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Continental Airlines OnePass Plus Mastercard Offer Linky

If you don’t yet have a Continental Onepass mileage account you can enroll here.

Signup Bonus:
You will get 25,000 miles for signing up for the Continental OnePass Plus MasterCard after making your first purchase. Plus you get 5,000 miles for adding a free 2nd user to your account, so you’ll get a total of 30,000 miles just for signing up!
You can add the 2nd user onto the account when applying online.

Card Spending Benefits:
-The annual fee ($85) is waived for the first year!
-You earn 1 Continental Onepass mile per dollar spent and 2 per dollar spent on Continental.
-You will get a bonus 10,000 miles for every year that you spend $25,000 on the card! In other words if you typically spend $25,000 in a year you will earn miles at a rate of 1.4 miles per dollar spent (35,000 miles for $25,000 spend)

Continental Onepass miles are among the most highly valued miles in the entire industry!
Did you know that:
-They can be redeemed on 40 partner airlines, including the global Star Alliance network with its amazing award availability and other partners like Hawaiian and Virgin Atlantic.
-They are very lenient on routing rules, so you can travel to Australia for example across the Atlantic or Pacific oceans, something most airlines would never let you do!
-They allow you to make a free stopover AND a free open jaw on a single award ticket to make your miles much more valuable.
-They allow free date and even free airline and routing changes on award tickets.
-They allow you to make changes to your award ticket even after departure (USAirways and United don’t let you do that on partner award tickets)
-They do not block partner airline availability like some other airlines do. (Ahem, United)
-They never charge a fuel surcharge on award tickets, even if you travel on partner airlines that normally charge a fuel surcharge!
-They allow you to book a BusinessFirst award even if there is only coach availability and go on a waitlist and standby for a BusinessFirst seat. If you do not get the BusinessFirst seat (even if you do get a First class seat on the domestic flight) then you will get a refund of the additional miles that you paid for it!
-They have an excellent award chart. You can fly to Israel on Continental, or on partners like Air Canada, USAirways, Aegean, Austrian, Brussels, Lot Polish, Lufthansa, SpanAir, Swiss, Tap Portugal, and Turkish. With so many partners it’s much easier to find availability. You can mix and match carriers and still fly for 75,000 in coach, 115,000 in BusinessFirst or Business, or 145,000 miles in First class on a 3 class aircraft.
-Want to go “around-the-world?” Continental has one the cheapest around-the-world mileage tickets around. It’s just 160,000 miles in coach, 220,000 miles in BusinessFirst or Business, or 280,000 miles in First class on a 3 class aircraft.  You can fly around the world on any partner airline and stop off for as long as you want in 6 different cities anywhere in the world!

Effective in 2011 Continental cardholders who are elite will also be able to get complimentary upgrades even on award tickets!

Continental cardholders can also redeem miles for hotel and car rewards.

Here are some of the amazing benefits the card comes with:
-With the recent launch of the OnePass Plus card Chase has added some incredible new benefits. The card is one of the only cards that offers free primary rental car CDW (collision damage waiver) insurance! Nearly every other credit card I have researched only has secondary rental car CDW insurance. With secondary insurance if you damage your rental car you will first need to file a claim with your own personal car insurance company and only it they don’t cover the entire bill will your credit card step in and pay the difference. This can cause your personal insurance rates to go up.

With primary rental car CDW insurance as is now offered on the OnePass Plus card you will not have to file anything with your own insurance company. Chase will cover the entire bill for any damage to your rental car. Just be sure to decline the rental agency’s CDW coverage and Chase will have your back! This primary CDW coverage applies everywhere in the world except in Israel, Jamaica, and Ireland (blame the bad drivers there!)

-If you have the OnePass Plus card you and up to 9 of your traveling companions will automatically get a free checked bag when flying Continental (normally $25 each way!) You do not need to pay for the trip on the card to get this benefit, you merely need to have the card! You can also add other family members as free secondary users on your account so that they can get free baggage as well when they’re not traveling with you. The fee waiver for secondary users isn’t automatic as it is for the primary cardholder, but you just have to show your card to the ticketing agent and they’ll be able to waive your checked bag fee!

