Switch FF plans?
 

I'm a 20 year One Pass member and most years manage to make at least Silver. A new "commuter" job, however, means that I'll probably be flying more on NW this year (six segments a month), although I'll still do some CO flying.

Will flying NW get me elite miles on CO? Or should I join the NW FF plan also? I'll probably fly 30,000 miles on NW and 15-20,000 on CO.

Thanks for any advice.

RobS

See for yourself at www.continental.com

You getting credits for you NW flights on CO depends on your fare class (i.e. how much you paid). More information can be found here

Doing 6 segments/month for the next 10 months would get you
60 segments on NW which is enough for Gold Elite status on NW.

If you are buying lower fare class NW tickets you will only get 50%
EQM's if credited to CO Onepass (and no segment credits) and leave
you with 30,000 - 35,000 Onepass EQM's for the year (well short
of Gold).

I'd say you should be in exactly one of the two FF programs. Based on the numbers you mentioned it seems like your goal should be to hit Gold in one of the two programs (having Silver status on both airlines would almost certainly be foolish). If you're going to be flying mostly low fares on NW (ie 50% EQM if you credit them to OnePass) I think you should switch since you're going to have more miles with NW. If, on the otherhand, your NW flights are going to be mostly from the higher fare classes, it probably makes sense to stick with OnePass so that all of your CO fares get 100% EQM. If you're flying low fare classes in both, I'd still suggest just picking whichever one you'll be flying more and going with that. Personally, I often fly CO more than NW but still stick with the WorldPerks because I think it has some substantial advantages over OnePass.

Geography should play a factor in your decision. Stick with the hometown hub advantage unless you're flying frequently into a hub (for example, if you live in Chicago, then stick with NW for frequent connections in DTW or MSP... unless you're frequently flying into CLE or EWR).

I agree with grizzly. WP has better reward partners in SE Asia (GA and MH) and better presence in northern Asia and trans-Pacific routes.

Thanks for the advice everybody. My local airport is BWI, so there is no "hometown" carrier. I guess I'll get a NW FF account.