DTWflyer

My travel in 2007 and 2008 has been up and down.

After 3 strong years in 2004, 2005, and 2006 of being Platinum, my travel dropped of significantly for most of 2007 and early 2008.

2007, I had 33 EQS / 17K EQM on revenue of about $3,500. Most of my travel was short-hops to ORD, STL, PHL, RDU, with a few DEN, PHX, and DFW thrown in - all competitive markets and reasonable fares.
I dropped back to Silver for 2008.

2008, I'm currently now at 30 EQS / 15K EQM on revenue of over $12,000. Most of my travel has been on short hops of <500 miles into very expensive markets. I've doing a lot of flying on the Saab, with weekly roundtrips of between $900 - $1200, mostly on Y/B/H fares. My RASM for NW is over $1.10. Obviously, I am the type of passenger NW would love, spending a lot of money, and high yield!

My travel for the rest of the year is still uncertain. Reaching Gold on EQM is probably not realistic, since my travel will mostly be domestic travel to the East Coast / Midwest from DTW. I do have 2 West Coast trips in the pipeline though. EQS is more realistic, but to get Gold I'll likely have to do a few segment runs.

Does NW consider the amount of money (I and my company) have spent? I could have taken some connecting flights that were somewhat cheaper on a competitor, but I decided to take the nonstops from DTW. I feel like I'm indirectly penalized for paying the high fares on the nonstop routes than lower yield connecting traffic that picks up more miles & segments and in turn, higher status.

Would NW bump me up to Gold, simply because of the revenue they've earned from me this year. People can get Plat on less than $12K, and I just requalified for Silver!

MikeMpls

No. It's all about flying. If you didn't get a "soft landing" to Gold (from Plat) last year, you surely won't get one this year.

under $3K even ....

Your only chance for gold is is mileage runs, and at 15K EQM, you would have to make up 35K miles. It would take 4 TATL MR's (or 3 if you could connect in ATL).

bonoman

I'm not sure how it works "landing" but for new customers, with no apparent patttern, levels have been gifted. I've read it in a few sparse threads and it happened to me. Last year I made Silver on a challenge. I ended 2007 with 40 EQS and about 28 EQMs, yet I was sent a letter saying even though I hadn't qualified I was being given Gold status. I too had flown a lot of Y, B and M fares and probably spent over $25k in tickets through work.

So rulebreaking events do happen, but it seems quite rare and unpredictable. MikeMpls usually has a pretty good bead on things too. Start flying out of FNT and do like 4 six-segment runs down south and you could make Gold with a bit of effort.

At 74 EQS this year and another 11 segments booked and more to come, I'll make sure I hit Plat this year.

shiner

I think the answer is really yes and no. I think there has been some evidence here that people have been bumped up a level based on their 'valued business'. In fact, an employee of mine received upgraded status which was accompanied by a note which was not terribly specific, though appreciated.

There is no formal policy to grant status based on spend or profitability. I personally think there should be (I few years ago I was buying A LOT of $1100 MSP-CLE tickets but only got to silver). I would guess that even a TTU explaining your situation would be met with a cut-and-paste of the official qualifications.

There have been a number of discussions on this board and many others debating whether EQM is really a good measure of profitable loyalty. It is frequently pointed out that high-fare tickets (P, F, Y, B, etc.) often carry a 50% EQM bonus, which is helpful but doesn't necessarily make up the difference in $/EQM.

TooMuchTravel73

NWA will make you plat for as little as 30 segments and 15,000 miles. Have many collegues that flew 15 R/T to/from MSP at over $1000/ticket. so 15K airfare cost got them to platinum.

Of courset this is not published, and no guarantee that they will do it again this year. (though thats the only way I'll make Plat this year, I'm avoiding NWA)

RobOnLI

NW doesn't consider revenue for elite status...but they do consider annual revenue (not per-ticket revenue) when running the EUA process.

-RM

Phil2016

NW doesn't "publicly" consider revenue for elite status.

Based on previous posts over the years, sounds as if there is a chance for a status level increase based on revenue. But of course, if the elevated status is important to you, best to take some mileage runs to make it definite, since you won't get word of your status until 2009 (and then it'll be too late).

MikeMpls

If you have "many colleagues" in that situation, their Plat cards probably are "wallet candy" based on your corporate contract, e.g. I received my first Silver card based on a single "B" fare to Austin & back.

shiner

I have one colleague who was given Platinum status presumably based on their revenue. I can guarantee we don't have a corporate contract (there are but 5 of us)... I only wish.

3Cforme

Does NW Consider the Amount of Revenue in Determining Status?

Sure. There's a formal mechanism for that: 150% EQM on higher fares.

$12K spending is mouse nuts today. A single J RT DTW-China can cost more than that.

It's possible to gain higher staus with lower spending, but that means an investment of time in seat: mileage runs, or long distance fares in highly competitive markets.

MikeMpls

They might still fall into the category of "wallet candy". I have no idea how NW manages wallet candy & the resulting benefits. For comparison I do know that at CO, their objective is to have 90% of the upgrades at each level go to those who duly earned the elite level.

I wasn't even thinking of the wallet-candy crowd when I originally answered the OP's post. Maybe he should put his spending history & thoughts down on paper & send it in.

If it's rejected, and if he's up for a compromise between the status quo & all out MR's, he could re-present it & ask for a challenge.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

DTWflyer

Thanks for the responses, folks.

I figured there might be some discretion regarding bumping up status based on revenue, but like everyone said I shouldn't plan on it happening.

I understand how my measily $12K is pocket change compared to the spend of others with their international flying but it seems like you are indirectly held lower to status by living in a hub market. $12K if I lived in a market like GRR or TVC or CMH would get me a lot more miles/segments and higher status. The crazy part is that many of my flights are priced HIGHER by doing nonstops from DTW than if I lived in other markets like CMH and connected over DTW.

Anyways, my planned travel through the end of the year will probably get me to about 32K-35K EQM / 44-48 EQS. Flying in/out of FNT hasn't been a viable option for now since they don't match up very nicely with my DTW flights. There may be a few chances for that. I'll see how things look a month from now when I have more define plans, and run to numbers to MR/SR up to GE for the end of the year.

With the game changing with the DL merger on the horizon, I'd rather have GE going in rather than find out the hard way how much more SE gets devalued.

respectable_man

What is the incentive to offer you goodies if you are "stuck" with them? The business reality is that they could offer you next to nothing and still sell you tickets.

fti

I know that NW Scoop has alluded to something like this in previous posts. Maybe it related to upgrades (op-up?) and not elite status. But I know it is public information that revenue is a consideration for some benefits at NW.

DTWflyer

I could fly to the same place for half of the cost on a competitor, although it requires a connection in either IAD, CLT, or ATL.

Loyalty & nonstop flights vs. cheaper flights and longer transit times