-Chase will send you 2 free Presidents Club passes (normally $100) upon every anniversary of having the card. Plus they’ll also send you 2 discount vouchers for flights!

-By having the card you will get a $2 discount off in-flight alcoholic beverages and $2 off in-flight DirecTV service!

-OnePass Plus Cardholders will also be able to use Chase’s new concierge service to book from the “Luxury Hotels and Resorts Collection” When you book through the concierge you will get exclusive benefits, upgrades, and amenities.

The card also some with ultra-premium benefits and insurances that normally only come with much more expensive cards, including:
-Price protection: If you find an ad, online or in-store, that the price of an item you bought within the past 90 days is lower than what you paid, you can get a refund of up to $500 per item and $1,500 per year!
-Return protection: Return an item up to $300 and up to $1,000 a year within 90 days if the store won’t take it back.
-Free roadside assistance: Up to $50 per event
-Delayed baggage insurance: Up to $300 of essential items covered per ticket.
-Trip delay Insurance: Up to $300 per ticket if your flight is delayed to spend on hotels, cars, etc.
-Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance: Up to $1,500 coverage per event.
-Lost or damaged luggage insurance: Up to $3,000 coverage per event
-Travel Accident Insurance: Up to $500,000 per event
-Emergency evacuation, transportation, and medical coverage.
-Extended Warranty Protection: Extra year warranty.
-Purchase protection: If an item you bought within the past 90 days is stolen or damaged or if you have an “involuntary and accidental parting with the item” you can get a refund of up to $10,000 and up to $50,000 per year.
-Ticket Event Protection: If you can’t attend an event ticket for a covered reason you will get a refund of up to $500 per ticket, $2,000 per event, $4,000 annually.
-Identity Theft Protection: $1,000 coverage per stolen identity event.

Have any questions about any of that? Hit the comments!

Don’t need any of those amazing benefits? All you need to do is spend a buck on the OnePass Plus MasterCard and you’ll have more than enough miles for a free domestic ticket and you’ll have a whole year to try out the benefits of the card for free!

Related:250 free Continental miles (08/03/10)
250 free Continental miles (07/02/10)
600 free Continental miles (06/08/10)

250 Free Continental Miles Linky

Just enter your Onepass number and register and you’re done!

It usually takes Continental at least 4 months to post miles for these types of offers, so please don’t hold your breath!

HT: FT

Related: 600 free Continental miles.

250 Free Continental Miles Linky

Just enter your Onepass number and register.  It says that it’s only available for credit/debit cardholders, but it’s letting anyone register for now…

The miles won’t post until mid-October according to the terms, so please don’t hold your breath!

HT: lgluck

Update: Extended through 09/30!

Consumer Offer Linky

Business Offer Linky

-You are able to open a consumer account online by using the unique coupon code generated when you click on the offer links above.   Just generate your own coupon code, and apply for a checking account online. The “Chase checking” account is free with 5 debit transactions in a month. The “Chase better banking” account is free with a $1,500 balance.  Chase automatically located my Continental mileage number

-Chase/Continental Miles customer service line: 877-292-4273

-With a Continental debit card you also get a free piece of checked luggage for yourself and anyone else on your itinerary when you fly Continental. See Dansdeals.com/baggage for all baggage fees and exemptions.

-The 25,000 mile consumer offer requires making 5 purchases on a Continental debit card which carries a $25 annual fee.  The card earns 1 mile for every 2 dollars spent.

-The 25,000 mile business offer requires funding the account with $500 and making a purchase on a Continental debit card which carries a $65 annual fee. The card earns 1 mile for every dollar spent.

-The terms state that you can get the miles for each offer once per calendar year.

-You enter the coupon code on the page right after choosing an account and clicking “Open now.”

-Be sure to also request the $25 Continental debit card when you apply online.

-If you fund the account online via a credit card (up to $500) it may be counted as a cash advance.  Chase credit cards seem to post as a purchase.

-You must fund the account with a minimum of $100 of new funds.

-There is no need to open a savings account, you can however fund it with another $500 if you choose to open one.

-Only the consumer offer accepted the code for me online, the business offer did not work with the code online-you’ll have to go in a branch for that one.

