Delta Air Lines will embrace a popular Northwest Airlines travel benefit as the carrier works to integrate the frequent flyer programs of both carriers by 2010.

The airline will allow passengers to reach elite status in its SkyMiles program by flying a certain number of segments on either Delta or Northwest in addition to flying enough miles, Delta spokesman Anthony Black said Friday.

The new rule goes into effect Jan. 1. Elite status allows SkyMiles members to receive complimentary upgrades, mileage bonuses, priority boarding, preferred seating and other benefits.

A segment is a flight from Point A to Point B. Passengers traveling from Salt Lake City, for example, to Atlanta with a stop in Tulsa, Okla., would earn two segments toward elite status. Thirty segments, or 25,000 miles, are necessary to reach the lowest level of elite status.

Delta frequent flyers will also continue to earn at least 500 miles per flight, even if their flight is shorter. For instance, members flying back and forth between Salt Lake's airport and St. George on Delta Connect flights operated by SkyWest Airlines would earn 1,000 frequent-flyer miles, even though the round-trip distance is 600 miles.

Delta also said it will add a third tier to Northwest's WorldPerks frequent flyer awards program. Northwest currently has two tiers for domestic travel, with tickets generally available for 25,000 miles and 50,000 miles. Delta's tiers for domestic travel are 25,000, 40,000 and 60,000 miles.

Members of both SkyMiles and WorldPerks will be able to transfer miles between both of their accounts in early 2009. No firm date was set.

"The goal was to work to align the best features of both programs as we merge into a single [frequent flyer] program in 2010," Black said. Delta acquired Northwest on Oct. 29 in a deal that created the world's biggest airline with its westernmost hub at Salt Lake City International Airport.

By adopting Northwest's segment benefit and aligning other perks, the frequent flyer programs of both airlines are now virtually identical, Black said.

Only a few differences need to be resolved before the end of next year, he said.