The new years is here, and along with it the stork delivered JRF to the CO section of the Flyertalk board. I hope I belong at CO, last I remember the stork, I was delivered 37 years ago to Mohawk or Allegany. Over the years I have been merged and relocated, split apart, and somewhat unsure of which airlines I would like to adopt me as one of their best customers. Last time I felt at home on an airplane was on Piedmont. My most recent step-parents, DL, started to not care about me or my flying paying human seat taker-uppers. Luckily the stork came in to save the day.

Called CO and they agreed to match my PM status on DL, I will send in the paper work in a few days when I return to the US. Booked my first CO reservation, BWI to Italy and back in a few weeks. Life with CO is about to begin!

It may take me a while to find which threads in the CO section of the board contains the information I need. So, please, be patient with me for a while. Should I ask a question that has an obvious and easy answer bear in mind I am still in shock from DL. Lots for me to learn about CO and not enough time. I know the DL FF program inside and out, but I think the last time I flew on CO they still shared a FF program with Eastern.

Greetings to everyone and I look forward to helping the CO section with information when I can.

Cheers
JRF

WOW there sure are a lot of REFUGEES showing up here!

JRF,

Welcome, glad to have you.

You may notice fairly quickly that there is some fairly heated 'exchange of opinions' going on around here, especially since CO instituted it's EUA (electronic upgrade automation) program in October. In general, though, I think most of us will agree that it is a great program for top tier elites, particularly regarding domestic travel, but, shall I say, has some weaknesses regarding international upgrades and satisfaction of lower tier elites. Recent arguments aside, I think we have a great group of folks here.

Just a word of advice, though, I wouldn't talk too loudly about that Status Comp, as that might get 'em riled up around here

JRF, welcome...But, you chose the wrong airline. Your profile says you live in europe. CO's big weekness is International upgrades. You'll be riding that stork someplace else soon... don't get too comfy!

I will keep you posted on how things work at. DL is ending their International upgrades, top Elites (PMs only) will get 6 intl upgrades per year. They are only good with high fares.

If I get 1 upgrade at a low fare on CO, I have already done better then I would have on DL. At least CO, I hope, will not be flying with me in the back and an open seat up front.

I am willing to go out of my way to fly CO, do they go out of their way for the top level elites?

Continental sure goes out of their way to comp status to top level elites of other airlines! Watch your butt when they call for preboarding the elites.

JRF:

While Delta is taking away the copious amounts of upgrades they used to give to their top-tier elites, they are still giving away some. Continental gives away none! Upgrades to the BusinessFirst cabin are not a part of the Platinum scheme.

I dealt with this first hand recently, trying to upgrade four to five people to BusinessFirst. Fortunately, I was traveling on a holiday (Thanksgiving), so there were plenty of seats. But I doubt I would have been able to get any seats had it been a business flight. I have no status, though.

When you book, it is important to make sure that you are booking an upgradable fare. On Continental internationally, not all fares are upgradable, though it is less restrictive than Delta. You can place yourself on an upgrade waitlist at time of booking. Continental generally will begin 'working' the waitlist 30-days out, though there are stories about people clearing sooner. They keep BusinessFirst tight and you will have to call and call and call to get that seat. They will open up inventory seats but not work the waitlist, so you need to call and don't just trust the waitlist. As you can see, it is tough and a pain to deal with upgrades on Continental. BTW, these upgrades are 20K oneway on a discount fare. No certs like on Delta.

Continental definitely has a more liberal upgrade program than Delta domestically (L-Fare), and this is CO's attraction. International upgrades are not. You say yourself that CO will be for international; not domestic.

For international upgrades the best programs are probably AA or United. Both give certs to their customers, good on practically any fare. You can upgrade on AA with miles on any published fare.

No free Intl upgrades on flights with a biz first cabin. 6 on Delta beats 0 on CO. Will they go out of their way for you? Absolutely not internatinally. Search our intl upgrade threads...

C'mon, cigarman, you're not telling the whole story. JRF might luck out if coach is overbooked.

On DL if coach is full, as a PM, sometimes I would make it up front, other times non FFers would make it up front. Was a pure chaos decision making process by DL.

My newest concern is http://www.denycontinentalthefreddie.com/ . I am concerned about the redeposit fee if upgrades do not come through on intl flights as well as a few other items.

This may be a shopping year for airlines after all. Not what I had planned.

JRF, if you plan to fly internationally often, I wouldn't worry about the redeposit fee. If I cancel an international flight where I was expecting to use a upgrade, I just tell them I'll use it another time (you have a full year to use it). Also, while I do agree that CO's International upgrade policy is not great, as a Platinum I've yet to be denied an upgrade when traveling overseas (although I admit I may be in the minority).
PS--Welcome to the Board and to CO!

[This message has been edited by mauld (edited 01-05-2001).]

I will fly about 2/3rds international, so it looks like I will just hold on to the cert and use it the next time, should Irish luck be with me.