-On an account that I opened last year 22,500 miles posted within a few weeks of making the 5 debit purchases, and the remaining 2,500 miles took a of couple months.

-You need to spend at least $2 on the card in 1 month within 60 days of opening the account to trigger the entire 25,000 mile bonus.

-25,000 miles is enough for a free domestic ticket (only 20,000 miles are needed for short-haul flights under 1,500 RT miles, like New York-Chicago) and is 33% of the way towards a free ticket to Israel (75,000 miles)

www.continental.com

Use promo code: ZGGMBYERCJ

This is a group meeting discount code from the Independent Petroleum Association of America on Continental travel completed by 11/15/10.

HT: Lou Bob, via dansdeals.com/forums

One of the biggest downsides of award redemption is that you don’t qualify for upgrades.  Delta will offer it later this year, but only to Gold members and higher.

Continental just announced that they will allow for free upgrades for all Continental elite members who either have the Onepass Plus credit card (currently known as the Continental World Mastercard…I’m assuming that OnePass Plus will be the future name of the combined United Mileage Plus and Continental OnePass reward programs) or the Presidential Plus credit card.

Upgrades will be allowed on all current routes that provide free upgrades on paid tickets, not on BusinessFirst routes.  So for Hawaii for example, the nonstop flights from Newark and Houston will not be eligible as they are BusinessFirst flights, but the flights from Los Angeles and Orange County to Honolulu or Maui will be eligible for free upgrades.

The upgrades will be prioritized according to elite level just after revenue tickets. So a Platinum on a paid ticket will be upgraded before a Platinum on an award ticket, who will be upgraded before a Gold on a paid ticket, etc.  Platinum and Gold members on an award ticket will also be able to upgrade a companion on a paid or award ticket at the gate.

Time for the rest of the airlines to match!

Update: You can call BMI at +44 (0)1332 854274 (2 cents per minute via Google Voice) to request that your Star Alliance Silver card be expedited. In the package are some other goodies like a Star Alliance Silver luggage tag.

Did you get free Silver status on BMI? Lucky you! You now can get free checked bags for yourself and your traveling companions on airlines like Continental, United, and USAirways.

On Continental.com go to “Manage Reservations” and find your itinerary or enter your confirmation number.

When you are viewing the reservation click on “Edit traveler information”

At the very bottom of that page you will find “Frequent Flyer Information (Optional),” select British Midland (BMI) Diamond Club and enter in your BMI member number.

24 hours before your flight you can checkin at Continental.com and select bags. If you have BMI Silver status it should allow you and everyone else on your itinerary to select 2 free 50 pound bags. On your boarding pass it will also display your BMI number along with *S. *S stands for Star Alliance Silver.

If for whatever reason it does not allow you to select bags for free you can try calling Continental up, but your best bet may be at the airport. At every airport is a sign saying how much luggage costs and it’s very clear that Star Alliance Silver members get 2 free bags. Below is a pic that I took at LAX of the sign with my phone last week.  Just show the agent that your boarding pass says *S and they will be able to waive your luggage fees.

After checking your luggage at the airport using one of Continental’s kiosks you can go back into your reservation at the kiosk and change your mileage number from BMI to any Star Alliance mileage number that you perfer to earn miles with.  I had no problem changing from my BMI/Star Alliance Gold number to my Continental Silver number, but it did cost me an upgrade   More about that in my trip notes…

www.continental.com/mileathon

I got 5,000 miles during the last mileathon for opening a Chase and Key Continental debit card.

The bonuses for purchasing tickets and checking in online are generally only for expensive fares only, but the bonuses for opening credit or debit accounts are nice on top of all other offers like 30,000 for a free credit card and 25,000 for a Chase checking account.

Opening a Continental credit card earns 20 credits, a Continental debit card earns 15.  When you register you can see the entire list of credit earning activities and how many credits you need for each mileage threshold.  For example 30 credits earns 5,000 miles and 45 credit earns 10,000 miles, etc.

The first purchase on the credit/debit cards must be made by 05/31 for mileathon credit.  Most other activities must be done by 06/30 for mileathon credit.

Update 4: Missing miles from this promo? The correct contact number for that department is 877-292-4273

Update 3: Warning: Do not fund the account with a Citi credit card as they appear to be charging a cash advance fee!

