Am I reading this correctly...ALL FARES COUNT TOWARDS EQS???
 

Northwest Airlines wants to serve all your travel needs for business or pleasure. That’s why, beginning January 1, 2005, we’re allowing all paid fare classes eligible to earn WorldPerks miles on Northwest or any of our Elite Qualifying Airline Partners (Continental Airlines flights in Q, I, S, W, T, X, L classes; Delta Air Lines operated flights are excluded) to count towards your Elite Qualifying Segments (EQS) for the 2006 program year! Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) required to achieve Elite status will remain the same as in 2004. To earn Silver Elite status you must earn 30 EQS or 25,000 EQM, Gold Elite status needs 60 EQS or 50,000 EQM and to earn Platinum Elite status you must earn 100 EQS or 75,000 EQM.

Thanks for the recap... ;) The answer to your question is yes.

This is all very upsetting. I also see that it is no longer 35k miles to Brazil anymore. Now it's 50k! Same as UA. And to hell with all this rulebuster crap. The mile expense is so huge. So much loyalty, and I get a slap in the face with rediculous rulebusting.

I really hate this new "enhancement". I'd rather have the 50% EQM than this devaluation of the mile.

This is very major! :( While everyone was all so worried about a 50% EQM, NWA passes that up -- and worse happens!

This WP mile devaluation is around 20% maybe it seems. This looks similar to the last big devaluation when domestic coach awards went from 20k to 25k, and Asia coach awards went from 50k to 60k. Where will it end?

I think NWA should be very careful. Their award levels are not looking competative at all anymore. A valuable WP member could go elsewhere.

As a Platinum I still get plenty of bonus miles, but now they're not worth as much anyway. This is a *huge* change, and not even as much notice as the last big devaluation.

I would have to disagree with you, but that mainly is due to the fact that I use WP more for getting my first class upgrades than for free travel (in fact, I have NEVER booked a free ticket with all my miles because free ticket = no EQM and my wife is too afraid to fly). I guess viewing the changes needs to be in the perspective of what you think the greatest benefit of WP is - free travel or better service on paid travel. They need to make money and if you think about it the increased fuel costs, increased demand, and diminished capacity on A330 routes would require some kind of increase.

Now if they would just allow a third upgrade category for upgrading Int'l from any fare for elites then I would be really happy...otherwise Im content!

Gary

Can someone please explain this to me? :mad:

Why is NW listing the First Class awards as:
* Valid on Continental Business First or Korean Air First Class
only??

What happened to all the other skyteam partners?

You betcha that I'm steaming over this change. :mad: 5k awards were the best bang for your mile and now it's gone. Hope UA will keep their 5k award on AQ. That would at least allow for some airline to maintain a reasonable award within the islands.

^^^ for NO 50% EQM on cheaper fares, however.

aloha

Sure, the changes are worse for some people. Fact stands is it's a devaluation to the mile. It's clear NW is trying to actually sell more of the FC and BC seats, and if they're going to give them away for free, then we'll have to pay a higher mile price for them.

But I always have believe NW is not losing money on these award tickets. If I'm able to get an award ticket on a NW flight, then NW must have thought it was not going to be able to sell that seat for money. Going along on a ride in a seat, that was not going to be sold anyway, is hardly costing anyone much.

I like the eqms, but hate the new reward charts. Very serious degrading of my miles. Does anyone know if rewards booked this year (for next year) are at the old or new levels?

I'd give back the eqms on all segments, for the old reward chart! I think NW management has been reading about how we liked the 35k rewards to SA!

jiburi,

I hope you do realize the miles for awards to Australia/NZ will be going up by 20k/40k/60k starting on March 1, 2005.
Your "thumbs up" is indicating you're actually glad to see the increase. ;)

Well, if all fares count towards EQS, it'll be cheaper for retirees like myself to hang on to elite status. In theory, I would only need 7.5x (CMH-DTW-ORD) same-day returns at $78 a pop to reach silver, provided current fare offerings remain the same. In EQMs, that would only get me to 15k. Doesn't seem right, but I'll take it.
:)

As long as you're not trying to go anywhere on an award ticket...

I call it a mixed bag, the pros (100% EQM) equal the big bump-ups in mileage requirements for award travel/upgrades. Some of the increases in mileage are quite hefty for WBC:
a 25% increase to Europe (80 to 100K)
a 33% increase to Asia (90 to 120K)
a 50% increase from coach to WBC to Europe (20 to 30K)
a 20% increase from coach to WBC to Asia (25 to 30K)

I wouldn't expect any better benefits for elite members this year compared to the last, at least for international travel. Joining the Skyteam probably pushed NWA to mileage increases. So, I guess that improved access to the world now has a slightly higher price.

Is Northwest seeking the Freddie for "least logically organized award data?"

It almost makes you wonder if they randomized the information to make it harder to decipher the changes. How about...alphabetizing the information?

You make an excellent point. I will make Platinum this year on EQMs and there will be only two EQS in that total (both of which could arguably be regarded as errors). Since all of my flights involve going through a hub, this could prove to be a potentially advantageous option. Hmmm.....

I have been flying and playing the Award chart game since the birth of the frequent flyer programs. This one needs a lawyer to untangle.

Im I reading this correctly? There are no changes in Domestic Awards (US49)???