TWAforever

This is the most insane promo I have ever seen. Putting aside the extreme dilution of elite status this will have and upsetting true elites, there are 2 reasons, IMHO, not to do this.

1. Why would Chase actually pay money for this? Most people wanting the CO card are already somewhat loyal to CO. It couldn't have been cheap to buy PLT from CO.

2. CO should not be thrilled with this because they will now have increased mileage balances because these newly minted plats will be getting 125% bonus miles and better reward availability.

First, AC Elite can be had for $2600, then US Gold for $1700, UA allows E+ access for $299, now CO Plat for $85.

Perhaps we are seeing a new trend where elite status may be "earned" for free or bought. This is in line with airline clubs where you can enter for free (on some itineraries) with status or you can pay for a yearly membership.

I just got the card a few months ago and I plan on cancelling it if this promo is true.

robmarrone

I second that. I am calling in the morning to speak to a supervisor. If this isn't retroactive I am going to tell them to find a way to make it retroatcive. Between my fiance and I we have over $10,500 of planned itins for 2006 and its still 2005 right now. I will cancel every single flight. If CO wants to lose my business I could care less at this point. They won't even uppgrade to silver for some of us when we have flown the first leg of an itin that on the way home will break us over the 25000 and now they are giving away plat to someone who is paying the same fee I have been paying for 3 years!

andrewsheehan

I am right with you, I just signed up for the card at the beginning of dec, my bonus miles haven't even hit yet! I called OPCS aswell, and they did confirm my registration, but could't tell me if it is retroactive. If not, I will cancel and re-signup, or just attempt to signup for a second one. The CSR at OPSC was interested in where I got the promo.(I just bs'ed something)


I just signed my mother up and she was given an "approved message" right after signup (for the MC). Neither her nor my "Elite-Status" has changed though, I will post an update if it does...

coopervanning

signed up and got approved right away. I think it said status appears after your first purchase. God I hope this works!

cobrax333

over 80,000 EQMs this year, already have had the card, already paid the $85 fee...NEVER got my promo gifts, and now this...

i think CO is planning a new promotion where if you check in online for a flight you receive your choice of $5 CO currency, headphones, or one-year plat...since i'm already plat i might as well go for the currency, since its worth more to me

Rawhide

I have had the CO World Card for 3 years now, and just got a CO biz card from Chase. This offer angers me, while I am not an elite, it does seem to water down the elites.

What happened to the talk about Chase's wiz-bang $450/year credit card? If they are going to sell elite status, that should be the one to have status associated with it.

Beware....Chase has a nasty habit of saying you are approved for the World Card and you get a Platinum card instead.

RNE

APPROVAL MESSAGE:

Congratulations. You have been approved for the Continental Airlines World MasterCard from Chase.

Your new credit card (account number ending in XXXX) was approved and is ready for use. For your convenience, your OnePass profile has been updated with your new account information. You can use it today on continental.com to start earning miles and receive your 5% discount.

Your card(s) will be mailed to you right away.

Use your Continental Airlines MasterCard for all your purchases and earn miles towards travel rewards. It's so easy...and so rewarding.

Hey you hard-earned Plats, don't you just wanna strangle me!?

mbreuer

I received a message that I'd hear from them within 30 days. FWIW, I can't remember the last time I was approved online - and I have good FICO scores. Glad to hear someone was.

TWAforever

What will be interesting is, given how competitive the credit-card issuing banks are, if this just spirals into every airline credit-card needing to offer status because all the banks want to match the offer.

This thread already made it to the NW board, so all the NW elites finally have their chance to status match or even improve status on CO.

andrewsheehan

I got the same thing when I applied earlier this month, card arrived in a little over 2 weeks.

LAexNY

Applied and was approved. Seems like it may have been a mistake [why would anyone not ask for Plat.?] But I saved all the documentation screens, incl. my registration for the offer.
Don't think it's phish because my CO.com profile was immediately updated to include the new card number.
Should be interesting to see what develops.

slippahs

I can hardly imagine that this promo will pan out for anyone, IMHO. CO would lose a lot of business over this--too many people earn their elite status the hard way by actually earning miles. Free SE? I understand, but devaluing the top elite level of any carrier is the surest way to burn your best customers.

pmaddock

This is absolutely unbelievable. I can only begin to imagine what they put in the egg-nog to get CO to agree to selling off Plat Elite so cheaply.

Either way - I'm no fool. Just registered for the promo and put in my app a minute ago. It will be interesting to see how this all turns out. Somehow I suspect they will be putting in some major 'gotchas' any second now.

cova

This doesn't sound like wallet candy to me. At the last DO, there was concern about CO giving away Plat status - but the response was that it was pretty much wallet candy - as the exec's getting the card - either always purchased FC tickets or flew otherways.

I think it remains to be seen if Chase will actually mail you a World Card - they always bait and switch and do not send the promised benefits. If it wasn't for the 5% discount - I would cancel.

RNE

Keep in mind a few things about this offer, 1) it was not widely publicized (although it's certainly getting lots of press here), 2) it will expire in a week, and 3) it requires credit approval from Chase. All this means there might not be all that many people taking this fast track to Platinum. Moreover, such status is fleeting; it's only good for a year or so. It's not like the lucky few (me among them) will get to keep that status beyond the "introductory" period, unless we earn it—in the immortal words of John Houseman—the old fashioned way.