Update 2: Extended through 06/30.

Update: I received 2 letters via snail-mail from Chase with tracking numbers for 10,000 Continental miles and 15,000 Continental miles respectively. Both letters had a contact number for a personal banker to speak with and my correct Continental Onepass mileage number listed on them without my having to call up Chase to supply it!

Originally posted on 01/10/10:

I posted back in August about the new Chase bank account offer that awards 25,000 miles without the need for direct deposit as was required in the past.  They gave the option to make 5 debit transactions instead of requiring direct deposit.

Consumer Offer Linky

Business Offer Linky

-With a Continental debit card you also get a free piece of checked luggage for yourself and anyone else on your itinerary when you fly Continental. See Dansdeals.com/baggage for all baggage fees and exemptions.

-The 25,000 mile consumer offer requires making 5 purchases on a Continental debit card which carries a $25 annual fee.  The card earns 1 mile for every 2 dollars spent.

-The 25,000 mile business offer requires funding the account with $500 and making a purchase on a Continental debit card which carries a $65 annual fee. The card earns 1 mile for every dollar spent.

-The terms state that you can get the miles for each offer once per calendar year.

-Based on advice in this thread on the Dansdeals Forums I was successfully able to open a consumer account online by using the unique coupon code generated when you click on the offer links above!  Just generate your own coupon code, and apply for a checking account online. The “Chase checking” account is free with 5 debit transactions in a month. The “Chase better banking” account is free with a $1,500 balance.

-You enter the coupon code on the page right after choosing an account and clicking “Open now.”

-Be sure to also request the $25 Continental debit card when you apply online.

-I was able to fund the account with $500 from my Chase Continental credit card, thereby earning another 500 easy miles!  You can fund the account with any Visa or Mastercard for up to $500.  It specifically says that it will count as a purchase, not as a cash advance.

-You must fund the account with a minimum of $100 of new funds.

-There is no need to open a savings account, you can however fund it with another $500 if you choose to open one.

-If you’re worries about getting the miles, you may want to make a printout of the offer during the application when it mentions the 25,000 miles.

-There is no place to enter in your Continental Onepass number, so you will have to call up Chase after you receive your debit card to supply them with your mileage number.

-Only the consumer offer accepted the code for me online, the business offer did not work with the code online-you’ll have to go in a branch for that one.

-On an account that I opened last year 22,500 miles posted within a few weeks of making the 5 debit purchases, and the remaining 2,500 miles took a of couple months.

-I was able to make 5 debit purchases at a Sam’s Club gas station for $0.02 each which qualified for the miles-so there is no minimum on the 5 purchases.

-25,000 miles is enough for a free domestic ticket (only 20,000 miles are needed for short-haul flights under 1,500 RT miles, like New York-Chicago) and is 33% of the way towards a free ticket to Israel (75,000 miles)

All you need to do is register your Onepass number for these offers and you’ll get 200 miles deposited into your account.  The miles may post anytime between now and mid-May…

Star Alliance 100 Miles Registration Linky

Cruises 100 Miles Registration Linky

With the upcoming reciprocal upgrades between Continental and United elite flyers you knew this announcement couldn’t be far off. It matches United’s Global Services membership level and systemwide upgrades for United 1K flyers. Now when will Continental build an economy plus section on their planes?

Continental just announced that they will reward flyers who earn 100K elite flyers with 4 one-way systemwide upgrade certificates.  The upgrade certificates are valid from any fare paid.  Currently only AA allows the use of systemwide upgrade certificates with any fare.  And Continental’s new BusinessFirst cabin is light-years ahead of AA’s next generation business class.  Systemwide upgrade earned in 2010 must be used by 02/28/12.

Systemwide upgrades will be fully transferable! They are valid to anywhere Continental flies. A one-way upgrade will upgrade the entire one-way ticket, regardless of the number of segments.

Also for high-spend Platinums there is a new top-tier elite level called Presidential Platinum for people that fly 75K elite miles and spend $30K/year.  They’ll get confirmed upgrades 6 days before the flight and a free presidential plus mastercard which includes a presidents club membership.  Flyers that have 4 million lifetime elite miles will get lifetime Presidential Platinum status.

