We usually fly OneWorld and know the ropes with their program. But I've had a minor number of miles in NWA (as well as Continental).

Thing is, I only fly SkyTeam sporadically, despite living in a mini-hub for NW. What I'm wondering is - how do you go about claiming miles on NW for a Delta flight number on a Delta craft? Just booked a flight for May. Not a long one, and I sure didn't want to start yet another program. Just wanted to see whether we'd just pop over to the NW counter and claim some miles or forget about it.

I doubt we'll have have a lot of WorldPerks miles but they've been offering some decent miles towards lowered fares lately that I'd think about, so wouldn't pass on some extra miles if it were to claim some.

Hi Clifton, I hope I understand your questions correctly.

I have NW FF program. When I have flown on Delta I give them my NW FF a/c #..and I am credited with the FF miles through NW.

You can either do it at checkin or call Delta and have them add the number to your reservation. In either case, I would just hold onto the ticket stubs and itinerary and you could mail or fax a request if something goes amiss. Unfortunately, the Delta website is pretty poor, and you won't be able to update the FF number online.

BTW, you could also use the Continental account to collect the miles. I have never had a problem getting Delta to credit to my Continental account.

Thanks to both of you. That was the question I was asking and the answer I was kind of hoping for.

My wife booked the tix when we spotted the deal and she was at the PC. But she couldn't find a means to put anything but a Delta FF #. I think we're not used to it because we fly AA and it doesn't really have any major domestic airlines with and competes against, so we weren't sure how that worked. With AA, the partners "continue on" to other places we've gone, like BA connections from London, Qantas onward from LAX, that sort of thing.

So anyway, I'll just ask at the desk to see if they can add my WP# or call afterwards. I have the CO FF account, but honestly, haven't flown with them in many years. Not sure why, just never is the best route or the cheapest. Just collected miles on a r/t to Bangkok on a Eva Air, as it seemed like a shame to toss the miles away. NWA though owns over 90% of the gates here at our local airport, so it seems like we might get a better chance of adding or using miles on NWA.

Thanks a bunch for your help!

Nice thing about NW and CO are that their FF programs are probably the only major ones that don't expire your miles, at least not at this moment. [After all the mergers are done, who knows...]

If you float between AA/Oneworld and Skyteam carriers, you might look into the Alaska Airlines FF program. You can earn elite-qualifying miles on AS while flying on AA, AS, NW, DL, AF and KL, and earn (non-elite qualifying) miles on CO, BA and other carriers. Alaska's award program is pretty good, too.