CO Changes Elite And Upgrade Policies for 2004

http://www.continental.com/onepass/n...0030910_02.asp

This is the excuse I needed to jump ship - as soon as I use my miles. Bye
CO.

acenturi wrote:

http://www.continental.com/onepass/n...0030910_02.asp

This is the excuse I needed to jump ship - as soon as I use my miles. Bye
CO.


Was there something specific?It looks like you get full elite credit for
leisure fares booked online.

"acenturi" wrote in message
...
http://www.continental.com/onepass/n...0030910_02.asp

This is the excuse I needed to jump ship - as soon as I use my miles. Bye
CO.

The change is only to international upgrades, not domestic. CO has added a
waitlist fee, whereas before it was not possible to waitlist for an
international upgrade and get it at the airport -- if you didn't get it by
3-days before, you didn't get it, period.

However, given your apparent dissatisfaction with CO, I think everyone will
be happier all around if you switched to another carrier.

PTRAVEL wrote:

"acenturi" wrote in message
...

http://www.continental.com/onepass/n...0030910_02.asp

This is the excuse I needed to jump ship - as soon as I use my miles. Bye
CO.


The change is only to international upgrades, not domestic. CO has added a
waitlist fee, whereas before it was not possible to waitlist for an
international upgrade and get it at the airport -- if you didn't get it by
3-days before, you didn't get it, period.


Do you lose the waitless fee if you don't get the upgrade?

"mrtravel" wrote in message
.com...
PTRAVEL wrote:

"acenturi" wrote in message
...

http://www.continental.com/onepass/n...0030910_02.asp

This is the excuse I needed to jump ship - as soon as I use my miles.
Bye
CO.


The change is only to international upgrades, not domestic. CO has
added a
waitlist fee, whereas before it was not possible to waitlist for an
international upgrade and get it at the airport -- if you didn't get it
by
3-days before, you didn't get it, period.


Do you lose the waitless fee if you don't get the upgrade?

That appears to be the case, if I'm reading the website correctly. Not a
good deal at all, IMHO.

"acenturi" wrote in message ...
http://www.continental.com/onepass/n...0030910_02.asp

This is the excuse I needed to jump ship - as soon as I use my miles. Bye
CO.

Which begs the question "to where?". You can find folks frustrated
with many of the plans, but to "jump ship" either implies you've
found a better ship to sail, or you plan on going for a swim.

"PTRAVEL" wrote in message ...
"acenturi" wrote in message
...
http://www.continental.com/onepass/n...0030910_02.asp

This is the excuse I needed to jump ship - as soon as I use my miles. Bye
CO.

The change is only to international upgrades, not domestic. CO has added a
waitlist fee, whereas before it was not possible to waitlist for an
international upgrade and get it at the airport -- if you didn't get it by
3-days before, you didn't get it, period.

Not familiar with this new policy YET.

But what you said about "waitlist for an international upgrade ... befire
it was not possible" is not true, at least for Platinum Elite members
(sorry, hadn't been anything else :-).

For international BF upgrades, FF miles are required; and for the
transAtlantic ones (unlike some Asian routes), they are not confirmed
until 30 days before departure date, even for Platinum Elite members --
and IF they are not confirmed at that time, Platinum Elite members
are placed on a "wait list" until the actual time of the flight, and
the requested upgrade can be cancelled up to the last minute, WITHOUT
penalty (i.e., no FF charged)! Been there. Done that.


However, given your apparent dissatisfaction with CO, I think everyone will
be happier all around if you switched to another carrier.

LOL! But very true.

That's more or less what I said to Vitaly Shmatikov when he was knocking
CO in favor of AA. But look what happened. :-) I hope this new policy
will convince Shmatikov to jump ship!


Having given the new rule a quick perusal on the cited page, at least the
TERMS of new rule will give many folks good (or better) reasons to jump
ship because they don't have much on whatever ship. :-) As for me,
I don't see any ship on the horizon to which I wanna jump. Besides, I
have very good use for the million unused CO FF miles even if I don't
fly CO again. :-))

I can say THIS about CO's move -- even though I don't like the additional
fees and "add-on" costs anymore than the next person.

Nearly ALL MAJOR airlines were on the verge of bankrupcy. Without the
billions pumped in by Uncle Sam, AA, Delta, and perhaps even CO would
have gone Chapter 11. They are STILL operating in the red, WITH the
subside, but LESS RED. That's why CO's stocks went up something like
50% within the latest month (read it on New York Times or the Wall
Street Journal while waiting for flights). Their RED in the quarter
was much LESS RED than that in the same quarter a year before.

