The real value of Elite?
 

I am just curious as I should get elite status with a trip to and from Guam for work next week, but what is the actual value of Silver? DO you havbe much of a chance of upgrading to BC/FC? I see that is says you get 25% more miles, are these just miles or EQMs? Also Is tyhe 50K level (gold I think) that much better than silver?

Thanks

The main value is two fold. First, you get preferential treatment, such as during boarding, in oversold situations, in weather delays and cancellations, etc. Additionally, you get better seats, whether it be at the front of the plane, or with the ability to be upgraded. I have generally had decent success rates with SE upgrades, especially on higher-fare tickets.

Gold improves your chances for upgrades, and gives you the ability to get gate upgrades for a companion. Besides that, there isn't a whole lot more.. except maybe the ability to use the fast security line in some locales, but at least in DTW the elite line is often slower.

If you go to the Northwest website they have a list of the perks available at each level, so that's a good starting point.

The bonus miles are bonus, not EQM. I was SE on NW in 2002-2003, and I got upgraded to first about 65% of the time. Once I was already on the plane in coach and was called to the front of the plane and they handed me a FC boarding pass. You also get reciprocal upgrades on CO. I can't say if the upgrade % will be the same now.

A lot depends on what you value. I almost never have a carryon, so early boarding doesn't matter to me, but if you want to grab overhead space first, early boarding matters. Gold Elites are in line for upgrades before silvers, and I think they can upgrade award tickets and companions.

In general, my advice would be, if you project out to fly 22,000 or 46,000 miles for the year, it's worth the effort to make sure you go over 25 or 50K and get the approprite elite status. It's definitely worthwhile to get 25K miles on one airline rather than 10, 9, and 6K on each of 3.

Check out http://www.nwa.com/worldperks/elite/benefits.html for a summary of the benefits. The main advantage is unlimited domestic upgrades to FC on a space-available basis. Depending on the routes you fly, you could get the upgrades >75% of the time or <25% of the time.

Going from no status to SE is the biggest jump and well worth it. Not enough can be said about the value of pre-boarding when you have a carry on.

Elite Line CSR's answer the phones quicker than the general reservation lines
 

You will get quicker responses to your telephone calls if you are an elite member.

The SE members are placed in front of base members with CSR's.

The GE/PE members are routed to a special call center that has highly qualified csr's to handle whatever ticketing needs you might have.

Good Luck!

RC

Anecdotal evidence suggests the rate of upgrade success isn't as great for anybody now as it was in 2002-03, esp. Silvers, but things will vary by route, day and time of day.

I wouldn't expect to get into the front cabin regularly on weekday departures to the west coast, for example.

But some status is better than no status. The main benefit to SEs, I think, is the ability to click on the P seats in coach and board early (right after F pax). If nothing else you should never have to sit further aft than the third or fourth row of coach.

Hypothetical question regarding elite status...

Let say you fly airlines A 75% of the time and airline B 25% of the time. Is it better to have "Gold" status on airline A and no status on airline B or work to get "Silver" status on both airlines?

It's June...I've made Gold on NWA and half-way to Premere (2P) on United. I can probably make it to Platinum on NW or work on United and make it to Premiere Exec (1P). Any thoughts?

Regarding the elite pick up time, and the upgrade success rates:

I have noticed my elite success rates drop significantly since 2001-2003, though this is because of fuller capacity on the flights.

In terms of elite line, if you are SE you don't get a dedicated line only a dedicated number. I get through very fast no matter which line I dial, and it was this way even several years ago when I temporarily lost my SE status, so I think this has more to do on your intrinsic value or whatever calculation they use to determine how important you are.

ask UA for a status match based on your Gold NW status. Tell them your new job makes UA your preferred carrier. UA treats its 1Ps as well or better than NW plats (at least in my exp) as a 1p youll be able to book E+ exit rows at no charge and no waiting for "Roachcoach" 24hrs out

I like my Gold, but I'd rather have Plat, seems that you get just a bit more...plus then you'll have Skyteam Elite+ and access to lounges traveling internationally. Plus with Premere on UA you'll have access to E+, which I think the biggest advantage.

To clarify, upgrades are only domestic, no Hawaii flights nor international flights. Very occasionally you get a operation upgrade but as Silver you are lowest in priority....

True. But, when the call center is very busy, it always comes in handy to have Gold or Plat membership, so as to not receive the "We're sorry, due to high call volumes... click" message.

Just remember that the status match is likely a one-time only thing. I am NW SE and UA 1P, both earned the hard way (well double miles helped me out w/ NW last year). Having status on 2 airlines is awesome, but if I were you, I'd shoot for the higest possible status on the airline where I do the bulk of my flying (for me, UA). The treatment of low-level status vs. high-level status is more or less the same, IMHO, minus the upgrade possibilities (which I suppose is the biggest perk for most. for me, it's getting 3timesacarryon onto the plane with me :) ).

So I would make the decision based on the bonus miles that I'd be accruing. The difference between 1P and 2P on UA is pretty big (i.e., 25% bonus miles vs. 100% bonus miles). Conversely, the difference between GE and PE on NW is small (125% vs 100%).

You can set up some kind of break-even equation to determine the milage you'd have to fly on UA vs. NW to make mid-level status worthwhile. And actually, since i am the kind of dork who enjoys nothing more than setting up spreadsheets on the weekend, I did this just now for fun.

According to my calcs, if the OP does > 75% of flights on NW, then going for the PE/2p status combo is better than GE/1p. at 75% it's a wash, and below that, GE/1p is the winner.

Again, this is based purely on RDM. So it doesn't take into account the fact that UA peeps have to apply for upgrades while NW peeps get them for free. And then there is that 1000 mile bonus for riding in the back of the bus and all of that. Once you factor those in, then NW would have the upper hand at a (perhaps much) lower flight threshold.

this probably makes no sense, right? :p :)

Edited to add: just realized that we are talking about PE vs. GE/2p. At that point you'd need to fly more than 50% of flights on UA for the RDMs to work out in favor of GE/2p. And since upgrades are nearly impossible (in my past experience) to get as a 2p, I think the choice is then clear.

Which is better Platinum on one airlines or 1 gold the other silver
 

The answer to your question is it depends....If 75% of your travel is on airlines a and if you could acheive platinum by year end and the routes you generally travel are filled with platinum...then go for the platinum. However, if you may not get to platinum by the end of the year or if gold would generally get you the upgrade then go for the elite status on your alternative airlines!