Wow. Your OP said "Changes (for the better)..." ...looks like you better start taking your own advice! You already decided it was "for the better." Maybe you should have held off on the post!

"Tweaking???" Where have you been? It doesn't need "tweaking" ... it needs ending! The "tweaks" you mention in your OP are ROTTEN, if true. Still making elites log in at 36 hours to get seats they previously got for free at time of booking??! Reducing the availability of seats to elites. Why???? "Never intended to target elite??????" What??? Why else have the elites pay $15 and not refund them if upgraded? Why take away available seats from them only to force them to log in 36 hours prior?! NW obviously didn't give a rip about elites. They were after $$$. If you took off your NW blinders, you'd see that.

Please name these "several airlines." Besides Southwest. I assume you are talking about "full fare" carriers too. This seems to be a new argument. I don't remember even NW making it -- AFAIK, they just compared themselves to UA and Air Canada, both illegit comparisons.

I hope this turns out to be a misunderstanding of NW's proposed change in policy. I make my reservations well in advance. Until RoachChoice came along, I highly valued the ability to reserve a reclining exit rown seat at the time of booking. If I now have to mark my calendar and set my alarm for some sort of 36-hour elite seat scramble, then the changes suggested by Radiocycle are are of no use to me.

Reread my OP.

The elite line CSR in Chisolm told me today that all NW elites would be able to book Choice seat assignments w/o the $15.00 fee.

I don't know all the details, just that NW is changing the program to make sure the NW Elites are not charged for these seats.

We should all be getting more details on this soon from NW.

RC

The reclining exit row seats will not be offered as Coach Choice Seats, the limited recline/no recline seats will be offered.

You will, as a NW elite pax be able to check the nwa.com seat map when you buy your ticket a month in advance (or whenever you buy it) and move to a "P" reclining exit row seat, if it is available.

RC

Is this a joke? Should NW Elites be charged for window seats on AF? or CO? or DL? I am flying more NW than any NW Silver Elite does, NO WAY I am paying $60 for coach choice!
I don't understand why NW is going down this road, charging a partner Plat Elite while waiving the fee for own Silvers is just ridiculous.
I can't imagine Skyteam will tolerate this discrimination.

This is welcome news Radiocycle. Most excellent! ^ ^ ^

There's already enough inconsistencies in SkyTeam, adding more won't be noticed CO already sticks out like a sore thumb with the 50% EQM policy...

As far as the "real" impact of the changes, as a non-elite a couple of years ago, I could almost always snag a $C/$E choice at checkin. I don't think all good seats will be snagged at 36 hours.

Back then, there were not as many Elites (due to this year's unfortunate inflation!) and there were a lot more seats (reduced now, due to the cutback in capacity!)

Lately, all of the really good seats are snagged long before the 36 hour mark!

Glad to hear that NW is apparently close to exempting elites from the Coach Choice program. However, there are still two troubling aspects to the rumored changes:

(1) The inconvenient 36 hour window for accessing Coach Choice seats, that will apparently remain intact. Others have already explained how vexing this is. Why shouldn't elites be allowed to reserve any available seat at the time of booking at no cost?

and

(2) The retention of the Coach Choice fee for non-WorldPerks SkyTeam elites. I wonder how long it will be before other SkyTeam carriers like CO and DL retaliate and start charging or start limiting the ability of WorldPerks elites to reserve exit row, bulkhead, and premium seating in advance for free if NW discriminates against their elites by refusing to exempt them from Coach Choice.

I am at a total loss to envision why NW thinks its customers would be willing to pay extra money on top of their airfare for the privilege of sitting in a restricted recline exit-row seat or a run-of-the-mill coach class seat not near the very front of the cabin.

1. I fly Delta a lot (though not as much as AA) and sometimes end up on NW.

2. I do not want any other airline to adopt this heinous policy of making elites beg/bribe for so-called "premium" seats in the coach cabin. It's an anathema to my FF soul.

A few people I know have knee-problems (injury, arthritis, etc.) and they greatly value both the exit row and the aisle seat due to the ability to stretch their legs more comfortably. They are far from being frequent flyers, but when they do fly, they like to get aisles/exit rows. These kinds of travelers probably couldn't care less if the seat didn't recline as long as it means their extremities are a bit more comfortable for their bi-annual airplane trip.

Would they pay $15 on top of their airfare for a few extra inches? You better believe it.

I'm glad to hear about this kind of improvement, but I am not thrilled about the non-recognition of SkyTeam elite status since I often use my DL Platinum/SkyTeam ElitePlus status on NW flights.

[And, in the past year or so, I have credited more NW flights than DL flights to my DL account. (And I have also credited more DL flights than NW flights to my NW account.)]

Some people have mentioned that they should be exempted, too, considering they've flown more NW than YY, even though they credited to YY.

Well, if you want the perks from NW, why not credit to NW?

(Yes, I'm aware of the advantages of flying NW and crediting to DL, CO, AF, KL, etc.)

Like it or not, the airlines are going to have to change some things very soon or they will not be able to survive. You may not agree that any of what NW is trying will help them turn a profit, but at least they're trying. And nothing is final, yet. If you disagree, jump to UA or AA. Many already have and have no problems patting themselves on the back about it. The reason you'd stick around with NW right now is that you have a vested interest (routes, airports, mileage balance, soft spot for the company, etc.) in seeing NW survive. If none of this applies to you and you're just looking for the best that's out there, NW probably isn't your cup o' tea, and you'd be better off spending your energy building up your status on another airline.

Change is inevitable...for all the airlines. These moves may be early growing pains, and if it is indeed too painful for you, you have options, and you'd be wise to take your ball and go home.

Who says "they" haven't credited to NW's program?

There are several reasons why I don't always act like a lemming and credit NW flights to NW's program -- including rounding out various accounts for award redemptions. Should I be penalized for being a NW elite who uses my DL elite card from time to time? It's not like NW or DL have anything into which to upgrade me for most flights.

In any event, some of my actions -- with the "swap" of FF programs-- help NW financially as I earn 25% fewer miles and thus buy more tickets on NW. If I earned more NW miles, the consequence would be that I'd give NW less cash. So maybe NW should encourage me to continue as usual.