I was unable to book my upcoming trip to London on Continental.com because:
(1) I wanted to purchase a fare to LGW that could be upgraded using miles.
(2) I wanted a coach return from LHR on a Continental Flight that is operated by Virgin Atlantic, but on a fare basis that would accumulate EQM. (Upgrades on VS are no longer permitted)
The website just came up with the lowest RT fare (Q) without giving any option to choose a fare basis for each segment so I could navigate through the maze of rules that has been established and I have tried to learn.
Eventually, I gave up and went to a Continental ticket office and I got the higher fares that I was seeking. To add insult to injury, the ticket office charged me $10 for actually walking into their office to purchase the higher priced ticket which was impossible to purchase on Continental.com the way it is currently set up. Oh well, at least I was able to get what I wanted at the Continental ticket office even though I paid more than everybody else for a coach ticket + an additional $10 "Special Service Ticket" fee.

[This message has been edited by whiteknuckles (edited Nov 25, 2003).]

I believe that if you click "More Serach Options" in the yellow box on the left hand side of the page, there should be two boxes near the bottom of the screen that say "Eligible for OnePass Mileage Upgrades" and "Eligible for Most OnePass Promotions". If you clicked the box for OnePass Upgrades, it should have given you the applicable fares and you would not have needed to pay the $10 to use a Ticket Office. Also, you could have just called CO Reservations. In my experience, a few keystrokes allows them to pull a seat from any fare class you desire (assuming its available, of course, although I doubt CO would prevent you from buying a H fare instead of a T fare). Hope this helps for the future.

Next time (if there is a next time after your experience) call the CO Web support desk (800 300 1547 I think) once you have the reservation in Q or whatever fare class comes up. They can change it as you describe above and it will still count as a ticket booked online.

All tickets booked on CO.com offer 100% EQM next year so I don't understand what the problem with the Virgin codeshare was. If you booked it on CO.com and had a CO flight number you should get 100% EQM regardless of the fare class. You will not, however, get bonus miles.

If you click the box you are talking about, you will get a message that reads "Valid only between 48 contiguous U.S. and Alaska and Canada". Yes, I know I could have called Continental, but the point is they want me to book online and I am unable to do so and still meet all their upgrade/EQM criteria at least on an international booking. Apparently this would apply to Hawaii also. Also, the option you have suggested would eliminate the option of a "Q" fare for any segment even if I only wanted to upgrade on one.
The problem was that I could not book on CO.com because it only offered Q fares both directions which are not eligible for upgrades or 100%EQM unless booked online. Since I wanted to purchase a fare that was upgradable on the outbound, I could not book via the website which required me to purchase a "V" class return because a "Q" booked over the phone gets only 50%EQM. I could have called Continental instead of stopping in at a ticket office, but the point is.... the website is not flexible enough.

[This message has been edited by whiteknuckles (edited Nov 25, 2003).]

All tickets booked on CO.com offer 100% EQM next year so I don't understand what the problem with the Virgin codeshare was. If you booked it on CO.com and had a CO flight number you should get 100% EQM regardless of the fare class.

I'm not sure that this is accurate. I am still trying to get a firm answer out of CO about booking a flight on NW on CO.COM with a CO flight #. If you notice the new rules specify COntinantal, Contiental Express and Continental Connection. It does NOT say VS or NW.