“It’s been years now but from 1986 to 1995 I was working with 3M and flew back and forth from the L.A. area to Minneapolis/St Paul. During that time corporate had us fly Northwest. I am curious as to if my miles still count and how do I get my account updated?”
Reader Question: Do My Northwest Airlines WorldPerks Miles Still Count?
Gilbert Orozco — who is a reader of The Gate — posted that comment recently in response to the article Goodbye, Northwest Airlines WorldPerks, and Delta Air Lines is the preferred carrier of the company at which he is employed.
The answer depends on whether or not you have had any activity in your membership accounts in the period of time between Thursday, and Tuesday, February 15, 2011, as both the Northwest Airlines WorldPerks and Delta Air Lines SkyMiles frequent flier loyalty programs had a policy with which miles would expire after 18 months of inactivity.
The Department of Justice of the United States of America officially approved the merger between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines on Wednesday,
The policy with which miles would expire after 18 months of inactivity continued until Tuesday, February 15, 2011, which is when the updated policy that SkyMiles no longer expire was announced from Delta Air Lines.
Summary
If you had no activity between the aforementioned dates, your Northwest Airlines WorldPerks miles — which then became your Delta Air Lines SkyMiles — have likely expired; and if you have had no activity in your membership accounts since 1995, your miles have definitely long expired.
Any miles which have not expired by Tuesday, February 15, 2011 should still be in your membership account today.
I recommend that you find both your WorldPerks and SkyMiles membership numbers and contact an agent of the SkyMiles department of Delta Air Lines to verify whether or not your miles have expired. You can also use social media to contact someone at Delta Air Lines — the official Twitter account of Delta Air Lines may be your best bet.
Good luck, Gilbert Orozco; and I hope that I have adequately answered your questions. Please give an update as to your findings; and please contact me if you have any further questions.
Photograph ©2006 by Brian Cohen.
Do you have a question which you would like me to answer? Either post your question in the Comments section of an article of your choice here at The Gate; or contact Brian Cohen at thegatewithbriancohen@gmail.com.
