Continental Airlines to let OPERA do the work


HOUSTON, June 24, 2001 -- Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL and CAL.A) This week Continental will launch its OnePass Electronic Reward Automation system, known as OPERA. Members of the airline’s award-winning OnePass program will now find that processing a reward ticket is easier than ever.

The automated system eliminates the need for OnePass members to call Continental Reservations to request their reward. Utilizing the most advanced data mining and active agent software technology, the system now automatically finds reward availabilty for OnePass members. Using this state of the art web-based system, a OnePass member simply inputs a range of dates and/or locations and OPERA searches the flight database to find seats available for reward travel.

"We really think we have an award winning system here" said CEO Gordon Bethune. "In the past, we've been content to collect Freddies and JD Power awards, we've raised the Bar. We're shooting for the Noble Prizes now, and we think OPERA will take us to that next level" added Bethune.

The new system begins processing immediately. OPERA will notify the OnePass member via e-mail when an available reward seat is found. As Onepass members know, Continental does capacity control reward seats, and that these controls vary over time. No need to worry, OPERA will continue to search for reward seats up to 24 hours before your travel date. If a seat becomes available, OPERA will grab it for you.

"4 paws up" said OnePass member Mark Blanchard. "I can sleep and OPERA finds reward seats for me. This is excellent, United can't touch this" added the Jersey City native.

Platinum, Gold, and Silver Elite members will get special priority service to obtain their rewards. When OPERA finds more requests for rewards than availibility, it will process reward seats in order of OnePass Elite level.

"Our OnePass members, especially our Elite members, are the backbone of Continental," said Marketing Vice President Mark Bergsrud. "We are pleased to make this system available so our most frequent flyers can reap the most valuable benefit of their Elite status and get a full night’s sleep."

"I can't believe this, Continental has surely won back my vote in the Freddie awards" said formerly disgruntled OnePass member David Danto of New Jersey

"Automation is the way to go" said Jeff Lewis, a Platinum Elite from California.

Elite OnePass members earn their status by flying qualifying miles or segments in a calendar year. To achieve Silver Elite status, for example, a member must fly 25,000 flight miles or 30 flight segments in one year. Gold Elite status requires 50,000 flight miles or 60 flight segments in a year. To reach the highest status, Platinum Elite, a member must fly 75,000 flight miles or 90 flight segments in a 12-month period. Membership to Continental Airlines’ OnePass program is free and rewarding. To enroll, simply visit the airline’s official website (www.continental.com), call Continental Reservations or complete an application and mail it to Continental’s OnePass Service Center.

Randy Peterson, publisher of Inside-Flyer magazine and the dean of Frequent Flyers said "This ups the ante in the miles game. No doubt about it. Overnight, it makes every other program second rate. This is going rock the industry"

Continental Airlines is the fifth largest airline in the U.S., offering more than 2,400 departures daily to 138 domestic and 92 international destinations. Operating hubs in Newark, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, Continental serves more international cities than any other U.S. carrier, including extensive service throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Continental is in the top quarter of FORTUNE magazine’s "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" and is ranked the nation’s No 1 airline in customer satisfaction for long- and short-haul flights by Frequent Flyer Magazine and J.D. Power and Associates. Continental has received numerous awards for its BusinessFirst premium cabin (Condé Nast Traveler, OAG, Entrepreneur and SmartMoney magazines), OnePass frequent flyer program (InsideFlyer’s Freddie Awards) and overall operations and management (Air Transport World’s Airline of the Year).