, I did get to board ahead of the madding crowd and have room for my one carryon...but no exit row for my poor old six feet four inches) and when I hit WorldPerks Gold, my percentage of FC upgrades went into the stratosphere. I can't tell you the last time I did not get upgraded on Northwest...it did happen 2 or 3 times in 1998, but that's all.

Better service than Delta's Platinum Medallion!

Perhaps, it just depends on WHERE you are flying out of/in to on NW or CO.



[This message has been edited by hnechets (edited 02-08-99).]

[This message has been edited by hnechets (edited 02-08-99).]

another thing to consider: NW has earned international FC upgrades, and partnerships with AS; CO partners with HP (well, so far).

FWIW I chose CO's program even though I live in a NW fortress hub. most of the three or so CO agents at DTW know me by now , most sales out of a fortress hub are almost never on the dominant airline, coupons are not reduced in strength, etc. Maybe I'm just a sucker for a texas accent on the phone.

Does the hub location fit into your criteria? Being from the midwest, I would choose CO since I think MSP is too far out of the way and DTW has been just plain bad luck (seven NW flights - six major delays).

My friend's family was stuck for two days at DTW over this past New Year's weather fiasco. Fortunately they ended up staying at the airport Wyndham.

Not that there aren't significant delays at CLE or EWR, though.

The bottom line: I feel as though I have received better service and timeliness from CO and I feel better connecting at CLE.