Not so AA, which is still the biggest RED INK operator that's not
yet belly up.

Continental Airlines is a BUSINESS. A business to make money! It
EXPECTS (hopes) to start operating in the black by next year.

The new rules (among other changes) are just some of the NECESSARY
changes to bring in more revenue to save its own neck.


The bottom line is always the same: It's a FREE MARKET. No one forces
anyone to fly any particular airline. It's up to an individual to
do his/her cost-benefit analysis to come to a choice.

The "jump ship" choice may be the correct choice for some, and not for
others. I am pretty sure I am in the "others" camp. :-)

YMMV as we say, and its doubly applicable here.

-- Bob.

"Reef Fish" wrote in message
om...
"PTRAVEL" wrote in message
...
"acenturi" wrote in message
...
http://www.continental.com/onepass/n...0030910_02.asp

This is the excuse I needed to jump ship - as soon as I use my miles.
Bye
CO.

The change is only to international upgrades, not domestic. CO has
added a
waitlist fee, whereas before it was not possible to waitlist for an
international upgrade and get it at the airport -- if you didn't get it
by
3-days before, you didn't get it, period.

Not familiar with this new policy YET.

But what you said about "waitlist for an international upgrade ... befire
it was not possible" is not true, at least for Platinum Elite members
(sorry, hadn't been anything else :-).

I've only been gold (though consistently). I guess that's another advantage
of being platinum. The good news is, my trip next week should get me
platinum.


For international BF upgrades, FF miles are required; and for the
transAtlantic ones (unlike some Asian routes), they are not confirmed
until 30 days before departure date, even for Platinum Elite members --
and IF they are not confirmed at that time, Platinum Elite members
are placed on a "wait list" until the actual time of the flight, and
the requested upgrade can be cancelled up to the last minute, WITHOUT
penalty (i.e., no FF charged)! Been there. Done that.

Ah, well, that is the same thing as for gold. At least at gold level,
though, if the waitlist hasn't cleared by 3-days prior to flight, you're
flying coach.




However, given your apparent dissatisfaction with CO, I think everyone
will
be happier all around if you switched to another carrier.

LOL! But very true.

That's more or less what I said to Vitaly Shmatikov when he was knocking
CO in favor of AA. But look what happened. :-) I hope this new policy
will convince Shmatikov to jump ship!


Having given the new rule a quick perusal on the cited page, at least the
TERMS of new rule will give many folks good (or better) reasons to jump
ship because they don't have much on whatever ship. :-) As for me,
I don't see any ship on the horizon to which I wanna jump. Besides, I
have very good use for the million unused CO FF miles even if I don't
fly CO again. :-))

I can say THIS about CO's move -- even though I don't like the additional
fees and "add-on" costs anymore than the next person.

Nearly ALL MAJOR airlines were on the verge of bankrupcy. Without the
billions pumped in by Uncle Sam, AA, Delta, and perhaps even CO would
have gone Chapter 11. They are STILL operating in the red, WITH the
subside, but LESS RED. That's why CO's stocks went up something like
50% within the latest month (read it on New York Times or the Wall
Street Journal while waiting for flights). Their RED in the quarter
was much LESS RED than that in the same quarter a year before.

Not so AA, which is still the biggest RED INK operator that's not
yet belly up.

Continental Airlines is a BUSINESS. A business to make money! It
EXPECTS (hopes) to start operating in the black by next year.

The new rules (among other changes) are just some of the NECESSARY
changes to bring in more revenue to save its own neck.


The bottom line is always the same: It's a FREE MARKET. No one forces
anyone to fly any particular airline. It's up to an individual to
do his/her cost-benefit analysis to come to a choice.

The "jump ship" choice may be the correct choice for some, and not for
others. I am pretty sure I am in the "others" camp. :-)

YMMV as we say, and its doubly applicable here.

-- Bob.

"PTRAVEL" wrote in message
...

acenturi This is the excuse I needed to jump ship - as soon as I use my miles.
acenturi Bye CO.

PTR The change is only to international upgrades, not domestic. CO has
PTR added a waitlist fee, whereas before it was not possible to waitlist
PTR for an international upgrade and get it at the airport -- if you didn't
PTR get it by 3-days before, you didn't get it, period.

