ejcrowe

With the new offer from Northwest for double miles/double EQM, I'm thinking about making a mileage run that will put me back into Silver Elite Status. The problem is my work schedule--between now and the end of the offer, I can only get a Sunday-Monday combination off from work.

My departure city is Hartford and I can get a good price out to LAX and back with an itinerary that will net me just under 11,000 EQM. My ground time in LAX is about 4 hours before returning home. Because my return trip is within 24 hours of my departure, I can check in for all flights online before I leave home. My question is this: If on the outbound journey my flights are delayed significantly or if one leg of the outbound were to be cancelled, so that I miss my return flight, is Northwest obligated in any way to put me on a later flight to get me home with no further charges incurred to me?

Am I making myself clear enough? Put another way, my outbound trip is BDL-DTW-MEM-LAX and my return trip is LAX-MSP-BDL. If, for whatever reason, I arrive in LAX too late to make my return flight home, will Northwest hold me responsible for getting there on time, since LAX is the first departure point on the way home? And if I don't show up for boarding will my return flight be cancelled? Would it make a difference if I did NOT check in for both outbound and return trips at the same time?

Thanks in advance. I did a cursory search on flyertalk for this answer but didn't see one.

cjbryant

Sure seems like a Flyertalk question to me.

If your ticket is a round trip (vs two one way, which I doubt, but your description is confusing to me) you should not be able to check in for your return before leaving home as you can't check in for a return until you fly the outbound.

However, there should be self service kiosks on the air side at LAX and if not you can check in and get a boarding pass with a GA (no need to leave air side).

If your ticket is round trip and you miss, yes NW is obligated to put you on the next flight that has available seats. If you don't show up in time for boarding the return they will cancel the ticket and they'll reissue when they reaccomodate you.

Safe travels and good luck on making Silver.

ejcrowe

THanks for the reply. Yes, my ticket would be a return trip, not two one-way trips. Sorry about the confusion on that part. But the last time I did an MR from BDL to LAX and back, I did check in online for both parts of the flight. Because my return trip was less than 24 hours from my departure, NWA let me check in on line and get all boarding passes for the entire trip. This certainly may have changed, as I did this in 2003 the last time I qualified for Silver. Being without elite status in 2005 has made me feel that perhaps it's worth the effort to get it again.

If NWA were running at all systems normal again, I'd do the same thing and not worry about it. But with so many delayed and cancelled flights in the last several weeks, I'm just a little leery of it.

I'll try posting on Flyertalk, but for whatever reason, those folks intimidate the heck out of me. Thanks again.

BeachBoi

ejc.....They intimidate you because you are not one of "THEM"......Dont feel like the Lone Ranger, as I am not one either.I tried to be a participant, but quickly was told in no uncertain terms that I couldnt be and never would be.Life goes on.

Flyboy

I agree that it's a great question for Flyertalk and I would encourage you to try to find your way into that community. I can't even imagine how many points, miles and good tips I would have missed if not for that site. It's worth some trouble -- even if you just "lurk" and pick up the info as it comes.

ejcrowe

Thanks, folks. If I decide to go through with it, I'll definitely post on flyertalk. I used to lurk on there with a disturbing degree of regularity 2-3 years ago but I really did get put off by an underlining arrogance there. Guess I'll just have to suck it up!

ejcrowe

Ummm, make that "underlying" and not "underlining."

rkkwan

Flyertalk is okay, as long as:

- you post in the correct forum. In your case, do not post in the Mileage Run forum. You should post in the NW Worldperks forum. Your question is legit and people will help you there.

- you don't ask things that are easily attainable on the airline's website, like whether a particular fare class gets 100% EQM. Those can be easily found.

- you don't post articles that's "news" to you. I can guarantee you that it's not news for most of the people on that forum, and you'll look like an idiot.

- you do not cross post. Only at one forum. If the moderator thinks it's the wrong place, they'll move it for you.