NW miles to get DL devaluation sooner than expected

[Carolinian]

Anyone with NW Worldperks miles needs to BURN NOW. An article cited on FlyerTalk quotes Worldperks head Bob Soukup as saying that the program will be reconfigured to match DL's in a matter of weeks! That means a minimum of 60K miles to Europe instead of the current 50K, and some other increases as well including Hawaii and I think the Caribbean. It will also mean the dastardly 3-tier award chart, that will also mean fewer low miles tickets.

It is apparent that DL intends to devalue NW Worldperks miles even before they are converted to DL Skypiles.

Most speculation was based on comments that merger of the programs would happen the middle of next year or later, and the expectation was little change before that.

The quoted material also mentions major changes to the elite program of the combined carrier effective in 2010. Since changes at DL are rarely in the customers favor unless DL is forced to do it, this should concern both NW and DL flyers.

I have one NW ticket already booked after the first of the year but had intended to put my miles on CO anyway, and my status comp papers are on the way to CO. I wish I could find my old ''parachute man'' button from www.saveskymiles.com to wear on my last NW flights.

[hibbeln]

I have been reading your posts over the last several months and literally burned every mile my family had a few weeks back to get our NW tickets to Hawaii next summer. I left one kid with 60 miles in his account (yes, 60 FF miles!), another and my husband with under 2,000, emptied Granpda's account out also. I still have quite a few, but happily burned 70,000 getting a RuleBuster coach seat.
Thank you for the warnings.....I have heeded them!

[Gramma5]

I was also watching your posts and we decided to empty our NW FF miles accounts for a couple of reasons...we are now retired, have a RV now and are flying less. We also believed that Delta would be downgrading NW FF miles in the near future. So, since our children were coming to Fl. for spring break next year, we bought tickets for one family and cleaned out our FF accounts to get tickets for the other family of 4. I think we now have less than 2000 miles between my husband and I! It took around 200,000 miles to get spring break tickets (they got first class tickets going down, for the amount of miles an economy class cost!) and altho the tickets weren't a bargain, I think for the time of year we did ok. It's difficult to get tickets from MN to Fl. for 25,000 at non-holiday time, anymore.
It's very sad to see this merger take place. We have a friend who works for NWA and has been in the Minneapolis area for 25+ yrs and is just 3 yrs from retirement. Now his position is being moved to Atlanta and if he wants a job, he must make the move. It's a terrible time to have to sell your home, so this greatly impacts them as I'm sure it does many others!!

[Carol C]

Originally Posted by Gramma5

I was also watching your posts and we decided to empty our NW FF miles accounts for a couple of reasons...we are now retired, have a RV now and are flying less. We also believed that Delta would be downgrading NW FF miles in the near future. So, since our children were coming to Fl. for spring break next year, we bought tickets for one family and cleaned out our FF accounts to get tickets for the other family of 4. I think we now have less than 2000 miles between my husband and I! It took around 200,000 miles to get spring break tickets (they got first class tickets going down, for the amount of miles an economy class cost!) and altho the tickets weren't a bargain, I think for the time of year we did ok. It's difficult to get tickets from MN to Fl. for 25,000 at non-holiday time, anymore.
It's very sad to see this merger take place. We have a friend who works for NWA and has been in the Minneapolis area for 25+ yrs and is just 3 yrs from retirement. Now his position is being moved to Atlanta and if he wants a job, he must make the move. It's a terrible time to have to sell your home, so this greatly impacts them as I'm sure it does many others!!

There are plenty homes for sale and rent in Atlanta. I'm not a real estate agent, but I know a few of them through my neighborhood assoc. You can PM me if you want some email addies to pass along to your friend who has to re-locate to keep his job. If he wants to rent, I know folks who have nice places intown for rent. As for his house in MN, can he simply rent it out for awhile til the market gets settled? Btw, I think he'll like Atlanta...unless he's in love with snow, in which case MN is a better choice.

[Gramma5]

Thanks for the offer Carol. They are thinking that the move will not happen until late summer or so. They aren't crazy about the MN winters but all three of their children live there and therefore their grandkids too....That is the more difficult thing for them. When they get more serious about the move, I''ll PM you for that info. Thanks again....
Sherry

[LisaRex]

My husband and I both opened up NWA Visas a few months ago with the sole intention of pocketing the sign-up bonus miles (20k each) so that they could be added to our Delta account once the merger was complete. So we're one of the few to welcome the news.

[Timeshare Von]

I need some time (until April or May 09) to get my miles used for Alaska for 2010.

[blueparrot]

This is a big disaster for those of us who have enjoyed flying NWA. I have already burned my miles, and will be flying UA in the future.

[w.bob]

Originally Posted by LisaRex

My husband and I both opened up NWA Visas a few months ago with the sole intention of pocketing the sign-up bonus miles (20k each) so that they could be added to our Delta account once the merger was complete. So we're one of the few to welcome the news.

If you have NWA miles and Delta miles will you be able to merge the accounts?

[elaine]

will it still be 25K to fly in US, Canada and Alaska?

[Poobah]

There was an article in the Minneapolis Trib that NWA FF miles will be merged into your existing DL SkyMiles account you may have.

Cheers,

Paul

[Carolinian]

For those holding NW Worldperks miles, the existing awards chart will go away on January 15 to be replaced by Delta's 3-tier chart. Not only does the 3-tier chart mean less tickets will be availible at the lowest level, there are some significant places where the lowest level is being increased like NW's 50K to Europe going up to DL's 60K, and NW's 35K to Hawaii going up to DL's 40K. As I recall, there may be a similar increase for award tickets to the Caribbean, as well.

Again, the day your NW miles turn into a pumpkin is January 15, so burn them if you can before then.

Also, for NW elites, CO is now comping status from NW, which is a far better bet than getting stuck in the DL rut. US also comps NW status, but lately they have been almost as anti-consumer as DL. Send CO a copy of your NW elite membership card plus a copy of your statement, together with your CO number, and you will become a newly minted CO elite. Alaska Airlines also comps status from NW and may be a good choice for those on the west coast. Although they do not comp status, UA and AA will offer you a ''challenge'' to get into elite status through a shortcut.