FlyerTalk Forums - OnePass & Mileage Plus, post-merger

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...s/7061385.html

Expert Randy Petersen takes a look at the changing frequent-flier world
By BILL MONTGOMERY
Houston Chronicle

Frequent-flier authority Randy Petersen has been keeping tabs on travel rewards trends for nearly three decades. He sensed early on consumers' need for guidance through the byzantine world of travel miles and points, and responded by founding InsideFlyer magazine and later, the FlyerTalk online forum.

Excerpt:
Q: Once the Continental and United frequent-flier programs merge, what will that look like?

A: Not much more than it looks like now. The biggest difference — there's no doubt in my mind that if they merge, they'll go with United's policy of having expiring miles. Continental doesn't have expiring miles. They're pretty customer-friendly. Elite programs, relatively the same; most of the miles-earning basics, the same. The United mall is much more robust in terms of the merchants. Continental's got their OnePass auction site, but I don't know how many more people need Houston Astros tickets to bid their miles on - just a joke! United doesn't have a big, very aggressive auction thing, so we'll have to see where that goes. Chase is the bank for both.

Expiring miles is about the only thing. I just don't know what that means for Continental because people have been very, very spoiled. They've never had to really worry about it.