Silver worth it?
 

I want to know if Siliver is worth the effort, as I will probably come up a mileage run short of making it this year. Part of the implied question is whether or not I'll get upgraded very often as a lowly elite. This is my first year even thinking about reaching elite status. My travels are going to be (and have been) a mix of NW/CO metal. 1/2 of my miles are coming from WAS to LAX/LAS (first two trips are on CO and I've found I really like the 738/739) as I'm making prepartions to go back to school to become an air traffic controller. The rest of my travel takes me from LAX to MKE where my family is. On either carrier, routing through a hub east of MKE yields just about as many miles as flying straight across the coast, so it takes 5 trips and change to make the siler. I don't want to go out of my way to spend the money on CO/NW tickets just to find out that I never get upgraded.

Which routings yeild the best chances of upgrades and minimal use of the ERJ/CRJ? I don't mind them for CLE-MKE/CLE-WAS, or EWR-WAS, but anything longer than that I'd rather avoid. IAH-MKE is a stretch in my book. I'm not particular on which carrier I use, although I do appreciate the fact that CO has IFE.

Is silver worth the effort? Probably. Better to have it than not to, but ask yourself whether or not your flying pattern next year will be of any note -- even if you don't get upgraded, you'll have a better shot at bulkhead seats, etc.

As for which routings yield the best chances of upgrades and minimal use of ERJs/CRJs, well, I'd worry about the RJ problem before upgrade %. You can select your flights and know, well in advance, whether or not the plane is an RJ. Obviously, if your plane is an RJ, you won't have a FC seat (ARJs notwithstanding).

Depending on your routes and days/times, Silvers can have a great upgrade percentage--including my upgrades for tomorrow's flights, I'm 22/24 so far this year (this counts upgradeable flights only, so flights on CO RJs or DL aren't part of the 24 legs).

However, you are based in Arlington, and there have been recent threads about how even Plats can have difficulty getting upgrades on flights into and out of DCA, so you should take into account what routes you'll be flying if upgrades are your main concern.

As pointed out in the first reply, there are other benefits aside from upgrades that might make Silver status worth an MR.

if you're mixing CO and NW, be aware of EQM percentages based on your fare. This varies based on which program you're crediting, your fare class, and possibly how you buy your ticket.

Silver is definitely worth attaining and depending on where you will be flying, it can substantially change your experience. Earning a 50% premium on mileage is also a very nice benefit, as is the savings on WorldClubs membership, if you are so inclined. (Of course, once you make silver, you may find yourself thinking about gold.....) ;)

Although I live in UK now, most of my NW flying is US domestic, and most of it between non-hub cities where NW has a presence but is not the primary airline. Cities like MCI, ATL, IND, AUS to name a few.

When I lived in the US (until 2002) flying patterns were similar except with one or two trips to Europe and a the odd trip to the west coast.

If you look at the marginal benefits, for a flyer like me the jump from base member to Silver on NW is probably the biggest jump you make in terms of benefits

Even though I'm going for gold and maybe platinum, I can tell you that after about 5 yrs as a NW Silver, it is probably the best "value" elite status out there.

I've found the best benefits to be, in order of usefulness to me:
* Upgrades - I'm 22/23 since 1 Jan 03 on eligible flights
* Priority checkin - I always use the first or business class checkin queue whereever I go on NW or its partners and this has probably saved two days of my life when you add up all the time I could have been waiting! For example, at Gatwick, the queue for checking in economy typically has 100 people in it when I get to the airport, and WBC has about 3 people in it. When I used to fly out of MCI a lot it also made a huge difference. Now with more kiosks I'm not sure how much time you save. Last time I ckd in at LAX they were having everybody use the same kiosk line, 1st class or not. A rant for another time...
* Priority Seating - It's so nice to book a trip about a week out, pull up the seat map and find the plane 2/3 full. Meaning the back 2/3 of economy is packed solid, but plenty of open exit rows and seats in the first rows of economy. As a silver these are yours for the asking.
* Priority Reservations Line - Although SEs don't get their own dedicated agents like GE and PE, this relatively new feature is great. When you ring the SE number it puts you at the front of the call centre queue. I've never waited more than a few seconds since calling this number.
* Mileage Bonus - Last but not least, you do get a 50% mileage bonus, which certainly doesn't hurt any.
* International op/ups - Just kidding on this one. If you even think about enquiring about your chances of getting one at MSP or DTW, the GA will make you feel about 2 inches tall and might even take away your birthday. At best you'll be snapped at. In this case your silver elite status is a boat anchor, you may as well be a base member on Uzbekistan Airways.

