nwa

Tag Archives for nwa.

Northwest Visa Offers

by Gary Leff

nwa-planes
Mar 25 2005

Northwest has new offers up for their co-branded credit cards issued by US Bank. I’ve previously mentioned that US Bank is one of the biggest sticklers for one signup bonus per customer. However, a recent exchange with Gary Steiger (of Free Frequent Flyer Miles, where I came across this offer) made me realize that their limit is per card type. I first signed up for the Platinum Visa a few years ago when the offer was for 25,000 bonus miles over 2 years, requiring $500 in spending with Northwest for part of those miles. That signup qualified me for the 2002 Fly Free Faster promotion that netted another 10,000 miles. In 2003 I signed up for the Northwest Business Visa for 10,000 miles to qualify for that summer’s Fly Free Faster promotion. That was a…

Continue Reading »

Michigan Beer Distributors Lobby Takes Aim at Northwest Airlines

by Gary Leff

nwa-planes
Feb 15 2005

Northwest Airlines, which operates a hub at Detroit, has been cited for bringing in beer from out of state for service on its flights. Michigan law requires that beer must be purchased from state-licensed wholesalers. (Northwest serves out of state beer on planes only, not in its clubs which are supplied by local distributors.) Karen Wilson, chief executive at Central Distributors of Beer in Romulus, said her company notified the Liquor Control Commission after some of her salespeople noticed pallets of beer bearing a Minnesota distributor’s name were delivered to Northwest at Metro Airport. Central Distributors has the exclusive rights to distribute Budweiser and other Anheuser-Busch beers across much of western Wayne County, including Metro Airport. A liquor commission investigator determined that the airline was illegally importing alcohol into Michigan and was breaking the law…

Continue Reading »

Northwest Enhances its Website – in a Good Way

by Gary Leff

nwa-planes
Jan 18 2005

Another reason that I picked Northwest for Best Website in the Freddie Awards balloting — they’ve just introduced online redemption for upgrade awards. Most airline programs won’t even tell you when upgrades are available. Most won’t even display their upgrade inventory buckets publicly in the Global Distribution Systems. They keep the information proprietary and you have to call and and waste tremendous amounts of your (and their agents’) time. Sure, there are workarounds. With United you can search for award travel in expert mode and the upgrade buckets appear (e.g. X is the first class upgrade bucket, I is for upgrading to business class). But nothing replaces good ‘ol functionality, and it looks like Northwest has got it.

Continue Reading »

16,000 Northwest Miles for Visa and 2 Partner Activities

by Gary Leff

nwa-planes
Nov 17 2004

The Northwest Visa comes with a 10,000 mile signup offer. Northwest’s Fly Free Faster Second Chance bonus which runs through February 15th will award 5,000 miles for signing up for the Visa and completing two partner activities such as Mileage Mall purchases (minimum $25) or hotel stays or car rentals. Registration is required. If you register by December 31st in the Mile-Zilla promotion and get the card by January 31st, you’ll get another 1,000 miles. So your Northwest Visa signup by January 31st will net 16,000 miles. Plus you’re on your way to additional miles in the Mile-Zilla promotion with 40 credits. Ten more credits yields an additional 500 bonus miles, and can be earned by signing up for My NWA Info (5 points, but don’t do it until you’ve registered for Mile-Zilla!) and crediting…

Continue Reading »

Northwest Raises Mileage Award Prices Dramatically

by Gary Leff

nwa-planes
Nov 17 2004

Northwest has announced changes to elite qualification for 2005 and changes to its award charts as well. Business class flights from the U.S. to Europe are going from 80,000 to 100,000 miles roundtrip. Oddly, first class to Europe remains 100,000 miles roundtrip. Flights to Asia in business class are going from 90,000 miles to 120,000 miles. First class is going from 120,000 miles to 160,000 miles. Travel to Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific (such as French Polynesia) is going from 80k/110k/140k for coach/business/first class all the way to 100k/150k/200k. The above changes are huge devaluations of the Worldperks programs from my point of view. I just redeemed an American Airlines 145,000 mile first class award to French Polynesia and Australia using Air Tahiti Nui and Qantas. The same destinations on Northwest would cost…

Continue Reading »