Sorry for the total newb question (hence the "in_training" in my name)... but I've searched this site, the wiki, etc... I've called Northwest (worldperks line) 4 times so far this morning and it won't connect me due to "extreamly high call volume"... here is my situation:

I'm about 2000 miles short of gold, so I booked an MSP->LAX flight for Saturday/Sunday of this weekend... Today I was upgraded (as a silver) and the fare code is now listed as "R"... from NWA.com:

Elite Qualifying Fare Classes
Elite Qualifying Miles at 150%: P, F, J, C, I, Z, Y, B
Elite Qualifying Miles at 100%: M, H, Q, V, L, T, K
Elite Qualifying Segments: P, F, J, C, Z, Y, B, M, H, Q, V, L, T K

This seems to indicate that the upgrade will prevent me from earning the EQM that are the whole reason I booked the flight! Is this indeed the case?? If so, can the gate agent reverse the upgrade? or do I need to call someone?

Thanks much for your time...
-Tim

It's the fare class paid rather than the fare class flown that counts. R is the standard upgrade bucket that your fare class is kicked into when you get upgraded (congrats, btw); i.e., R is the fare class flown. So whatever you ended up paying for originally will count as the amount of EQMs you'll receive (which is likely 100% EQMs).

PS: Welcome to Flyertalk. In the future, if you see a moderated post dialog pop up, you only have to post once. Thanks.

And congrats on the upgrade... very strange. I am under 50% out of SFO, and not much better out of LAX, as a platinum. I am frankly amazed that you got upgraded on LAX-MSP as a silver. Enjoy it

It's on the weekend. I doubt he'd have as much success during the week, though I did get an IND-LAX upgrade as a silver flying on a Thursday. There were even empty seats in F.

Years ago, the "R" code used to confuse Delta, if you were claiming DL miles for a NW flight. It took me weeks to get my NW flights credited. They seem to have solved the problem, I flew NW this week in "R" and my miles posted a couple of days later.

Dont forget NWA does have discounted F class fares that are "R" fare...they only earn standard EQM (100%) no bonus for F class of service

I think you may be thinking of CO's R fares.

I got a BF UG as a SE MSP-LAX NW#321 on 12Sep07 (midweek evening), making me 1 for 1 on that route.

I know CO uses it but on the discounted F fares NW offers (think FL markets) isn't it a R2Fxxx fare? (I could be wrong though)

Continental R fares definitely earn 150% eqm.

Here is my question:

My wife had a discounted coach ticket -- Q class, I believe. It had already been EUA'd.

On the day of departure, she paid $25 to confirm to a different flight. Flynow asked if she wanted the upgrade, and immediately seated her in first.

Her worldperks summary now shows the flight, posted as R class flown / R class paid, pending internal processing (no miles yet).

So any experience with an R/R flight? I suppose it's possible we will need to intervene to get any miles, but I'm hopeful that it will post at 150%. It's currently the difference between her qualifying for Gold for next year.

For any that are curious, after showing R/R for 10 days pending processing, it finally switched to R/Q. So just normal EQMs...

Flying on a KFREE fare (earns no EQMs, EQSs or RDMs) I got a BF UG on a flight that was then delayed, causing me to miss a connection (for which I suppose I could have tried for another BF UG). The automatic reaccommodation gave me an UG on my new connecting flight; I went to the WC and asked if I could possibly squeeze onto an earlier flight to a city about 75 miles away (I was visiting family near that city, but originally had to book to the further airport due to fare class availability), and got put into F on that flight... which posted as R/R, stayed as R/R, and yielded EQMs and RDMs (with PE bonus).

If I ever make double platinum like RC, it will doubtless be due in large part to the sheer degree of confusion "the system" encounters from trying to deal with my silliness!