My previous employer obtained for me gold status which must have been arranged with Continental through the corp. travel department. I didn't travel enough at that time to earn it through flight mies/segments.

Recently I changed jobs and joined a major company in Houston in a position that requires me travel a great deal more. On occasion I travel with my boss who had plat. status last year and gold this. On our last trip together the both of us had not bothered to call the elite line for an upgrade. When we checked in at the Pres. Club I asked if there were any seats in First and was told it was sold out. When we received our boarding passes he had been upgraded. This was the first time this had happened he said. His ticket was the same fare as mine and purchased about the same time - about two weeks in advance. The only real difference was that he booked his through our company's travel desk and I got my on CO's website. I use the website in order to get the purchase bonus

I know that CO cuts deals with large companies (the company I work for is CO's largest corporate customer out of Houston). Does CO have special upgrade poicies for elite employees of large corp. customers? The travel desk won't answer my question about this.


Thanks