Merging CO and UA Accounts for "Dummies"
 

1. Do it now... is the right advice to the vast majority of elites... lots of benefits and no downside for most.
   Some possible exceptions for heavy heavy travelers are listed in point 3.
2. Pick UA or CO? The choice you have to make is where to deposit SWUs + CR1s earned in 2011.
   You should pick the airline where you anticipate using them.
   However, this choice will be inconsequential for many, because all SWU+CR1 will eventually be valid on both airlines.... the question is whether you will earn (and want to use) the SWUs and CR1s before the metal-specific validity is removed.
   • If you are CO Plat with >100k EQMs in 2010... you will become 1K. This (it appears) will NOT enable you to earn the "quarterly CR-1s" that UA 1Ks are entitled to. UA 1K earn two extra CR-1s in every quarter they have >10K BIS.
   Some Examples. A CO elite....
   1. ... who does not hit 75k this year can pick either programs... It is all the same, because there are no CR1/SWUs to deposit, and the programs will merge next year anyway.
   2. ... who expects to hit 75k in May and hope to use the two CR-1s on UA flights in July, should pick UA.
   3. ... with <100k miles in 2010 who mostly on CO, will likely want to pick CO, because it will enable him/her to use CR-1s on CO flights as soon as 75k EQM is on the books for 2011.
3. Some (possible) arguments for delaying a merge:
   1. You are a very very frequent flyer.
      • 200k+ elites have the ability to earn extra 4 CR-1s at the expense of 2 SWUs.... by putting 100k in both programs.
      • By crediting 100k EQM to one program and 120 EQP to the other, you might be able to get a few extra CR-1s and SWUs.
      This strategy also gives you flexibility of having both CO and UA SWUs and CR-1s... until SWUs and CR-1s become valid on both airlines.
   2. You worry about the expiration date.
      Hitting 100k later MIGHT extend the expiration date of your SWUs and CR-1s.... ("MIGHT" because the expiration date might be 1/2013 for all SWUs and CR1s... that is how CO did it for 2010 earned SWUs).
      Playing this game will (with certainty) delay the date the SWUs+CR1s will be available to you.

Merge you accounts: united.com/combinemyactivity or continental.com/combinemyactivity

This was my 2c analysis... what did I miss?.... Happy to update revise as needed.

IBTL, because of thread in UA, but I think it should stay open because it is CO specific. As a 100k+ plat, I picked UA because I will start earning CR1s at the rate of 1 per 10k BIS miles per quarter plus the extra 2 at 75k. If I had picked CO I wouldn't get them until 75k.

Thanks... I updated... Has the quarterly 2CR1 for a new minted 1k (based on CO 2010 earnings) been confirmed? And do we know that there is a drawback to picking CO as deposit account?

I confirmed it with the MR CS before I locked it in. Then in reading the confirmation email it said, "Unlimited Regional Upgrades and Systemwide Upgrades earned via combined activity will be deposited in the primary account that you designated. You'll continue to be eligible for Unlimited Domestic Upgrades on United and Elite Upgrades on Continental no matter which account number you use."

I take that to mean that my 17k BIS miles for 1Q11 will get me 2CR1s.
That only would have happened if I picked UA as my primary account I designated. CO doesn't have the CR1s yet.

Good primer. The UA CR-1s happen at:
* Every quarter where there is more than 10k BIS
* 75k, 100k, 125k, etc

At each point, you receive 2 CR-1s. Note that the first bullet only applies in 2011, and goes away next year.

I'm a little bit confused:

When it says to select either OP or MP as your primary upgrade account for the year, it only affects SWUs and CR-1s/RUs? That choice has no impact on EUA or UDU?

Just want to make sure before I throw the switch on this. I'm flying United next week, but most of my flying for the rest of the year is on CO. (And I'm a Silver now, so being 2P or Silver might make a difference at the margin for upgrades, depending on operating airline.)

Edit: Found the answer after delving into this.


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What should I do to maximize my elite recognition and benefits, such as upgrade priority, fee waivers, and priority check-in and boarding?

Use the account number of the airline you're flying. For example, if you're flying United, use your Mileage Plus number to make sure you're recognized as a Mileage Plus elite member. Remember that the account number in your reservation determines the program to which award/base miles and elite qualifying activity will be immediately credited for that fligh

I know they have to continue to work towards merging the programs but it seems like 75k-99k Plats got the short end of the stick here with regards to upgrades. We receive a small jump in the UDU hierarchy by being grouped with the Premier Execs rather than behind them but now the 1K's will be grouped with Plats rather than behind them. I don't know, maybe I'm making it out to be a bigger issue than it really is.

I'll leave the rest of my comments/questions for the UA thread.

for the past week Ive been a nobody = no status as Ive been flying and accumulating everything on UA = last Tues for the 1st time in 10 yrs Not only wasnt I a CO Plat any longer but had no status

which really didnt matter since Im 1K with UA, well this match just made me CO Plat again :D so now I can have access to award flights that as a non-Plat I didnt and now I can once again book trips and redeposit w/o any fees

Im really going to enjoy this UA/CO combo

Yep, I'm not smart enough to figure out the dummies guide
 

I am not a complete newbie, but I feel like it in this discussion.

I'm a CO Plat, with less than 100k miles in 2010.

I live in Houston and fly CO almost exclusively, with a few short United flights here and there (SFO to LAS on my way home to Houston).

Do I just use CO as my primary account?

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Did a little digging on UA board and figured it out.

If at least 10K of those 17k BIS miles were on UA/UAEX metal, and credited to your MP account, then yes. If not, I don't think you'll get the 2 CR1s.

According to MP CS it doesn't matter. We'll see.

Hopefully they told you correctly.

If so, it'd be nice earning CR1s to use on the p.s. transcon service (since those aren't UDU/EUA-able) by flying on CO metal in 1Q11.

I'm surprised the 1K's aren't crying "foul" on this one :)

My interpretation of the confirmation email said the same thing. Systemwide Upgrades earned via combined activity will be deposited in the primary account that you designated

Why would the 1Ks be upset??

UA CR1's have been earned based solely on UA/UAEX metal BIS miles.

Now there'll be a bunch of those "CO types" who have flown only on CO metal suddenly coming over and "taking" valuable upgrade seats will their "ill-gotten" UA-usable CR1s... it's not a change that all of them will probably "like".....

;) :rolleyes:

This thread is indeed very useful. Thanks OP.

good job of figuring it out. I had similar questions, until I started the UA thread in detail. That thread is already so long. So, its nice to have our own Primer in the CO forum. (well, at least until the CO forum still exists on its own).