Golf auction
 

I got this email today:

Dear WorldPerks Member,

Northwest Airlines WorldPerks invites you to participate in the
first on-line auction in which you can bid your WorldPerks miles
for a trip for two to the 1999 Ryder Cup Golf Tournament.

Bids will be accepted between now and June 30, 1999 on the Northwest
Airlines web site at http://www.nwa.com . Bidding begins at
150,000 miles. Auction participants may purchase WorldPerks miles
for bidding at a cost of three cents per mile. Auction proceeds
will benefit Northwest Airlines KidCares program, which enables
children to fly free and access medical care not available in their
community.

The prestigious Ryder Cup will take place at The Country Club in
Brookline, Massachusetts, September 21-26, 1999 and features
competition between top players from the United States and Europe
including David Duval, Tiger Woods, Davis Love III and Mark O'Meara.


The trip for two includes:

- Roundtrip airfare
- Five nights accommodations
- All meals
- Ground transportation
- Two rounds of golf
- Tickets to the Ryder Cup
- A souvenir gift bag

Bidding is underway, don't miss the excitement of this online
auction! To learn more about the auction and place your bid today,
go to http://www.nwa.com/features/ryder.shtml .

Sincerely,

Susan B. Edberg
Managing Director
WorldPerks Marketing and International Advertising

Terms and conditions apply, visit http://www.nwa.com/features/ryder.shtml for details.

That's a pretty steep minimum bid, especially considering it doesn't even appear to be first class air travel! Delta's auctions typically start out with much lower minimum bids, and they usually offer more than just one of the trips!

One of my collegues won a Delta auction to go to the PGA Championship, same kind of deal, and his winning bid was less than NW's minimum bid, plus his trip included first class air travel!

Good luck bidders! Maybe NW feels that their miles are worth less than DL's!

Well...in defense of the minimum bid...

The Ryder Cup is THE premier golf event in the world. The 1999
Ryder Cup has been sold out for three years, so being able to
get tickets now is a big deal. Last time I checked, the high bid
was 325,000 miles...so there are evidently people who do think
it's worth their miles!

Alas, that's why people love auctions. All it takes is one high bid too! I believe many studies have shown that auctions bring the highest prices for items to the sellers. Presumably this is due to the competition created among bidders! Best of Luck!

Got my DL statement today, and they are auctioning off eight trips to the Ryder Cup, which will also include entry into the Business Elite Golf Tournament. The one catch is you have to have flown in paid Business Elite between May 15 and July 25.

The package includes first class airfare, lodging, entry into the Business Elite Charity Cup, and tickets to the Ryder Cup. Minimum bid is 150,000 miles.

With DL auctions it's sealed bids though ... so you can't see what other people bid unfortunately!