I'll bring this up as a suggestion for the 2008 program... nothing like getting an early start... smile

not enough for me
 

Yes we could kind of agree....

Improvement? Yes.

Enough carrot to bring me back to NW? No.

With approximately 100K EQM per year, it will be tough for me to beat 120K mark just to get 2 SWUs, let alone 160K. Do people realize that 160K is a lot of travel ? It's like 10 round-trips Boston-Shanghai in 2007. With 4 SWUs you only get upgraded on 2 trips in 2008.

While acknowledging that WBC is a ncie product, NW's coach product especially on aging 744s is dreadful with no PTV, no E+.

Honestly, until we see the following happening:

4 SWUs for 100K EQMs;
787s with improved coach section, possibly Economy Plus
Nonstop service to China

then I'll consider switching back to NW. :-: :-:

Can you say "787"?

The 787 will be able to make that trip. Whether or not NW will do it I haven't the slightest idea.

I simply don't think we'll ever see that. Personally, I'm surprised we're seeing SWU's at all on top of the best domestic upgrade arrangement around.

The WBC product is nice, nicer than UA biz, for example. But UA and NW both fly "aging 744s", so I see this as a wash. At least with NW you could fly to the West Coast and take a new A332 with PTV and a better environment. I don't worry about E+, personally, as I always get an exit row or a bulkhead if I want it. ;)

This is enough of a carrot for those considering switching FROM NW to stay with them for a while. The Elite ExtraPerks program doesn't appear to be designed to pull people AWAY from UA/AA to come back to NW. Perhaps next year's program will do that, you know, with the new 787s and new nonstop service to exotic locations. ;)

160k is flying 3077 miles every week for a year

Yup, that's a lot of flying on any airline...

Of course, a lot of people fly paid first/business class or buy Y/B fares that earn 150% EQMs. So, that helps. ;)

Makes my back ache just thinking about it :D

Okay let me disagree on the "wash" part..

True, UA has aging 744s, but at least it has E+ (not great E+, but better than NW's 744 Y, no?)

To take NW's A332 to most Asia destinations, people in the east coast except DTW and MSP must triple connect.

I don't know how many people find it enticing to go BOS-DTW-SFO-NRT-PVG. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Its not that bad--- its just one round trip every two months DTW-DEL in WBC/Y/B in addition to some assorted domestic travel. I don't know my exact numbers from last year, but I'm pretty sure that I made 160,000 EQM on NW/CO/AA/UA... and I really only travel once every two or so weeks domestically and once every 1-2 months internationally.

For those of you complaining there aren't enough SWU's, think of it this way.

Those system wide upgrades are worth 240,000 miles - cost of the lowest available fare. Another way of calculating their value is taking the C fare and subtracting the lowest available fare. We're talking 3-7,000 dollars here (per two SWUs), and when you travel 160,000 you get 4 SWUS, so that's up to 14,000 in benefit. This is 14,000 in benefit that wasn't offered last year- this is a BIG deal (especially considering NW has some of the most expensive business class seats).

most people that buy C or Y-up dont need swu's either unless they want an UG to the flight deck :)

Some people fly C for business, Y for pleasure...as just one example. Other people fly Y for business, but they fly Y or B. People that Y-Up won't need SWUs as much, but I'm not talking about those people.

check your math. A Z fare would be more of a real number. then subtract the low fare from Z. then subtract the cost of 85k past Plat to hit 160k. Im telling ya. buying a Z fare is cheaper than flying an extra 85k to get some swu's. You only need 100k for top tier status on UA or AA and you get 6 or 8 swu's EDIT For example I just looked at DTW_AMS 1oct-8oct
Z fare was 2631 lowest fare was 1033, so 2 swu's are worth $800 bucks each on that flight. When you add in how much it costs to get to the point of getting 2 swu's they are basically not cost affective.

Where are these K>C routes? Must be my North American centric booking efforts, but I've never seen anything less then V-fare from DTW. Is K-fare intra-Asia and intra-Europe only?

I think we owe you a case of something, just for what was accomplished in '07! But if you're going to start work on '08, better to start now... :)

Steve B.

enough with the "lowly."
 

"Lowly" was me six months ago, when I'd have no seat choices whatsoever. At least now, i'm usually in an exit or bulkhead seat. Hold your head high. Be silver and proud. :D

(that said, i agree with you about the membership giveaway perk for this promo. good for them. hopefully not crappy for us. although my guess is more folks would take the SWUs. that seems to be what everyone's talking about.)