Every Tom, Dick, and AFANG already have gotten Gold...

You could get GOLD for only 3 RT's if you go IAH-HKG!!!! Are you kidding me with that above post???? Comparing the 2 airlines CO and SW...is like comparing VW's and Cadillac's...c'mon..... oh yeah..and try using your SW miles to travel outside the US...HA!!!

CO usually offers those BONUSes to people who have enrolled recently. Go to the web and enroll yourself again with a different address (perhaps your office address).
Get a new account. Receive the bonus offers. Buy the $99 pack. Wait a few months, then call to combine the accounts. It's easy, it's free, it gets your foot in the door for the bonus offers.

There's a lot of wacky, confusing and weird advice/sentiments now showing up in this thread.

IMHO, we should try and make the "bonus thread" singularly about the available bonuses and registering for same.

The loose availability of comp elite status (in addition to the watering down of benefits) was one of the prime reasons to make a stand against CO's practices last year. Now this year, it is a further reduction in benefits. I'd advise every elite who cares about their status and benefits to make a stand now (as Vulcan points out) and not follow the loose bonuses like lemmings into an acceptance of bad marketing practices (as was done last time).

"ignore the man behind the curtain" (wizard of OZ)
Ignore NjDavid... THERE HAVE BEEN NO REDUCTION IN BENEFITS. Go ahead pollute ANOTHER thread with that nonsense. The topic was bonuses. Unfortunatly the same 5 people are putting anti CO comments are many threads because of a change in the lowest BF fare eligible for a upgrade. Perhaps they could cutail themselves to the dozen or more threads on THAT particular subject? It seems the VAST MAJORITY of CO posters are happy with CO. Perhaps you could stop ruining it for everyone else?

Come on Smokey, stop getting your dander up again over something that so many people feel so strongly about. If anything, FlyerTalk is the place to b*tch and moan about airline company practices that offend and discomfit, so they have a right to do that when and where they please (and you have a right to skip over their posts).
The HoKeY fare thing is something that will work to your great advantage, if our experience with NW-KL when they put in the BaloneY requirements for transatlantic upgrades a few years ago translates to this situation. All of a sudden, it became a snap to get upgrades with them anytime you were willing to pay the higher fares. And the NW $1600 (plus or minus) Y fares have only cost half the miles to upgrade.

[This message has been edited by monitor (edited 08-28-2001).]

[This message has been edited by monitor (edited 08-28-2001).]

For one I would like to "thank" Vulcan for the time and effort he expands for the "benefit" of many (including myself).

Second --- Cigarman the recent actions of CO toward it's elite loyal OP members is a reduction in a benefit. In fact in responses to letters OP even calls the upgrade possibility a "benefit" --- so let us loyal CO flyers continue to lament this beneficial loss (and take what action we deem necessary to let CO know how we feel about this supposed enhancement (benefit)).

Once again -- thanks Vulcan -- we look forward to the future!!!!!!!
Send letters!!!!!!

It would be nice if we could keep the bonus thread to posts about bonuses rather than reductions in benefits (imagined or otherwise). I (and my OnePass mileage balance) thank Vulcan for maintaining this thread and all of the flyertalkers who make us aware of these bonus offers as they receive them.

Bonus stuff here. Non-bonus stuff in other threads. I've polluted the bonus thread enough with this post, but it is tiring to see this pop to the top only to find out it's someone complaining (or more mildly discussing) something completely unrelated to those bonuses we've all come to love.

Yes, please.

cigarman,

After looking carefully over this thread, I've found very little anti-CO rhetoric here! The vast majority of the discussion here has been directly related to the thread topic, new bonuses, the relationship between Priceline and bonuses/upgrades, bonuses in the Prestige Pack, bonus eligibility, and targeted mailings.

Yes, Vulcan did add a minor postscript about the letter-writing campaign against the anti-HoKeY upgrade rules. So what??? It was incidental to his otherwise on-topic and typically helpful remarks! Very similar to those of us who had put "deny" signatures in our posts in the past, but then I guess that bent you outta shape too!

A first-time poster did make an extremely inane remark about delivering "another knock out punch to One Pass." But this has absolutely nothing to do with your accusation that "the same 5 people are putting anti CO comments on many threads because of a change in the lowest BF fare eligible for a upgrade."

