Hello everyone. I have some question for the NW flyers.

My dad is going to become a WorldPerks Silver Elite this year (on August 30). What is the elite membership year?

I have chosen AA; and with AA he will become elite on August 30, 2005 and that will expire on Feb. 28, 2007. His elite status for the remainder of 2007 will be determined based on his miles/points/segments in 2006. Is this the same with NW?

The elite qualifying miles: are those the "butt in seat" miles? So if my dad flys 2,000 miles in economy, will his account be credited with 2,000 miles?

One last thing. I noticed that as a Silver Elite he can get upgraded to First one day before flight departure when flying on a discount ticket; what booking classes are considered "discount" on NW? Thanks for the help!

Welcome to the Northwest forum.

1. If your father qualifies on August 30th, he'll have elite membership till Feb. 28th 2007. The WorldPerks Account status page will note that his Silver Elite is good till Feb 28th 2006, but Northwest will go and update that sometime in December.

2. Yes. American's frequent flyer program works the same way as Northwest's. If he earns 25,000 EQMs between January 1st 2006 and December 31st 2006, his elite status will be extended to Feb 28th 2008. Similarly, if he earns 50,000 EQMs during the same time period, he'll be bumped up to Gold Elite and 75,000 EQMs to Plat (this is where AA and NW differ; AA's highest tier elite is a 100k threshold, whereas NW's highest tier elite is at 75k and above).

3. Elite Qualifying Miles (aka EQMs) are butt in seat miles with a minimum of 500 EQMs per segment. Therefore, all those miles you get from credit card purchases do not count as EQMs; however, any ticket booked in First Class (paid) or (paid) full Y or B class will earn a 50% bonus on top of the EQMs earned. For example, a Coach paid ticket between BNA and MEM (200 actual miles) will earn 500 elite qualifying miles. If it's in First, it'll earn 750 EQMs.

4. As a Silver Elite, he'll be automatically upgraded (space permitting) to First Class midnight 1 day prior to departure on ANY paid Coach fare. If he books a full fare Y-26/27 or full Y fare Coach ticket, he'll be upgraded at the time of ticketing.

Hope this helps!

Which is one of the REALLY nice things about Northwest's program.

Slippahs: Thank you very much for your help.

That feature (upgrade from ANY coach class) is making me seriously consider going to NW from AA. The prices are the same, and knowing that I can upgrade for free without using 500-mile upgrades is very nice indeed!

Not that I'm not a partially loyal flyer of NW, but do think twice before making the switch. With all the financial woes they've been having these days, it might be better to stick with AA (by the way, Continental/Delta have similar upgrading policies, but upgrades are harder to come by).

Now, as the NW loyalist that I am, switch to NW and give them all your money. 'Cuz they're gonna need it.

Also remember that you don't become elite on the day of the flight. You become elite the day after the flight posts that qualifies you. ie fly August 30th but it doesn't credit till Sept 4th, you then become elite on Sept 5th.

Keep in mind that if you have status on NW, you'll receive the same benefits when flying on CO. That is, free upgrades at the appropriate elite window on domestic trips, priority boarding, use of F/J lines at the counter. With DL, you won't get the upgrades, but do get priority boarding and use of the F/J counters.

On CO, you get the EQMs, EQSs, and bonus miles on your WP account, with DL only the EQMs and bonus miles.

Just make sure that CO/DL get your WP account number when you book.

I have flown NW in the past (last year) and I had no problems with them. I very much liked flying with them (and I absolutely LOVED MSP airport!!!).

I do have one concern that I hope someone can answer. Last time I flew AA the person sitting next to me warned me that if AA goes bankrupt then I could lose my miles I have with them. So, if NW does go bankrupt will I keep my miles I have with them, or are they going to zero my account out? If I do decide on changing to NW I will transfer my elite status from AA to NW, then I can be a silver elite.

Thanks for the help and advice.

When USair and United filed no one lost any miles. The only way that would happen if they close the doors for good then they could be lost, but Bankruptcy has not affected the others and I do not see it happening at NW.

This is true, but the less expensive fares only earn 50% EQM whether they're booked on Continental.com or not, so it's moot when trying to save money and flying CO as a NW Silver.
If NW or any other carrier were to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, your miles will likely be safe. United, USAir, Hawaiian and Aloha all have filed for Chapter 11 since 9/11 and no drastic changes were made to their frequent flyer programs (albeit USAir's merger with America West). If a carrier enters Chapter 7 liquidation, well that's a different story. But, if NW were to enter Chapter 11, it'd be years before they'd liquidate. In other words, your miles are safe for the time being, since NW hasn't even filed for Chapter 11.

