Worldperks Program Deception

I just received an e-mail from Jim Cron, thanking me for my support as NWA emerges from bankruptcy....Very thoughtful....Sad thing is, I haven't flown a NWA flight since March of '06, because of their deceptive practices.

In late ’05, I started flying to Minneapolis regularly, and NWA offered me, a new customer, with Silver Elite status for the period October 4, 2005 through February 28, 2006. All I had to do was fly four additional “segments” by February 28, 2006 to qualify for Silver Elite status for all of 2006! Thrilled with the offer, I immediately switched from my primary carrier to Northwest Airlines.

In the meantime, I flew 12 “Elite Qualifying Segments” in 2005, and 4 “Elite Qualifying Segments” before February 28, 2006, literally transferring 90%+ of my business to NWA. When I logged into my account on March 1, I was indicated as a “Base Member.” Intrigued, I called customer service for clarification. I found that only 3 of the 16 segments I flew were of the proper “fare code” to qualify as a segment under the promotion. The agent was kind enough to review the 10 or so “fare codes,” which of course was quite confusing.

What’s ridiculous about this, is that I took flights on NWA that were in some cases 3 times the price of the competition, just to ensure my status for 2006. I also took flights that required layovers, when my previous carrier offered direct service.

Simply put, I find that the “fare code” requirement was deliberately deceptive, regardless of whether it was reviewed in fine print or not. It’s painfully obvious that I provided Northwest Airlines with a significant amount of business to show my appreciation for their promotional offer, and made a more than reasonable attempt to satisfy the promotions requirements. It’s obvious that this “promotion” was designed to draw in business for 5 months, while the uneducated consumer gets nothing in the end due to some pretty well thought out deception. The most irritating thing is that in the process, all of this mileage could have been credited towards my American Airlines account, where I would have achieved Platinum status.

I was so angered by this that I sent the CEO a letter via FedEx……..No response. I fly upwards of 100K miles/year, and I will not step foot on an NWA flight, even if it means 10 layovers, unless they were to restore my status for an extended period of time.

Sorry to hear you feel this way.

FWIW, every 'challenge' offer like this that I've seen from NW had the fare booking class requirement spelled out quite clearly in the main body of the offer (e.g., 'fly X segments booked in B, Y, or F class'), so I've never felt deceived. I never took advantage of any of the offers, precisely because NW's requirement that travel for the challenge be booked into one of the highest fare buckets typically means you can earn status without the challenge for far less money.

Welcome to FT.

I too am sorry about what happened. If you had been around FT at the time you took the challenge, you would have seen that the challenge required a certain fare/booking class. One thing I have learned is that a mile is not a mile - when you book in the higher fare classes, you get bonus EQM's. That is why I went to Bucharest twice in the past 4 months in B class and why I am going to London next month with CO in Y class. They all add to my EQM balance, at a much lower cost than normal domestic tickets in the cheapest booking classes.

Many challenges that airlines issue have standard rules. Must be on their own metal, must be of a certain fare class or higher, etc. If you had searched on the internet then, and found Flyertalk, you would have been in a much better position than doing it years later.

Just as credit cards have 0% APR promos, and every other type of promo has fine print, so does NWA. If you don't understand the promo, then there are bound to be problems.

I got the same email, so I'm sure that everyone who signed up for an account got one, as well.

Welcome to FlyerTalk! I'm not sure what airline you are flying now, but watch the forums for info on those, and you'll learn a lot! I thought I knew a lot about flying before I starting logging in, but only knew a small amount to what I do now.

Thanks everyone........I completely understand the "fare code" racket.....

I had one last opportunity to get the last "segment" I needed, and it's certainly my fault for assuming that my last flight on NWA, from Tampa to San Francisco, with a stop in Minnesota, at $941 (when my prior carrier was $271 for the same trip), would provide the proper fare code at a price more than triple the competition.

It just seems to convenient that out of 16 segments, only 3 would qualify....

Ah well, it would be interesting to see if they'd work with me on it.....

The fare buckets that qualify are typically paid F fares, full fare Y, and one or two other fares that rank just below full Y in terms of wallet busting. So if most of your travel was booked in advance on non-refundable fares, that would explain why so few qualified.

As I alluded to above, my opinion is that unless you are wealthy or have an employer that will pay full Y fares, NW's challenges are typically not too much use--the fare classes required mean you would shell out far more $$$ to do the challenge than to fly 25,000 miles on cheaper fares.

If you completely understand it, then why so much angst over it? Just because a plane ticket is expensive, doesn't mean it's a upper fare that qualifies for the promotion. You obviously assumed expensive=qualified.

I just took a S class international fare for over $1000 on Continental. And later this summer, I'll take a full Y on CO for about half that price. A few weeks later, I'll take a B on NW for $250.

In the end, study the promotion, and make sure you understand it before you act on it. I'll admit that some promotions can be very confusing, but if you have questions, ask on here, or call up the airline directly, don't wait for 6 months when it's too late to do anything, to finally ask the important questions.

In addition to your issue with fare buckets, you may also have had problems due to dates. If any of your segments were flown after 12/31/05, they would not qualify for 2006 status. To qualify for status your flights all have to be within the calendar year. Your mention of flying 4 EQS "before February 28, 2006" makes me think that perhaps some of the segments you flew would not qualify due to having been flown in 2006. Or am I reading too mucn into your comments?

You have a private message.

On other major carriers, a standby on an earlier flight is often reclassed by the computer entry with the default Y class, unless the agent knows to use the original fare bucket letter (and there are still seats available). I've gotten some pleasant EQM / EQS surprises from the go-earlier standbys where it credited as Y-class. Those of you who fly NW can say if this is true on NW too. It might work to count it as one of the required segments...

NW"s pretty good at fixing these after the fact..