tenniscraze

I have a flight I wish to book via the Continental website for JFK-NRT-SIN-JFK.

The JFK-NRT portion is operated by Continental, while NRT-SIN is operated by United. The SIN-JFK portion flies through Hong Kong and is operated by United. All segments are on K booking class.

Does this mean I would only get 100% for the JFK-NRT segment and only 50% on the other segments, or would I get 100% for all segments since I'm booking through Continental? Aegean Air specifies that you earn 50% of miles for a K booking class on United but 100% for K on Continental....

The cost of the flight is $1,100 and I'm trying to use this instead of SQ which is around $1,500...

PVDtoDEL

No flights are operated by Continental anymore. Now that they have a single operating certificate, all flights are operated by UA, and all flights get UA rates.

jetche2004

Miles & Bonus - Continental

Effective Feb 1st 2011, it is only 50% for CO flights too.

tenniscraze

Thanks for the responses.. guess there is no easy way around this. Quite a hassle to ensure that tickets must be on booking classes with 100% accrual factor and not less. In other words, you can't just blindly book on *A flights as you might not even get miles on A3...

jetche2004

Totally true! Better to check the class of booking before confirming the ticket, if you're planning on crediting to A3.

I guess this applies, not only to A3, but to most airlines (as a lot have reduced miles for the lower Y classes).

Whenever flying domestically on UA/CO, I make sure I book the class with which I can earn 100% on A3 (provided the fare difference is not that huge).

currentjer

seriously, save yourself the trouble and book SQ instead. although the 747s not as good as the 77w (i'm assuming you are flying out prior to jan 16), you will have a better peace of mind + superior comfort.

RudderDucky

I have a United/Continental reservation on hold that is involves travel from MKE-IAH-SFO-LAS. All flights are booked as and operated by United, except for the IAH-SFO leg which is booked as UA operated by CO. I am now confused as to the booking class that will be reported when I credit my miles to Aegean Airlines. It was booked as a first class fare, with both the United and Continental websites showing "First (A)" for all three flights, though containing a fare code of HUAUPN. The reservations agent confirmed that it is booked into "A" class (which earns 300% of miles on Aegean), though the fare code starting with an "H" confuses me. Also, I am confused as to how the second leg, marketed by United and operated by Continental, will credit to Aegean. The CO website says it is booked as "First (A)" but according to Aegean CO doesn't have an A fare bucket. When crediting a CO "F" fare to Aegean, it only earns 125% of miles. I am wondering what fare class will be reported to Aegean. Does anyone have any experience with this or any recommendations on how to find out more? I have talked with United, Continental, and Aegean and have still come up short on how Aegean will credit the flights. How these are credited will make the difference as to whether I hit A3*G or not.

MSPeconomist

I would avoid booking this using CO flight numbers or CO ticket stock. Since CO no longer operates flights, this could be asking for trouble, for example if IROPs happen, there is a schedule change, you wish to make changes, or simply OLCI doesn't work and the agents cannot find your ticket or reservation. Even if A3 miles were not an issue, you could have trouble and I say this as a survivor of the NW/DL merger.

For the A3 miles, it will similarly save you trouble to simply fly on UA flight numbers if at all possible. Then the booking class should be clear and you will not need to argue for miles.

steve64

CO is still a separate airline from United.
CO ticket stock is still valid.
CO flights earn at CO rates, UA flights earn at UA rates.
Tho alignment will continue between the 2 airline's programs (to the point of OnePass and MileagePlus combining under the MP name in 2012) but as of right now, CO's earning rates still apply.

The Single Operating Certificate (SOC) referred to here is an FAA certification that allows an airline to operate scheduled passenger flights within the USA. UA has surrendered their certificate and all of its flights are now operating under CO's certification. CO also altered its certificate to change their call sign (the name used by ATC to identify their flights) from "Continental" to "United".
FAA handles operations. They now recognize both airlines as a single entity only by virtue of both airlines operating on the same certificate.

From the marketing aspect, both carriers still exist despite the call sign.
Both maintain separate ticket counters. Both maintain separate websites.
CO crew can not operate UA aircraft. ETC, etc.

The FAA could care less about how United Continental Holdings wishes to market its 2 airlines. Having both under the same SOC is only one of thousands of steps to take to fully merge the 2 into a single airline. It is a preliminary item whose intent is to have each airline following the same flight operational procedures. Having all employees on the same page will make downstream integration much easier.

crazyMRer

steve64 is correct; for now CO earning rates still exist separate from UA earning rates. As usual, metal you fly is what is important, not code you buy.

MSPeconomist

I fully realize all of this. However, experience from the NW/DL merger leads me to stick with the advice I have given. YMMV.

ctownflyer

Any updates for earnings on CO metal with UA ticket stock?

pneads

I was able to find a really cheap flight from GVA-EWR that I couldn't resist and booked it.

Unfortunately I saw that I was booked on K class with CO/UA which only earns 50% on the flown miles.

If I decided to buy an E+ seat, will my ticket be reissued with a different class? If this is the case which class would that be?

Thanks

Flashyphotos

Sorry to say it would stay as "K", you are just buying a seat allocation that does not affect the booking class.

MD/DC Flyer

If the metal is CO than you will get miles according to CO table. This from recent experience (Jan 12). I did not expect anything else.