Both programs start 01/01/10.

Update 2-11:00pm: DEAD!

Update-9:40pm: HURRY! Still bookable on orbitz and priceline but dead on continental.com

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Now bookable on priceline, orbitz, or continental.com.  Search for LGA-SJC.

The price is $39 plus tax for each way.  Total should be about $58 with tax each way.

Travel is valid between 12/04-12/15.

Sample valid date: 12/08-12/15.

This is a great fare for a mileage run! You will earn at least 3,024 redeemable miles for each way, and 6,048 elite miles.

Thanks to g.f. for the comment!

Note: Continental has posted via their twitter account that they are giving away free flights through “Go Cards” being given away at Columbus Circle during the marathon today…not sure what that means but if you’re in the city anyway it may be worth checking out!

Interactive BusinessFirst Flat Bed Linky

The first Flat Bed 777 flies today (11/01) from Hong Kong-Newark (CO98) and then Newark-Tel Aviv (CO84).  Tomorrow it will run from Tel Aviv-Newark (CO85) and then Newark-London (CO28).  On the 3rd it will run from London-Houston (CO35) and on the 4th from Houston-Tokyo (CO07).

If you’re on one of these flights in BusinessFirst it looks like you’re in for a real treat!

Continental doesn’t maintain specific planes on routes, so for the foreseeable future it will just be luck of the draw if you get the new BusinessFirst 180 degree flat beds or the old BusinessFirst seats.

Update 3: DEAD!

Update 2: The Washington DC-Denver flights are bookable on continental.com as a Continental codeshare on nonstop United flights for just $75 before tax or $96 Round-Trip with all taxes.  The same flights are hundreds more on the same exact nonstop United flights at united.com…Price mistake?

Update: Washington DC-Albuquerque is also available at the $75+ rate.

Now this is an interesting fare…Continental just partners up with United and then launches a ridiculously low fare between 3 of United’s hubs.

It’s bookable now on continental.com

Valid for travel between 12/02/09-02/10/10.

The base fare is just $75 Round Trip before taxes and $115 with taxes!

Sample valid dates: 12/08-12/15

Starwood AMEX Linky (Free for first year, Earn 10,000 Starpoints With First Purchase, and 30,000 more Starpoints with your first $15,000 in purchases)

AMEX Platinum Charge Card-”The Grandaddy of credit cards” (Earn 25,000 AMEX MR Bonus Points after you spend $1,000.)

Just minutes ago Continental became the largest airline ever to change airline alliances.  In doing so it’s changing a number of its policies.

A Saturday night stay is no longer required for domestic rewards, but domestic rewards are rarely a worthwhile redemption so that’s not a huge deal.

There is a new award chart and it charges the same rate no matter what airline you fly on.  The chart has rates that are very similar to United’s chart.  However Continental has promised not to block partner availability like United has been doing of late which will make Onepass miles that much more valuable.

Continental Star Alliance Mileage Chart Linky

Interactive Travel Rewards Finder Linky

Continental Star Alliance Partners Page Linky

Continental Star Alliance Reward Rules Linky

Continental has a hidden bargain with their Round-The-World rewards which are valid on all 25 Star Alliance carriers as well as Continental’s other partners.  Coach costs 160K miles,  Business/BusinessFirst is 220K, and First Class on 3 class airplanes is 280K.

As Continental’s twice daily nonstop service from Newark to Tel Aviv has always been a popular award choice for Dansdeals.com readers I’m sure everyone will be happy to know that the cost of redemption on that route has gone down.  It used to cost 90K miles in Economy and 120K miles in BusinessFirst.  Now it will cost 75K in Economy and 115K in BusinessFirst.  In addition you can now redeem at the same rates for travel on Star Alliance partners Air Canada and USAirways which fly nonstop to Tel Aviv from Toronto and Philadelphia respectively.  Even more intriguing for some may be the new true first class service possibilities to Tel Aviv like Lufthansa offers for 145K miles on a ticket that normally sells for north of $10,000.

