ELITE CHANGES 3/1/2000
 

All elite packs are supposed to be in the mail, & the GOLDLINE rep told me of the following changes, effective 3/1/00:

1-Unlimited companion upgrades, but ONLY ONE COMPANION may be upgraded each time you fly. No more certificates.

2- Domestic award tix booked in coach @20m or 25m miles - no more upgrades. Sorry folks, as of 3/1 if you want 1class you'll have to use 40,000 miles. Another of the infamous NWA NONOTICE announcements.

Upgrades on domestic award travel always made NW stand out as a carrier that went that extra mile for its elites. I guess they've gone the CO OnePass route in this regard.
It's not what they add that really matters, it's what they take away.

Thanks for this information.

Getting a gold/platinum upgrade on a domestic WorldPerks ticket was pretty difficult to do - even with their old program. There had to be WorldPerks (capacity controlled) F seats available and in my experience those usually sell out way in advance. But at least it could be attempted!

I'm looking at the Elite Benefits guide for 2000 and here is what it reads, "Plat. and Gold members traveling on award tickets may upgrade on NW-operated flights using the "discounted tickets" upgrade rules on page 5; These upgrades are not available on CO-operated flights, nor are they available to Silver Elite members ... " Rules on page 5 for "Upgrades from discount coach tickets" simply give the number of days from when you can confirm. Says nothing about no more complimentary upgrades for Gold and Platinum.

Not all service reps are cut from the same cloth. Try another one and ask again.