Another newbie did take a swipe (legitimately so, I believe) over CO's practice of the mass mailing of unsolicited status. This had nothing to do with complaining against BF upgrade requirements, which seem to upset you so much. And his comment flowed out of the topic thread of mass mailings of bonuses. I didn't think praise of CO policy was a requirement for being "on-topic."

All NJDavid did was respond to this comment about CO's handing out status indiscriminately. Let's see...the thread topic is "New Bonuses." Everything here has been about bonuses or the lack of them. And I believe comped status could be considered a bonus. I didn't read a single word in NJDavid's post specifically against CO's new HoKeY upgrade "enhancements"! He merely responded to another poster on the topic of massive mailing of unsolicited comps. You may not have liked his post, but it was on-topic.

Now that we're on the subject of off-topic posts, what does your uncalled-for and irrelevant swipe at a poster you happen to hold a grudge against, yet hasn't posted in the CO forum for over a month have to do with the current topic?

Vulcan and NJDavid have only posted one time each within this thread, yet both have contributed significantly to the topic. OTOH, you have posted three times here, and not a single one of your posts has added anything at all to this topic!!! Now who's ranting off-topic??? Your posts have done far more to turn the topic away from that stated and in the direction of BF upgrades on HoKeY fares than all of the rest of the combined posters here!

cigarman, when I first discovered this board, your posts were always among my favorites. Opinionated, yes, but that's what made them fun! But they were always rational and intelligent. And they were tolerant of divergent opinions that one might not expect to be published in the CO flight magazine. In fact, back then you were fairly critical of CO yourself.

Now, I know you fly a grueling schedule, and perhaps it's starting to get to you. Maybe you've just had one too many servings of tri-colored pasta. But if you keep pouncing on anyone and everyone who utters an unkind word about CO, then you'll just have to change your screen name to IM4Cigars! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

P.S.—With apologies to happymob and PG. However, I had already written over 90% of this post prior to both of yours. And I do feel this is something that needs to be said. However, I will refrain from posting anything further non-bonus related in this thread.

------------------
In Economy...no one can hear you scream!

I'll take that as a compliment... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

SemiElite,My beef is with 2 things on this thread. The first was the unecessary "commercial" that Vulcan threw in. He even admitted it was such. His great work in the first bonus thread is tarnished by his inability to keep politics out of this thread. It is not a universal truth that the change of which FARES are upgradeable is "taking away a benefit". Many, obviously including me, like the change. It has been debated to death on MANY threads. Why take our most popular topic and add that controversal line? The bonus thread should be about bonus miles... MILES. It is an incredible stretch youre making saying that NjDavid's post is on topic because he uses the world bonuses... please. His post had NOTHING to do with codes to get more miles, promotions for more miles, etc. That is what this thread was designed for. Sure, I'm off topic. BUT, and here is the key... No more than YOU, NjDavid, Vulcan, and others. The REAL, differences is YOU disagree with me about the BF thing. You AGREE with their view. Same as JohnNYC. So if every thread anyone throws in a pitch for letter dropping, complaining against CO, "claiming" that CO reduced benefits IT'S OKAY. BUT heaven forbide, if someone disagrees with these same folks... we must be out of line. It is hypocrasy, pure and simply. I support your right to scream to the heavens about BF upgrades ON A BF thread. I might not agree; but I won't tell you not to post. And I would expect the same courtesy on NON BF threads. Should I post on every thread that the BF change is Great?? Would you all like that? Of course not. It has nothing to do with the silverware thread, the exit row thread etc. You will notice that I NEVER, repeat NEVER, start the BF part of the thread. I do, and will continue to do so, point out that it does NOT belong on that thread.

[This message has been edited by cigarman (edited 08-28-2001).]

I have to agree with cigarman. Let's keep this thread on topic. I'm very happy to join with the rest of the gang as we b*tch and moan about CO (and maybe leave 'em), but could we please keep this about bonuses?

Pretty soon we'll be probably getting a moderator who will keep threads like this on topic. Pity that poor soul.

It really seems to me that the same three or four people are poluting every thread with undeserved, blind support for their beloved airline regardless of the facts at hand.

I responded to a post in a thread, same as I did before there was a Cigarman on FT, same as I will do long after one is gone.

I agree, let's get back to the topic, and cease accusing anyone of anything that does not naturally further the conversation.

Don't like the my ideas, debate them as long as your wind holds out. Don't like that I have ideas, sorry, your problem.