You can transfer AMEX MR points to Continental at a 1:1 ratio but unfortunately the Starwood transfer ratio is a lousy 20,000:12,500.  If you are desperate for Continental miles from Starwood you could always sign up to have all your Starpoints automatically go directly into Continental miles at a 1:1 ratio.

The other aspect of the alliance swap means learning about redeeming alliance partner miles for travel on Continental.  Below is a short listing of what some other Star airlines would charge to fly from Newark to Tel Aviv on Continental.  The only issue is that most international airlines charge a fuel surcharge on award tickets…

Continental EWR-TLV Round trip award prices on Star partners:

ANA (Starwood transfer partner @ 20,000:25,000, AMEX MR @ 1:1): Coach-60K, BusinessFirst-90K

Asiana (Starwood transfer partner @ 20,000:25,000): Coach-78K, BusinessFirst-115K

Lufthansa (Starwood transfer partner @ 20,000:25,000): From US: Coach-80K, BusinessFirst-120K

Lufthansa: From Israel with Israeli address: Coach-60K, BusinessFirst-90K

Singapore (AMEX MR transfer partner @ 1:1): Coach-60K, BusinessFirst-100K

USAirways (Starwood transfer partner @ 20,000:25,000): Coach-80K, BusinessFirst-120K

Virgin Atlantic (Non-Star partner, Starwood transfer partner @ 20,000:25,000, AMEX MR transfer partner @1:1.15 or 1:1 after 10/31): Coach-80K, BusinessFirst-120K

Just spend 10 seconds and register your Continental mileage number for these promos and you’ll get 700 miles!

Promo #1

Promo #2

Promo #3

Note: The miles will takes 6-8 weeks to post.

As you probably know Continental is about to become the largest airline ever to change alliances when they go from 9 member Skyteam to 24 member Star.

They leave Skyteam on 10/24.  If you want to redeem Continental miles for Skyteam partner flights or partner Skyteam miles for Continental flights don’t forget to do it by 10/24!

Continental joins Star Alliance on 10/27.

Here are the major changes:

Current Continental Skyteam Mileage Chart

New Continental Star Alliance Mileage Chart, Effective 10/27

The nice thing is that for the most part with the new Star Alliance chart the rates are the same no matter which airline you fly on. Under the old charts the rates varied according to the airline. Also the premium cabin on any flight without a true business and first class is only considered business class!

The new Continental chart is basically the same as United’s chart except that a round-the-world trip is much cheaper with Continental miles (160,000 in coach, 220,000 in business, 280,000 in first) than with United miles (200,000 in coach, 300,000 in business, 400,000 in first) and Continental has promised not to block partner award availability when using Onepass miles on Star Alliance carriers, while United severely blocks partner award availability when using their miles.

Here are the rate differences when redeeming Continental miles on sample routes between the: Current Rate/New Rate.

(Most surprising is the drop in mileage for TLV flights, which were the only flights to go up for 2009, and are now amongst the only flights to go down!)

Newark-Chicago in coach with Saturday night stay: 20,000/20,000.

Newark-Los Angeles in coach without Saturday night stay: 50,000/25,000.

Newark-Honolulu in coach: 35,000/40,000.

Newark-Honolulu in BusinessFirst: 75,000/80,000.

Newark-Tel Aviv in Coach: 90,000/75,000.

Newark-Tel Aviv in BusinessFirst: 120,000/115,000.

Tel Aviv-Honolulu in Coach: 110,000/80,000.

Tel Aviv-Honolulu in BusinessFirst: 140,000/120,000.

Newark-Buenos Aires in Coach: 50,000/55,000.

Newark-Buenos Aires in BusinessFirst: 90,000/100,000.

Newark-London in Coach: 50,000/55,000.

Newark-London in BusinessFirst: 100,000/105,000.

Newark-Shanghai in Coach: 60,000/65,000.

Newark-Shanghai in BusinessFirst: 120,000/125,000.

