NWsilverflyer

I think that's bull. If you are base, you get NO complimentary first class upgrades; with Silver, it seems the "worst" stories on this thread are about 50% success. Add the premium seating and bonus miles, I'd say Silver provides plenty of benefits!

Knoppix

As Gold, i got 95%+ of upgrades on domestic flights, and a few upgrades on international flights. Silver barely got me anything.

clarence5ybr

As one or two other posters have mentioned, it depends what routes you fly, and how flexible you are about flying on off days or at off times. When I was ABQ-based, I was UGd on every single filght I took in and out of ABQ as a Silver. In 2.5 years as a Silver, my UG rate was about 95% overall. Living in ABQ helped, but I also had a fair number of flights on Saturdays, as well as weekday flights that were not a peak business travel times.

I moved to RNO in November, 2004, and made Gold that month. In 2005 as a Gold, I've UGd on 67% of my UGable flights. RNO in ski season is a tough UG, and I've had bad luck on some other flights.

The bottom line is that as far as UGs are concerned, you simply can't make a blanket statement that will hold true for everyone--look at my success rate as a Gold vs. Silver as an example. There are many threads on this board detailing that flights in and out of DCA are difficult UGs even for Plats, so telling someone Plat is "worth it" might not be true if that's their main airport.

Also, as others have pointed out, even if UG levels are low as a Silver, some people might find combination of some UGs and the other benefits [preferred seating, the SE res line (I know it's the same operators as the regular reservations line, but not having to wait on hold is a nice perk), preboarding and bonus miles] worth it.

MikeMpls

Ditto! I was 8/11 for upgrades as an SE & my wife is 1/1. Being able to breeze thru the FC checkin lines & elite security (even SE's get priority at the checkpoints in MSP if you know where to go) & priority boarding make it all very worthwhile, not to mention the bonus miles.

We both made SE on a trip to Rome (FCO). When we went to check in for our departure at 4:30 a.m., there was already a loooooong line at the non-elite counter. There was also an empty checkin line with a sign that said "Skyteam Elite": "Skyteam Elite? That's NW Silver, right?" "Yes." And we commenced our checkin to the chagrin of the peasant class to our left (there was only one agent at the counter!).

If you travel much, ANY elite status will greatly improve the quality of your travel experience.

SchmutzigMSP

I have to agree with the majority opinion here. Silver is better than base. If nothing else, you do get those extra 50% bonus miles. Once silver, a trip to Asia, routed well, can earn you well over 30,000 miles. How's that for a benefit? Plus the upgrades. I'm at about 85% out of a NW hub. Not bad, IMO. Granted, the amenities in FC may not be what they once were, but they are still pretty nice. Elite pre-boarding is great on full flights, and you'll board with all the other elites, too. I've heard in some cases they will board Plats, then Golds, then Silvers, but haven't experienced that ever, so it's just as good to be Silver in this situation as it is to be Gold/Plat.

Unless you only take one or two trips each year, it's surprisingly easy to reach Silver with creative routings and perhaps taking an extra trip somewhere that you hadn't originally planned on (either leisure or a MR). I'd say the benefits are worth it.

...just don't snatch any of my upgrades

timrick

Besides beneftis you get from Northwest, you also get extra bonus miles from various partners for being a NW elite.

For example, National gives 50 miles per rental day for base WP members, 100 miles for Silver menbers, and 150 for Gold/Plat members.

GWave120

I'll make Silver after my next trip back to MSY, but Gold isn't really a possibility. I'd have to make three NGO-MSY roundtrips in a year, plus some sort of mileage run to BKK or SIN or something. Not an uninteresting mileage run, mind you, but prices for tickets when buying in Japan are atrocious. The only upshot is that if I got Gold, I'd get free WorldClub membership. ^ Almost makes the money and time worth it.

Are the DTW-MSY flights good for getting upgrades? I got exit seats last time, and the extra legroom was great, but it'd be nice to sit up front for a change.

nydonwvu

7 for 8 after missing a connection and being rebooked

so far silver rocks, cant wait to be gold in a few months

Watchful

I have been NW silver for a few years. I averaged about 75% upgrades in the past.

Only flown 5 NW segments so far this year, with only 2 upgrades. Been doing a lot of flying on DL - racking up elite miles - also with a couple of DL mileage runs - no upgrades, but lots of elite qualifying miles.

In Aug. and Sept. I will be doing 16 NW segments in just a few weeks time, so I will be looking to see how well I do on upgrades!

I have 43000 elite qualifying miles booked for 2005 so I will do whatever it takes to hit GOLD for '06! ^

nydonwvu

My percentage is skewed as I am normally flying off peak. I will be flying LGA-MEM 2-3 times a month (Fri - Sun) and that is the route that is responsible for my only non upgrade (1 for 2 on this route)
My real test will be in Sept when I do a LGA-LAS (via MSP) (friday - Monday) so far I have exit and am happy about that but would luv to sit up front. Unfortunately I will not be gold until after that trip.

Planning a JFK-AMS-BUD-AMS-JFK (upgrade to WBC with miles) which should give me platinum

psychtobe

I am at 68% UG for the year, and all but one of my non upgraded segments were MSP/DTW-SEA/PDX on a Monday. Outside of that leg, I am close to 100% (on upgradeable segments). Even 1 for 2 on CO!

Just stay out of the Pacific northwest... at least 'til I make gold. ^

Sin5Cents

Is this an unpublished benefit?

peachfront

I've been upgraded every time between DTW and MSY since making silver, knock on wood.

knit-in

On an oversold flight, you have a good chance to get a seat up front on Int'l flights.

In past years, Silver has gotten me a fairly high no. of domestic upgrades.This year all of my travel has been int'l so no upgrades, but the 50% bonus, and more importantly First Class check-in/ security lines (where available) are worth the status.

kdinino

Its worth it if you don't go overboard and spend $500+ to obtain it via MR's when you otherwise wouldn't have gotten to Silver. I barekly made ilver last year and while yes its nice to get a few upgrades etc, you have to validate the fact that if you only fly 4-5 times on NWA a year, then is sitting in coach that bad?

Its a tough choice, but if your close to Silver, by all means get all. The best thing for me is avoiding the long security lines and the 150% EQM's. NWA FC is basically a wider chair with some decent airline food.