As I said before, I think the jump from base member to Silver in WorldPerks is probably the biggest increase in marginal benefits that you can get with 25k miles on any airline flying. I have been a very satisfied silver elite for five years. But the caveat is that this applies to my flying patterns and might not apply to yours.

As stated by others, if you will travel frequently between hubs (high elite load), or exclusively internationally (WP Silver has little or no int'l benefits), or between a lot of small cities served only by CRJs and Saabs, then Silver on NW might not be worth it for you.

Worth It
 

So as a previous Silver, the extra 50% mileage bonus makes it worth it if you are going to fly fairly frequently. Also I did have a pretty good success at upgrades both on CO and NW and enjoyed the other little things....so if it's not much hassel, I'd highly recommend Silver....I'm pushing my long distance boyfriend to hit silver this year too for the same reasons....

Just imagine the joy and satisfaction you'll see when logging onto nwa.com and seeing "Silver Elite Member" listed there under your name rather than "Base Member". Sure does gives me a sense of pride everytime I log on to book a flight :D

aloha

Today there were 10 empty F/C seats PHL-MSP and 2 empty F/C seats MSP-LAX. I guess a lotta people in coach wished they were NW or CO Silver today. DO IT!

MisterNice

Silver is Worth it because of Select Seating, Upgrading on discount tickets, etc.
 

I think you enjoy a lot of additional benefits just by becoming Silver.

Whether you get a specific upgrade or not, I think your overall experience will be Positively enhanced!

RC

I thought I would chime in as this is my first year as a Silver and I had to a last minute mileage run last December to qualify. Would I do it all over again?? You bet. My travel patterns are close to yours, I actually do Chicago-Seattle 4 or 5 times a year as my family is in SEA. I wasn't sure I would be upgraded much in or out of SEA because of NW's presence. Well for the most part I am quite pleased. I am 75% overall and the times that I am not upgraded, I am in either the bulkhead or exit row which is just as comfortable as FC. And the 50% bonus mileage is quite nice as well. So I would say it is definately worth the effort.

Jeremy

I couldn't agree more. Select seatings for you and your companions alone would be worth the efforts to be a silver elite, not to mention 50% bonus miles......

Any FC upgrade would be added benefit.

I remember several years ago I had no idea about what elite program was. That year I had 22,000 EQMs but luckily NW sent me a letter saying that I was awarded silver elite status. Suddenly I discovered the benefits of being an elite member and started flying more and more with NW. It has been, in general, a very satisfying experience for me. As of today, I have used miles earned to buy 4 WBC tickets to Asia, plus 5-6 economy tickets in the US and inside Asia.

At the end of this year (or sooner) I'll be a Silver Elite for the first time adn it will be my first elite status anywhere despite travelling int'l so much since I always go with teh lowest fare for leisure travel and that has taken me one a really wide number of airlines.

Anyway, I'll be getting the Silver status from flying CO from DC to Houston so damn much to see my girlfriend and NW a few times a year to Asia and Canada. I expect that I'll keep flying CO for those flights to Houston since they are the cheapest non-stops from WAS-IAH available.

Will being Silver on NW get me any benefits on these CO flights? Will I get the 50% mileage bonus for the CO flights? Would booking the same flights on nwa.com if they are a codeshare make any difference? Does NonePass status match? (or does anyone else match NW's Silver for that matter?) Anything else I haven't asked but should probably know about?

Thanks in advance!!! :)

peace,
~Ben~

Early Boarding!
 

I've gotten U/G 1/2 times since I was Silver, and I think the first time was just too soon after attaining my Silver status.

But my fave perk is the early boarding after F/C. I have a large carryon, sometimes no room in overheads if I board late.

Silver is definitely worth it. I used to dread most flying until I got silver in 2002. I suddenly enjoyed flying again, and loved all the bonus miles, riding in the front most of the time. I wish I had done it many years ago!