Other integration news:

-Saturday night stays are no longer required for a domestic saverpass reward flight. (Eff: 10/27)

-Award redeposit, change, and expedite fees are $75 per passenger for non-elites, $50 for silver elites, $25 for gold elites, and free for platinum elites.  The fees are contingent on the status of the member redeeming the miles, not the status of the flying member. Date changes more than 21 days before the flight are still free. (Eff: 12/15)

-Continental Silver=Star Alliance Silver. (Eff: 10/27)

-Continental Gold and Platinum=Star Alliance Gold for international lounge access and 3 free checked bags. (Eff: 10/27)

-Continental Platinum members get free same day confirmed changes. (Eff: 10/01)

-All fares (even those not purchased on continental.com) will earn full elite miles.  Finally every domestic carrier offers full redeemable and elite miles regardless of where you purchase your ticket. (Eff: 10/27)

-Elites will earn their 25%-100% bonus miles based on 500 mile minimum segment miles even on flights under 500 miles.  Previously the bonus was based on the actual flight miles. (Eff: 10/27)

-

Continental Double Elite Miles Registration Linky

Wow the bookings must be really bad for the airlines to resort to a double elite miles twice in a year!

At any rate Continental has finally matched the double elite miles promo initiated by AA and matched by United for travel between 09/09/09 and 12/15/09.

With all of these double elite miles promos there’s really no excuse to be paying for checked baggage or flying in coach

HT: Shawn

Continental Mileathon Registration Linky

With the Mileathon the more activities that you do, the more miles you get!  Normally this is a targeted promo, but it currently has open registration!

Sample activities:
-Enroll in the OnePass frequent flyer program
-Purchase an Economy Class round-trip ticket
-Book online at continental.com
-Check in online at continental.com
-Acquire a Continental Airlines Credit Card

All activities between 09/01-12/31 count for credits and at the end of the period you can trade the credits for the corresponding number of miles.

Consumer Offer Linky

Business Offer Linky

With the consumer offer you get 10,000 miles after opening the checking account and making 5 debit card transactions within 60 days of opening the account.

You get another 15,000 miles after your first purchase on a Continental debit card.  The cheapest Continental debit card has a $25 annual fee.

If you have a Continental Airlines debit card, you and all of your traveling companions will get to check a free bag when flying on Continental regardless of which credit card is used to purchase the ticket.

With the business offer you get 10,000 miles after opening the checking account and depositing $500 within 30 days of opening the account, and another 15,000 miles for making a purchase on a Continental debit card.

HT: FT

Offer Linky

Copy and paste the following link:

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/apps/onepass/promotions/registrationDetails.aspx?promoCode=A7319

Valid for the first passenger on an itinerary with a Onepass number listed.

Valid for tickets bought between 07/01 and 08/31.

Now bookable on Continental.com.

Valid for travel from now through 12/08/09

Sample valid dates: 05/19-05/26.

You can use Continental’s +/- 3 day function to search for the fare.

The base fare is $354+tax.

If you fly via Newark you will earn 12,260 base miles, plus 500 miles with Continental’s current 500 mile online booking bonus.

For travel to Sao Paulo, with the current double elite qualifying miles running through 06/15/09 you would earn 24,520 EQM’s, or 480 EQM’s short of elite status through 02/11.

For travel to Rio de Janeiro, with the current double elite qualifying miles running through 06/15/09 you would earn 25,392 EQM’s, or more than enough for elite status.

www.continental.com

Valid for travel through 06/07/09 with a 3 day or Saturday night minimum stay.

Don’t forget to register for double elite-qualifying miles!

Also Continental has a nonstop flight from Newark to Honolulu for just $438 round trip including all taxes but travel must be completed by 05/19.

Chase counts incoming ACH transfers from other banks and incoming paypal/google checkout revenues as direct deposits!

The miles for this offer posted for me within a month of making an incoming ACH transfer from another bank account!

Continental Offer Linky

-10,000 miles for opening up the checking account with direct deposit.

-11,000 miles for opening a Continental/Chase debit card. ($25 annual fee)

-7,500 miles for adding 3 additional cardholders with no annual fee.

Update: The terms seem to exclude US residents…as to why this shows up on the US version of Continental.com is anyone’s guess…

Effective today Continental has brought back the 500 mile bonus when you buy tickets directly from Continental.com!

Offer Linky

The offer is valid for tickets bought between 03/29/09 and 12/31/09.

Only the first traveler listed on the reservation will earn the bonus, so if you have multiple travelers you may want to book everyone separately so that they can each earn the bonus miles…

So which airline will be the first to match?

