Sour Fruits Of The Delta-Northwest-Continental SkyTeam Bonding
Delta, Northwest, and Continental are twaddling that there are all kinds of great cross-airline benefits for us Platinums now that they are allies, but I have a contrarian view based on experience, to wit:
1. The RDU Crown Room was never a big space to begin with and has often been crowded. Now, however, with the allowance of CO and NW folks in there, it’s wall-to-wall. I went in on a recent Sunday afternoon at 3:00 PM and could not find a place to sit and had to leave. The agents tell me it’s been slammed every day since CO and NW people have been allowed in. Essentially that means Delta is now excluding me from the RDU club. And how is this a benefit to me?
2. My Delta Platinum status means nothing at Northwest for upgrades. I bought a ticket at NWA.com for future date travel and could not even get access to the so-called “premium” seats in coach, let alone get an upgrade. When I asked an NW telephone reservations agent about it, she confirmed that though Continental Platinums can get complimentary upgrades on NW, DL Platinums cannot. So I had her change my frequent flyer number to enter my Continental Platinum number, and, Bingo! I was upgraded on the only flight that had first class and was allowed access to the premium seats on two other RJ segments. This is wrong. Why can’t Delta Platinums have access to NW upgrades and premium seats if CO Platinums have it?
Delta, Northwest, and Continental are twaddling that there are all kinds of great cross-airline benefits for us Platinums now that they are allies, but I have a contrarian view based on experience, to wit:
1. The RDU Crown Room was never a big space to begin with and has often been crowded. Now, however, with the allowance of CO and NW folks in there, it’s wall-to-wall. I went in on a recent Sunday afternoon at 3:00 PM and could not find a place to sit and had to leave. The agents tell me it’s been slammed every day since CO and NW people have been allowed in. Essentially that means Delta is now excluding me from the RDU club. And how is this a benefit to me?
2. My Delta Platinum status means nothing at Northwest for upgrades. I bought a ticket at NWA.com for future date travel and could not even get access to the so-called “premium” seats in coach, let alone get an upgrade. When I asked an NW telephone reservations agent about it, she confirmed that though Continental Platinums can get complimentary upgrades on NW, DL Platinums cannot. So I had her change my frequent flyer number to enter my Continental Platinum number, and, Bingo! I was upgraded on the only flight that had first class and was allowed access to the premium seats on two other RJ segments. This is wrong. Why can’t Delta Platinums have access to NW upgrades and premium seats if CO Platinums have it?
posted by William A. Allen III | 9:08 PM
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