However, as I am an advocate for the following, I'll say it again here. If you have enough miles for an award, use them. Miles don't earn interest and mileage redemption rates are getting higher as the days go by.

If they go bankrupt it's dobutful they would zero out your miles. They could always end the program, but if they pull through they want their loyal customers to stay loyal. If they go bankrupt and are liquidated the buying airline would probably allow a conversion into their program as a show of goodwill to loyal customer they hope would become loyal to them.

While it could happen it would be a major PR nightmare if they did and would probably send them into liquidation as loyal flyers looked elsewhere.

Slippahs makes an excellent point, because of the myriad of sources for which one can earn frequent flier miles, the value of those miles are consistently and constantly being devalued. In other words, airlines (NW included) are increasing the miles required for redemption. Moral of the story if you have them use them because they will certainly not increase in value.

Ah, so this explains why no EQS for a recent trip on Delta. Still doesn't explain an earlier trip this year on Continental where I only got 50% EQMs and no EQS - anybody have any idea why that would be or should I call to get this fixed?

NW much like US does not restrict miles earned based upon the fare that you purchase. Happy Flying!

Depending on what fare class you booked, there might not be anything to be fixed. Below are the EQM/EQS rules from NW's site.

Note that if it was a codeshare and you bought the tickets through NW but they were CO flights, V, L, T, and K fares only give 50% EQM and no EQS; if you bought the tickets through CO, Q, I, S, W, T, X, and L tickets would have the same result.


Elite Qualifying Segments
Members who don't necessarily travel far in mileage but fly frequently can qualify for Elite status based on the number of segments flown. All paid fare classes eligible to earn WorldPerks miles on Northwest or any of our Elite Qualifying Airline Partners will count towards your Elite Qualifying Segments (EQS) for the 2006 program year (Continental Airlines flights in Q, I, S, W, T, X, L classes; Delta Air Lines operated flights are excluded).

The following partner inventory classes will qualify for Elite qualifying segments:

Airline Fare Class
Northwest P, F, J, C, Z, Y, B, M, H, Q, V, L, T, K
KLM P, F, J, C, Z, S, B, M, H, Q, V, L, T, K
Continental Airlines J, C, Z, A, D, Y, H, K, N, B, V, U
Alaska Airlines F, Y, B, M, H, Q, V, L, T, K, G, S, U
Air Alps Aviation Y, S, M, H, Q, V, L, T, K
Air Europa C, D, Y, M, Q, V, K, W, X, B
Copa Airlines J, C, Z, Y, A, D, H, B, Q, V, L, T, K, F, S, Z
Hawaiian Airlines P, F, J, C, Y, V, Q, B, S, X
Elite Qualifying Mileage on Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines

Delta Air Lines
Elite Qualifying Fare Classes (or codeshare equivalent) on Delta-coded, Delta-operated flights (except where noted)
Elite Qualifying Miles at 150%: P, F, J, C, A, D, I , Y, B
Elite Qualifying Miles at 100%: M, H, Q, K, G, Z, S, X, V, L, U, T
Elite Qualifying Segments: Not applicable on Delta.

Continental Airlines
Elite Qualifying Fare Classes on Continental-coded, Continental-operated flights (except where noted)
Elite Qualifying Miles at 150%: J, C, Z, A, D, Y, H
Elite Qualifying Miles at 100%: K, N, B, V, U
Elite Qualifying Miles at 50%: Q, I, S, W, T, X, L
Miles not earned in the following class: M
Elite Qualifying Segments: J, C, Z, A, D, Y, H, K, N, B, V, U

* The following codeshare classes will receive 50% Elite Qualifying Miles and will continue to receive no Elite Qualifying Segments:

On Northwest-coded, Continental-operated flights: V, L, T, K
On Delta-coded, Continental-operated flights: L, U, T
On Air France-coded, Continental-operated flights: V, L, Q, U, N, W, E
On Aeromexico-coded, Continental-operated flights: L, V, T, X, N
On Korean Air-coded, Continental-operated flights: E, L, V
On CSA Czech Airlines-coded, Continental-operated flights: Q, N, V
On Alitalia-coded, Continental-operated flights: A, N, L, O