I earned 4 SWU certs in the 2008 EEP program, and I just requested them this week, as I wanted their expiration date to be as late as possible. They came back with a date of August 10, 2010, a full 16 months from now, which is great.

In the T&C, is restricts use to NW amd KL metal, just as has always been done in previous years.

Now I'm begining to wonder if these need to be used before NW metal changes to DL, which should be well before August, 2010.

I have some other minor certs ($25 off) that also specify NW metal, but have an expiration date over a year away.

Does the transition of NW to DL mean these certs will expire when NW metal is no longer bookable, which should be well before the published expiration date?

Thanks.

I am trying to burn 6 now. The reality is that nobody knows how the merger will impact these and the general feeling here is to use them as soon as possible. I doubt that DL would require particular metal as they are cross-fleeting already. My primary concern is that they change the fare bucket the upgrade comes out of (C) to a similar DL bucket that may not be as good a C. C is almost always available on every flight.

I had sent the same question to TTU, and received the following response today:


The complete integration will not be until later in 2009.

Delta realizes the importance of these cerificates and at this time,
they are reveiwing the continuation of these rewards in the combined
program. Please continue to monitor our website on any changes.

Thank you for choosing Northwest, KLM, Delta and our SkyTeam Alliance
airlines. We value your patronage and consider it a privilege to serve
your travel needs.

Sincerely,


I don't want to loose the value of these certs, so I plan to use them in the near future. I'm not exactly sure how much time I have.

For planning purposes, does anyone have a timeframe for the "end" of NW metal travel to Europe?

I would assume Sept/Oct this year to be safe. I don't like the wording in the response you got back though. That is airline-eze for "We are trying to find a way to NOT honor these and get away with it". USE EM UP NOW!!!

Exactly - just like "best in class"

Many thanks for the "heads up" advice! I earned 4 of these, used 2 of them in January, 2009, and thought I would hang on to the other 2 for possible use up until their expiration date in April, 2010. But now, after reading this, I will be sure to use them up this year, hopefully in September or early October at the latest!!

I had thought that since I had already requalified for PE, I would be flying other airlines or not flying at all the rest of this year, and pushing everything on DL/NW into 2010 that I possibly could. So much for that idea....the DL devils are now forcing me to use these up or lose them

I guess I will be making that trip to Moscow via AMS in September, whether I like it or not!!!

I have six of them. I have a NRT-SEA flight coming up later this week. I really hate using these things on single leg journeys when they have so much more value on connecting flights (SEA-AMS-xxx or xxx-NRT-SEA, etc).

Maybe I should bite the bullet and just use one up now. Still sort of hoping for a phantom upgrade

-RM

Ah yes....Phantom Paralysis. A condition I know all too well. Unfortunately a cure has been found: Delta!

... and credit to CO or AS... that would probably be the best for you now

Howdy,
Are these certs transferable to other W/P elites? Looked but can't find info on this. Thanks, Poppa

Basically the same T&C as I pasted in the previous thread you asked this question in (re: the PMU's).

Transferability - The certificate is transferable only if it is not associated with an individual's name. Exception: If the certificate is issued in an individual's name, the certificate may be used by a different person as long as the original recipient is traveling with that person in the same reservation. The certificate may only be used by one person in a reservation. Certificates may not be transferred for cash or any other consideration. Purchased/auctioned certificates are subject to confiscation and travel will not be permitted.

-RM

I too have not redeemed mine yet. I'm going to wait until the end of the month, so that they've valid until the end of August 2010. I do NOT plan on using them soon, at least at this moment. If I have an expiration date of 8/10, and they're not usable before that expiration date, then there is going to be some fun.

I don't think they can change the validity date or yes...you could have some fun. My fear and the fear of many is that when the fares classes switch over to pure DL the C bucket will be translated to something less than NW C. The super-availability of that bucket as well as the unrestricted original fare class are what make them so good. DL could very easily say they are "honoring" the SWU's but make them useless or very difficult to use if the fare buckets do not match up or LUT fares are excluded.