Which FF Program is better, NWA or United?
 

I travel to Europe and Asia as well as the Midwest and California. I am currently a 1K on United but living back in Michigan, NWA has a hub in DTW and also flies from Flint. I may be able to switch to NWA but I am worried their Elite Program, service and access to upgrades etc. I also get default United Economey Plus on united with extra leg room so I am worried that NWA may not be as good as United, any comments or personal experiance?

Welcome to FlyerTalk, 55Ford!

All I can say from experience about legroom is that I took a flight on NWA a few years ago LAX-MSP and it was the most uncomfortable coach flight I've had in many years, worse even than United's regular economy (without anyone reclining in front of me, at least), as a 6' tall person. If legroom is important to you, and you can't get comped to a status which will get you at least access to exit rows or you don't book ahead far enough for exit rows to be left around any more, then I doubt you'll enjoy NWA coach if you only like United in Economy Plus (if you are able to get that most of the time).

Also, keep in mind that NWA as such will not be around much longer than a year or so! It just became official last week (after the last approval, from DOJ, came through) that Delta and NWA are merging, and after the merger makes it really one airline then what? (You would at least need to make sure you are just as comfortable with Delta's FF program and Delta's planes, because you don't know whether the combined DL/NW will be more like DL or more like NW in the long run.) So even if it turns out that NWA now has more rows with better seating (something SeatGuru implies), Delta doesn't, and if they shuffle the planes around as the merger progresses, the specific planes NWA flies today could be something you stop being able to depend on.

I would say UA, I guess it really depends on where you need to fly, and cost though. I have never had good experiences with NWA, and normally do on United flights. I am flying to VDZ next month and went with AKA instead of NWA.

-Patrick

Based on my 20+ years of flying, NWA's program is hands down better than UA's in every regard. Suggest you compare the benefits at the elite tiers.

Midwesterner living in CA who travels frequently to Europe and occassionally to Asia.

NWA's program is more generous in some ways, but, besides Economy Plus on UA and complimentary domestic upgrades on NW, the biggest difference is SWUs. Northwest and Delta don't have them, so that's a major disadvantage for your international flying. I have never attempted to book an upgrade with mileage on either UA or NW/DL, so I don't know how they compare. UA has always treated me wonderfully me in irregular operations (either mine or the airline's), which has kept me loyal. I don't have much experience with NW on this count, either, but only bad experience (mostly as a non-elite) on DL.

(Actually, I remember a mailing awhile ago where Northwest unveiled their version of Elite Choice, which did give one the chance to earn a couple. But that required some mileage level much higher than the Platinum threshold, so was unrealistic for me.)

NW beats UA, but will soon cease to exist due to the takeover by DL, which has a really crappy program, especially for TATL travel. Their 3 tier award chart is a nightmare and travel to Europe starts at 60K miles. If you originiate in EU then they also pop you with a huge surcharge. There are also lots of junk fees, like partner award fees, which you frequently cannot avoid for many destinations in EU.

You are a day late and a dollar short to be able to enjoy NW. Rather than get sucked up into DL next year, it is better to go with UA.

There is no way NW compares to the advantages you get as a United 1K.

NW just merged into DL, and I believe when the FF programs merge it will be DL's which is kept. And the DL flyers are the most unhappy ones I've seen on Flyertalk due to recent changes in Skymiles (well, some aren't so recent any more), so I've gotta think UA would be better. tls

As far as FF goes, over 5 years I was upgraded to FC 99% of the time on NW, So I was never worried about coach seating. There are so many additonal bonus programs for miles and free flights than when I was with UA.

If your living in Michigan, Id go with NW/DL. I use to fly UA out of AZO and got tired of driving from ORD when I couldnt get home on a flight for various reasons. It so much faster for me to drive from DTW than from ORD -and its about the same distance.

Being in Kalamazoo area I have choice of GRR,AZO,LAN,and SBN all within an hour or less. Better chocies to get the best price. If I got stuck in Detroit trying to get to one of the above airports, I could just fly to one of the others and get a OW rental home.

Delta has made changes to its program that PO'd prior customers, but Im not sure if thats been good enough as Ive not looked at all the changes.

I was UA for the past couple years and finally gave up this year having lived in MSP for the past 3 years. That said, I did enjoy this past year on NWA. The not having to connect in ORD every flight is nice. ORD really is a pit.
I would say the NW program overall is better than UA. UA has really devalued their FF product this year. Being elite insulates you from it but all the moves left me with an icky feeling. The 100% bonus at gold on NW is nicer than 50% on UA. And the unlimited upgrades has been way better than the e500 system. Plus my wife likes the companion upgrade which there was no chance of ever getting on UA.
Now I have to hold my breath to see how DL ruins the program.

Take NW/DL
 

I agree with earlier posts.. Living in Michigan, you should seriously consider NW/DL.. The biggest benefit is unlimited upgrades on domestic.. And this is further enhanced by its simplicity.. After you book the flite, there's nothing else you need to do.. And if you can achieve Platinum Elite, you're guaranteed an upgrade on every flite..

Hope this helps, and Go Lions :D !!

Do you fly with anyone else, like a spouse?

There is no way mine would take a connecting flight, when there is a perfectly good direct flight available.

Hence, NW it is for me.

That said, the NW Plat companion UGs, that used to run after Plats by themselves, will run after all elites by themselves under the Delta program.

It was good while it lasted, as I have taken many trips with either a wife, son or daughter, and the 2 of us were up front.

That will be a thing of the past shortly.

Lastly, change your seat at 5 days out when the Plat EUAs run and the bulkheads and exit row people get moved. Same legroom as E+, as long as you remember to check.

It all depends upon your travel patterns. UA has always had a superior international product, although there is nothing wrong with WBC. Top-tier with NW at 75K versus 100K with UA. Even at Silver the comp domestic UG success was around 65 percent, plus the seat selection and priority boarding benefits.

Everything with NW is electronic. It seems UA is still stuck in the paper age. I have a $400 UA VDB and I have to go to the airport to ticket. I'm still scratching my head over that one.

The Gold/Plat elite call center folks are the best in the business. I always heard that before hitting Gold but now I experience first-hand. I had to make a rather complicated change for three of us to MCO next week. I tried online for 90 minutes until I finally had to call Chisolm. The lady fixed it in about 10 minutes. That rocked!

I was gifted 3P on UA and Economy+ last trip was nice. The people were friendly and the service was good but the situation with the equipment change and subsequent bump and how the ORD gate people handled it left me feeling used and abused. It reminded me why I stopped flying UA when I no longer worked for Uncle Sam.

Let's see, connect through DTW or MSP versus ORD...hmm, that's a tough one, let me think; it's January and there is a foot of snow blowing around...

Living in the midwest I have found that NW does a pretty good job. I tried them out when they opened MEM and the bonuses were sky high. I've never looked back. What will happen when DL takes over? Well, I'm in a 'wait and see' mode and willing to give them a shot. But if it tanks I'm ready to do a status challenge or status match and press on (but certainly not with US, a UA alliance partner).

It's always interesting to see these threads because we rarely see the OP come back a year later and say, "Here's what happened." It's always a case of personal preferences and YMMV but it's also nice to see how the end result compares with the original concern.