For the first time since just after 9/11, Continental has just released a double elite qualifying miles offer in response to AA and United’s offer!

Double EQM’s Offer Registration Linky

Best of all, unlike AA and United’s offer there are no exclusions for previously bought tickets!

All travel between 03/20 and 06/15 will earn double elite qualifying miles!

While most of the other airlines often have yearly elite qualifying mile promotions, Continental has traditionally been very careful about offering any sort of elite shortcut.

In my opinion Continental’s bottom and mid-tier Silver and Gold status levels are the best of any domestic airline.  Silver status requires 25,000 elite qualifying miles flown in a calendar year, while Gold requires 50,000. Status earned now will last until February 28, 2011.  Benefits from being elite include 2 free checked bags for you and your companions, bonus miles on each flight, free upgrades to the best domestic first class product, and even free upgrades on non-BusinessFirst international routes. Here is the list of elite benefits on Continental.

On Y and B coach fares (which are automatically upgraded for elites at the time of booking) as well as on all Business/First fares you will now earn at least 250% elite qualifying miles. Thus a single BusinessFirst flight from NYC to Israel will make you elite.

Continental’s upper-tier Platinum level however is altogether disappointing, and is nowhere near the benefits of upper-tier Executive Platinum on AA. The only redeeming factor is that Continental Platinum only requires 75,000 elite qualifying miles, while AA’s EXP level requires 100,000 elite qualifying miles.

I’ve long considered Continental to be the best airline on which to earn elite status with.  While AA’s EXP status is arguably the finest example of elite status that can be earned with miles flown, that status requires 100,000 elite qualifying miles in a calendar year to attain. For anything less than that you’re probably best off with Continental.  At any rate here are some interesting tidbits from them, much of it courtesy of Flyertalk user “sbm12.”

-All elites can now get upgraded to first class at the time of purchase on Y (full-fare) and B (discount full-fare) tickets.

-Date changes on award tickets will go from being $150 to being free as long as the origin and destination cities remain the same and it is done over 21 days in advance of the flight.  Changes within 21 days will now be $75.

-Effective in March confirmed changes at the connection city will be go from $50 to being free.

-LiveTV will begin being launched next month and will cost $6 in coach and free in first. Limited Wi-fi will be launched later this year and will be free for all passengers.

-Lie-flat seats in BusinessFirst will begin being installed on 777 aircraft in September, on 757 aircraft in November, and on 767 aircraft next January.  The process will take about 20 months for the fleet to be converted over.

-Non-elites can now purchase first class upgrades for $50-$250 at the check-in kiosk but will be prioritized after all elites and their companions have been given complimentary upgrades.

-Northwest and Delta elites will no longer receive free checked luggage when flying on Continental as those airlines do not let Continental passengers receive free checked luggage when flying Northwest/Delta.

-Continental will leave the Skyteam alliance on 10/24/09. No Skyteam flights after 10/24/09 will earn miles on Continental.  Tickets booked on Skyteam partners before 10/24 for travel after 10/24 will be honored. There will likely be a short period of time of Continental not belonging to any alliance before being integrated into the Star Alliance.

-Integrating a deep relationship with United will be the main point of concern during the transition in order to get the benefits of what a merger would’ve brought without the risks. Expect full club reciprocity with the relationship.

-Continental Silver (25K EQM’s) will be Star Alliance Silver. Continental Gold and Platinum (50K and 75K EQM’s respectively) will be Star Alliance Gold.

-Continental will not follow United’s lead in intentionally blocking alliance airline’s award availability (Starnet blocking).

-ETA on the 787 dreamliner is Q2 2011.

Offer Linky

Earn 2,000 miles for enrolling and an additional 5,000 miles when you fly for the first time before 12/31/09.

Caveat: You must have an address listed on your Continental account from the “Mid Pacific, South Pacific, China or South Asia.”

From the January 2009 Continental magazine:

Sign in at Continental.com, go to “My Account”, and select “Email subscriptions” on the manage profile page.

Offer valid for new subscribers who are residents of the 50 United States.  Must subscribe by 01/31/09 and remain subscribed for 60 days to receive bonus miles.