Right! What Mike said (both just now and at the pre-DO). :D

I made plat on NW in 2006... because I wanted to. I flew almost 110K total, but some 30K of it wound up on non-SkyTeam carriers (to my dismay), and I actually had to try to make plat. If, though, I had gotten plat out of the way "early", I would have had no reason to keep flying NW, and would in fact have probably not even done one whole trip on them!

Give me a little something more at 100K, 125K, 150K, whatever... and you give me reason to aim for more than 75K, and to be more insistent about my butt being on SkyTeam any time it's an option.

Platinum Points work best for people flying on the (usually large) comapany's dime where they're essentially buying fully-refundable full-fare FC and biz seats. Everyone else, regardless of how much revenue they draw, is set to get very little from Platinum Points. NW realizes this, so much so that even last time Russ Hinckley chatted with FT, he acknowledged that it wasn't working, but they were going to give the program one more year to see if it improved anything.

I think most would agree that it hasn't, and now it would appear that NW is either revamping Platinum Points or putting in something entirely new to try and entice people to fly more than 75K. I know I'm listening, because I didn't fly NW much after 75K.

...and have lots of free time to dig through NWA.com looking for info on it. ;) (Does anyone know how to get to it without Googling?) Oh, and, note to self... must get this job!

I'm hoping for something entirely new, and both simpler to participate in and simpler to find on the site. :)

I'm listening too, because this year I'm looking at increased involvement in planning my own travel and that of several dozen others.

From nwa.com: WorldPerks -> WorldPerks Program Information -> Elite Program -> Platinum Points Promotion -> "For additional details on the promotion, click here."

3 clicks and a few hovers on the menu. :)

And, apparently, I have some Platinum points. ;)

Thanks for doing the math - really is absurd -- RC - be sure to forward the above - points out just how bad PP.

One is better off signing up as a company in Biz Perks if you are not in DTW/MSP/MEM you can get 2 SWU for less than 4 J round-trips (8600x10x4 = 344k points 280k buys 2 SWU).

Well I can compart the CO card, the AA card, the UA card and the NW card.

The NW card is kind of bland, as is the UA card and the AA card. the CO card has a nice sparkle to it.

At this point, I think they know, and I think PP's coffin needs no more nails. :p

No SWU is a detriment
 

I am Platinum for life with AA and just under 3 million miles. I hit 75K with NW months ago and started flying AA to get to 3 million miles just for the SW upgrades I get for crossing the next million mile mark. I did end up over 100K with NW in hope they change their program to include 2006.

I am back to flying NW this year and do not look back at the decision to switch 4 years ago. I've made platinum every year easily and have almost 2 million points with NW; no lifetime status, no miles to inherit, etc. I do fly 100% domestic for business and like the upgrades (when I left AA their EXP still used stickers) and the companion upgrades.

I was EXP from 1998 when the program started until I left 4 years ago and really enjoyed my 2-3 pleasure trips overseas in business class. Now they offer a charge, I think $250 is going to $300, on any fare to upgrade. I've been overseas on NW or KL several times and hate coach for that long. Maybe I'm being a baby but as much business I give to NW, not including all the people that now fly them because of me, that a little perk to feel special on those long flights overseas. Maybe they take the risk of a little revenue for these flights but how much is the good will worth to them for their most loyal customers???

I would never spend the extra money for a "B" or "Y" fare let alone not even get a guaranteed upgrade. They actually get your money first and we need to hope a seat is available. I'm sure a refund is not issued to give me back the money I overpaid in the hope of getting an upgrade.

Sorry about the long post but NW attitute on SW upgrades for platinums is a detriment to how they treat us.

You always have the benefit of flying as a Plat, getting the better seats, EUA's, tons of extra miles, the whole deal. I see why it might make sense to fly another airline once you're past 75k. Honestly, if I were someone who flies that much then I would consider a program that had such rewards (even DL has Silver for life past 1M, Gold for life past 2M, Plat for life past 4M). It's all about finding the program that is right for you. WP (just like every other FF program) has its ups and downs.

Indeed. And that has a lot to do with why I'm flying Northwest to begin with - well, that and not wanting to deal with O'Hare and its snow and scorpions any more than I have to. :D

Yep. If I had more say in the matter, I'd probably choose CO or somebody.

Yes. In this particular case, I think many of us are generally happy with WP, and are just pointing out that they need to have something else for us to do (and a reason to do it) beyond 75K.

Would I like them to add plat for life after 10 years, a la KLM, or elite for life after certain milestones a la Delta? Sure, that'd be great! Of course I'm only 1/10th of my way to anything like that, so I may be less focused on that than a lot of others. ;)

You are right I could go make 1K or Plat on another AL but NW has the routes, service and pricing that I need 90% of the time. Frankly, status on UA is not worth dealing with ORD IMHO. The only time I fly UA/AA is when I really want to sit up front on a long haul and can use miles to upgrade. I am a lowly silver at this point so even that is tough but at least I have a shot. That is why I think a swu program or some other high milealge award would make sense to NW AND me . :) I WANT to keep flying NW after 75Kbecause I like the AL..they just need to make it a no-brainer for me.

Hear, hear. And while yes, I'm plat now, my plat status for 2006-2007 didn't post until 2006 was over. I'd never flown NW before 20 Jan 2006. I spent 4 months as a base member, and another 6.5 months (during which I only did 1.5 domestic round-trips) as a Silver. I was only Gold for one domestic round-trip, my last of the year. My spreadsheet says my butt was in NWA, SkyTeam or other NW partners seats in domestic F (EUA'ed, paid or otherwise upgraded) 19,057 miles, in domestic Y 29,578 miles, and in international Y 32,956 miles. So I'm quite accustomed to being in the back, regardless of what metal I am. :D

Since most of you guys are from the midwest there always seems to be this ORD bashing around here. UA has five hubs, and most folks dont have to fly thru ORD to get where they are going. avidflyer if you are still in boston you can fly transcon nonstop on ua, you cant do that on NW

So one can route around ORD, so what? The problem is, one of these days, as a UA flyer, you'll inevitably end up in ORD, whether it's from a wx/mx reroute, a cheaper ticket price that you must book (corporate or personal policy), or the only award available. I can see how one could avoid one of the smaller hubs of the airlines (e.g., one could easily be elite on NW and avoid MEM, but it'd be harder for one to avoid MSP or DTW), but too much of UA's ops goes through ORD to be avoided.

maybe for someone in the msp-dtw area. I live in seattle and UAs schedule is out standing I hardly ever fly through ord. mostly nonstop to IAD with a hop or a hop to lax or sfo and a flight to where im going. and as far as awards go. One reason I left nw was to get an award I usually had to fly sea-msp-dtw-onward. I started with them for sea-ams which are never avail anymore and sea-hnl on a dc-10. Ill never pay miles to ug on a 757 to hnl thats a joke.