achieving elite between outbound and return
 

reaching tin elite on outbound CO-coded and -operated connecting to CO-coded and NW-operated flight. the return is about 4 days later, on CO-coded NW-operated connecting to CO-coded and -operated flight.

if i have not yet been upgraded in the system, will i still get the appropriate mileage bonuses later? could i request the mileage bonus after the fact, if the upgrade later reflects that it occurred before the return flight? if not, is there any way to expedite the mileage credit? since the flight is around Thanksgiving, i am not planning on any upgrades, but just want the mileage bonus if i am so entitled.

thank you.

I've never heard of expediting mileage posting. Either they post or they don't. And the odds of getting upgraded on the return are very small.

But even if the miles from the outbound don't post before you fly the return, I'd think you'd get the 50% bonus for the return flights, because the miles from the outbound will almost certainly post before the miles from the return flights, and therefore the system should recognize your status when it posts the miles from the return.

Welcome to elite.

In my experience you won't get the elite bonus for your return flights wit such a short turnaround. It'll take a couple of days for the mileage to post and then probably a few more for the system to update and recognize you as Elite (I believe this is done once a week on a Saturday). In any case, until nwa.com shows you as Silver - which will be a few days after your outbound mileage posts - you're SOL as far as receiving bonuses.

I had a similar situation when I reached Silver (but I wanted the upgrade privileges) - but was told by WP that there was no way to speed up the process. Besides, unless you're flying transcon or international the bonus is probably only a few hundred miles.

Congrats on earning Elite - once you have it you won't ever want to be without it!

Very doubtful. I went through the exact same scenanio, about a month ago, when I flew out on a Friday and qualifed for Silver with that flight. When I returned Monday afternoon, my status had not updated. By Tuesday it had updated the status to show that it had been earned, but was not effective until the following day (Wed) through 2/2005. And that was all on NW metal. If you throw in CO metal and CO coded flights, it is highly unlikely your status will change by your outbound flight.

thank you for all the advice. it sounds like i should not anticipate the bonus mileage, though as someone pointed out, we are only talking about 1200 miles. in the meantime, i shall revel in my newfound 'elitedom' and try not to drop too many 'elitist' bombs on my (sniff) non-elite acquaintances.

Just be aware that if you currently hold reservations made under your old status that you should call the elite desk after your status is official to re-enter your WP number in the old reservations. If you do not you will not be upgraded according to your new status. Just call and ask the agents to remove your WP and re-enter it. Sounds silly but it works.

BTW, welcome to FT!

I"m assuming the reverse isn't true. If you make a reservation when Platinum, for the following year, that NW knows enough not to keep your reservation at the plat level if you fall to gold or silver.

That is absolutely correct. I have been in the same situation last year, hoping that my Silver would get processed in time for my return flight. I left on Friday, returning on Monday. I flew the miles, but they didn't post until Monday morning. Even though I had enough miles, my status still showed Base member.

That is not entirely correct. Just because nwa.com shows you have status, does not necessarily mean the rest of the computers in the system agree. Case in point: This past summer, I had another similar long flight where my outbound flight put me over 75k to get me Platinum. The miles posted and the day of my return flight, my status also changed on nwa.com to Platinum. I called the Elite Reservations line to see about getting an upgrade (I had been on the wait list) with my new status, and she said her computer recognized me as Gold yet. She was able to verify that yes, I did indeed have the 75,000 miles, but explained that not all off the computer systems get updated at the same time.

When I got to the airport, same thing. My boarding ticket still showed Plat (and hey, I wanted to make sure I got my 125% bonus!) so I asked again. The counter agent couldn't see my 75k either, but I showed them a print out from the morning earlier showing the nwa.com page. I was fortunate that I had a really nice counter agent (who I previously spoke with numerous times before) and she graciously upgraded me as a 'Congratulations.' Had she not, I would have been 4th of the waiting list for two seats.

Hope that helps!

Elite in 3 days
 

If you fly on NW metal, usually miles post 2 days after you fly. You will then become elite the next day after miles post (3 days after you fly). I have found this to be pretty reliable. However, the elite status is granted the day after the miles post and is not retroactive. This is what happened when I first became silver last year, and when I became gold this year.

Enjoy Silver! :)

Precisely. You will earn status the day after your miles post. For example, my miles posted today, which indicated that I have earned Platinum status. However, it shows that I will be Platinum effective tomorrow.

thanks for all the advice.

Let's say I give up, in advance, any hopes of upgrading as a silver on the Monday after Thanksgiving. If after the outbound flight is completed, I then cancel my WP number entered into the return flight reservation, then wait until the outbound miles and elite status have been confirmed, then fax in my return boarding pass/receipt, do I have any chance of getting the bonus miles? Or will the system see that the flight was taken before the elite status posted?