From traveller-now

This article is a travel topic.

Northwest Airlines [1] is a major airline in the United States and a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is one of the predominant carriers between North America and East Asia and has flights from the US to Western Europe and India as well.

In 2008, Northwest Airlines was acquired by Delta Air Lines, and the two companies are currently in the process of combining airplane fleets and route systems to create the world's largest airline. In the future, all flights will be operated under the Delta brand.

Key airports

• Minneapolis/Saint Paul (IATA: MSP) is NW's headquarters and major hub
• Detroit (IATA: DTW) is NW's main international hub.
• Memphis (IATA: MEM) is a domestic hub for NW.
• Tokyo/Narita (IATA: NRT) is a mini-hub for NW, and you are likely to have a stop or change of planes there if you're flying between the US and East or Southeast Asia.
• Amsterdam-Schiphol (IATA: AMS) is NW's European hub, with most flights operated by partner airline KLM.

Aircraft

Note: All Northwest aircraft will eventually be repainted in Delta Air Lines' livery and operated as Delta aircraft.

• A330s are used on long-range flights to Europe, Asia and Hawaii. The economy class on the A330s features personal video, which makes these aircraft more pleasant than the 747s. A330s replaced Northwest's fleet of DC-10s, the last of which were retired in January, 2007, and 747-200s, the last of which were retired in September, 2007.
• 747-400s are used on trans-Pacific flights that require greater range or capacity than the A330 can provide. Business class is up-to-date and respectable, with lie-flat seats, but economy class lacks in-flight entertainment other than in-seat audio and a movie screen at the front of the cabin.
• 757-300s are used on high-density domestic flights, as well as on most flights to Hawaii.
• 757-200s are used on domestic flights, as well as on some flights within Asia. Specially configured 757-200s with increased range operate on certain routes between the U.S. and Europe (Detroit to Düsseldorf; Newark, Boston and Windsor Locks, CT to Amsterdam). Economy class has 2 inches additional seat pitch but does not have seat-back screens.
• A320s and A319s are used on various domestic flights.
• DC-9s are smaller mainline jets used for most short domestic hops. These are the oldest aircraft that NW flies.
• Northwest Airlink feeder flights are operated by one of three regional airlines. Mesaba Airlines flies small Saab 340 turboprops as well as larger CRJ-900 regional jets. Pinnacle Airlines flies CRJ-200 regional jets. Compass Airlines flies Embraer 175 regional jets.

Frequent flyer program

Since Northwest has now merged with Delta, its frequent flier program is now operated by them. Delta's frequent flier program is called "SkyMiles".

Earning miles

SkyMiles members earn miles on all SkyTeam carriers and associate members. Northwest WorldPerks members additionally earned miles on a number of additional airlines; this list may have changed during the merger and you should refer to the Delta web site for the most up-to-date list of partners.

Redeeming miles

SkyMiles can be redeemed for free flights, upgrades on flights in certain fare classes on a variety of SkyTeam carriers. Delta publishes the necessary mileage thresholds on their web site; note that the number of miles required varies widely based on availability.

Elite status

DL has three elite status levels, which are reached by flying a certain number of elite qualifying miles (MQMs, or "medallion qualifying miles") or segments on DL, NW, or one of the above listed partner carriers.

• Silver Medallion: 25,000 MQMs or 30 segments. SkyTeam Elite status.
• Gold Medallion: 50,000 MQMs or 60 segments. SkyTeam Elite status.
• Platinum Medallion: 75,000 MQMs or 100 segments. SkyTeam Elite Plus status.

A new Diamond Elite status will be added starting in 2010 for 125,000 MQM or 140 segments.

Lounges

NW lounges are called WorldClubs. Only paid WorldClubs members, business class passengers, SkyTeam Elite Plus members flying on international itineraries and their guests may use the WorldClubs. However, you can buy a one-day membership in domestic WorldClubs for $45 [2] or a 60-day membership in all WorldClubs for $85 [3]. The base one-year membership fee is $400, and the base lifetime membership fee $4,690 with discounts for elite WorldPerks members and for spouses of existing WorldClub members[4].