RF Not familiar with this new policy YET.
RF
RF But what you said about "waitlist for an international upgrade ... befire
RF it was not possible" is not true, at least for Platinum Elite members
RF (sorry, hadn't been anything else :-).

I've only been gold (though consistently). I guess that's another advantage
of being platinum.

That's true.

The good news is, my trip next week should get me platinum.

Congratulations!! You'll beat me to that status for 2004 by a little
over 2 months.

But the advantage for Platinum IS shrinking, even for NOW -- to be fair to
the complainers. My previous trip to HKG was right after 9/11/01. The
coach fare eligible for BG upgrade was only about $100 more than the
cheapest coach fare, which was deeply discounted (something like $600
roundtrip) and the FFM upgrade was confirmed months before the trip.

The cheapest CO coach fare from ATL to HKG this Nov was about $745 this
morning, and the cheapest eligible fare for FFM BF upgrade was more than
$1,500, and that's not counting the FFMs required for the upgrade ... and
I would have to be on a WAIT LIST for that!


For international BF upgrades, FF miles are required; and for the
transAtlantic ones (unlike some Asian routes), they are not confirmed
until 30 days before departure date, even for Platinum Elite members --
and IF they are not confirmed at that time, Platinum Elite members
are placed on a "wait list" until the actual time of the flight, and
the requested upgrade can be cancelled up to the last minute, WITHOUT
penalty (i.e., no FF charged)! Been there. Done that.

Ah, well, that is the same thing as for gold. At least at gold level,
though, if the waitlist hasn't cleared by 3-days prior to flight, you're
flying coach.

Sounds the same then.


Having given the new rule a quick perusal on the cited page, at least the
TERMS of new rule will give many folks good (or better) reasons to jump
ship because they don't have much on whatever ship. :-) As for me,
I don't see any ship on the horizon to which I wanna jump. Besides, I
have very good use for the million unused CO FF miles even if I don't
fly CO again. :-))

An example of the above is that 1 Million CO FFM can be exchanged to
2M Hilton Honors Hotel points -- an exchange rate better than the FFM of
any other airline. For a mere 175,000 HH points, or 87,500 CO FFMs
which has the nominal equivalent of $1,750 USD cash, I could stay at
the best available room in Conrad in HK for 6 nights. The CASH rate
for said room would be at least $3,600 USD for 6 nights. It doesn't
take a rocket scientest (I wonder where that dumb expression came
form G) to figure out the monetary value of the CO FFMs even if
one DOESN'T FLY with those points.

SNIP


The "jump ship" choice may be the correct choice for some, and not for
others. I am pretty sure I am in the "others" camp. :-)

YMMV as we say, and its doubly applicable here.

-- Bob.

"Reef Fish" wrote in message
om...

snip

The cheapest CO coach fare from ATL to HKG this Nov was about $745 this
morning, and the cheapest eligible fare for FFM BF upgrade was more than
$1,500, and that's not counting the FFMs required for the upgrade ... and
I would have to be on a WAIT LIST for that!

Ugh! We go to Hong Kong quite a bit, though usually on Northwest, via
Tokyo. If Northwest matches CO's policy, it looks like it's coach for us.


snip

Having given the new rule a quick perusal on the cited page, at least
the
TERMS of new rule will give many folks good (or better) reasons to
jump
ship because they don't have much on whatever ship. :-) As for me,
I don't see any ship on the horizon to which I wanna jump. Besides, I
have very good use for the million unused CO FF miles even if I don't
fly CO again. :-))

An example of the above is that 1 Million CO FFM can be exchanged to
2M Hilton Honors Hotel points -- an exchange rate better than the FFM of
any other airline. For a mere 175,000 HH points, or 87,500 CO FFMs
which has the nominal equivalent of $1,750 USD cash, I could stay at
the best available room in Conrad in HK for 6 nights. The CASH rate
for said room would be at least $3,600 USD for 6 nights. It doesn't
take a rocket scientest (I wonder where that dumb expression came
form G) to figure out the monetary value of the CO FFMs even if
one DOESN'T FLY with those points.

I've always felt that frequent stay points (particularly Marriott's) offer a
far better deal than the airlines. For 50,000 points (which I can get with
about 5-7 stays of 2-3 nights each), I can get 5 nights at premium Marriott
properties in Europe or Asia that would otherwise cost between $200 and $400
night.



SNIP


The "jump ship" choice may be the correct choice for some, and not for
others. I am pretty sure I am in the "others" camp. :-)

YMMV as we say, and its doubly applicable here.

-- Bob.