How does NWA distribute e-certs?
 

If am relatively new to this forum, and just recently found out about e-cert vouchers. I am not soliciting for coupons, but am interested if anyone knows how and who NWA distributes these e-certs to.

they usually gives out when flight is delayed or canceled. :-:

However compare to the hassle you got, it's not worth. ;)

Most (not all) ECV's are stored in your Worldperks account (see link)
 

Most ECV's (Electronic Credit Vouchers) are stored in your WP's account and can be easily found when you are ready to apply the dollars off or Free Ticket credit for a trip.

See link below:

http://www.nwa.com/travel/viewecv/

RC

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

Search this board for e-cert. You'll find much more comprehensive answers than those above.

Wirelessly posted (My IV to the Net: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry7250/4.0.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1)

If you voluntarily give up your seat ( "getting bumped") you have the option to receive an e-cert (ECV - Electronic Credit / Coupon Voucher = money off) or a Free Ticket anywhere in the continental US, I believe. Not sure if AK is included. I know HI is not.



Domestically ECVs are normally $300. International flights ECVs are normally $700. Although I believe both can be offered at lower amounts (and probably higher as well, if the situation demands it).



IMO one should almost always take the ECV. Reasons: 1) You receive FF miles for the flight flown using the ECV. 2) With the Free ticket when trying to book, you are pulling from the award flight fare class (W, I think) which means that it is many times tough to find a seat.



There is one reason to take the Free Ticket and that is if you know for sure that a flight you will be taking costs more then $300 and the flight is in the continental US. And your travel dates are flexible.



How do you get an ECV?

Get bumped. Book flights that appear full (don't just go by NW's seat chart). Check flyaow's (I think, sorry going from memory) seat availability site. You can find the site URL in a post/sticky at the top of the Mileage Run forum.



If you think a flight is going to be oversold, go up to the Gate Agent and ask. If they say it will be volunteer to be bumped.

IMO it is always good to negotiate a confirmed seat on the next available flight and the ECV. Also some food voucher(s) if the next flight is more then 3 hours later.



Hope that helps.

People, the OP is asking about e-certs, not ECVs.

e-certs = zone and $-off coupons that reduce the price of a ticket
ECVs = electronic $-value vouchers that you can use toward buying a ticket

The answers above are very good answers for ECVs.

For e-certs, search the word "e-cert" and you'll find everything you want to know.

Thank you all for responses.

All I know is that here in Seattle we don't get e-certs. (What a blanket statement).

-RM

I get e-certs the following ways:

Inside my WorkPerks Visa Statement
Inside my Hilton Honors Statement
Inside ValPak Blue Envelopes
From the FlyterTalk Coupon Connection

There is also a site where you can purchase them from. If you need the $100 off e-cert, paying $20 to save $100 isn't bad deal.

I have noticed that these aren't as good a deal as they once were. The most recent cert I received wasn't good in/out of MSP which is a b* and they don't include a growing number of fees and surcharges. A $298 zone cert is pricing out at $350 now! The savings are far less than they used to be given the restrictions on them.

Wirelessly posted (My IV to the Net: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry7250/4.0.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1)

D'oh, yeah that would have been good if I would have realized that. ;)

Argh, I konw how you feel. I'm tired of trying to use a cert, and having to always remember to look at the fare, not the total. It's to the point that some routes have such high fees, that using the cert costs me *more*, then not using the cert (choosing a higher fare, to save the money).

I like ECVs, they're like cash. Just take it off the top, no confusion.

Steve B.