The Old CO Onepass
 

I recently found a file from 1997 that had lots of info on the Onepass program.

Included was a letter to my (then gold elite) husband that included a "Bonus Cheque" for 2,000 Onepass miles, as a way of "thanking you and sharing the good fortune Continental has experienced this past year. Just fill in your Onepass account number or send it to a friend or associate and we will credit the proper Onepass account." Apparently, CO was the first airline to receive the J. D. Power and Associates award as the #1 airlines two years in a row.

I also have a letter from CO's Presidents Club that includes a coupon for a Complimentary Two-Hour Conference Room Use. It doesn't have an expiration date, do you think he could still use it?

The 1996 Members Guide states that gold members can redeem rewards for travel, free of capacity controls at reduced mileage miles; purchase FC confirmed upgrades for $25 to $350, depending on class purchased and number of miles per segment; unlimited confirmed upgrades at any time (even to Hawaii) from Y or H class; and silver and bronze members were given four "Elite One-Way Space-Available Upgrade" certificates after every 10,000 miles flown.

There is also a plastic Priority Handling tag from 1996, new and unused.

This was a great benefit at that time. Top tier could get capacity free ticket for US/Canada/Carribean at about a 10-15K premium over standard - and that included the two person rewards. It was something like 35K for one standard FC ticket, 60K for two FC tickets, and 75K for two Gold member capacity free FC tickets.

The two person reward was a great benefit. Two BC class tickets to Australia was 150K miles, two FC class tickets (when CO had 3 classes of service) was 170K. A single FC ticket may have been 110K. These were all capacity controlled. There were no non-capacity (double mile) rewards like today for international.

This was before the unlimited upgrades - EUA now. Although the coupons worked at any fare - and FC was confirmed at time of ticketing.

IIRC, the Elite One-Way Space Available Upgrade coupons did not upgrade at ticketing. Back then, only Golds, which were the top elite level, got free upgrades and then only at airport check-in. I think they were called two-hour space available upgrades. The upgrade coupons gave the same two-hour upgrades upgrades to silver and bronze elites.

Those were the days. I had a >98% upgrade rate '95 - '98

RE. the PC passes, although there is no expiration date, a few years back the PCs had signs that all PC passes were expiring.

RE. the PC passes, although there is no expiration date, a few years back the PCs had signs that all PC passes were expiring.

I wonder how much you can get for that on Ebay?

Onepass is 20 years old....
 

It sounds fun to reminisce about the good'ol onepass but it goes further than just 10 years. As it is celebrating 20 years this year, could someone recall some of the early benefits of Onepass? I remember the defunct Eastern Airlines was one of key part of the program....

I was flying many times through Continental's old Denver hub in the late 80's and earning Onepass miles as a basic member but can't recall some of the major benefits as I wasn't a major "Frequent Flyer miles" addict then.

Jiburi

There have been other threads talking about OP good old days. A few:


Tier bonus miles, when you reached Bronze at 20k, Silver, Plat.

Domestic rewards for 20k miles.

Call up and book your family for business class reward travel to Hawaii, just like promised, as simple as that.

A platinum calling the service desk, and actually getting a situation handled on the spot by an empowered, customer-friendly Continental person.

No RJs, so always a decent chance for a domestic upgrade even on short hop DC's.

I still use my 1987 onepass card. It's red and white, with the slogan "Travel Rewards Abve and Beyond. On the back it has the old continental logo as well as an eastern airlines logo.

"For Reservations, Call Your Professional Travel Consultant, or
For Continental Reservations, Call Toll-Free 1-800-525-0280
In Alaska, Call Toll-Free 1-800-231-0855
For Eastern Reservations, Call 1-800-EASTERN"

The original OPSC number was 713-952-1630- same as it is now!

So they no longer use the 1-800-525-0280 number? I just checked and it appears to have changed. I have a card for one of my daughters that is probably circa 2002 with that old number. It also freaks me out a bit to realize how well I know that number by heart!

Still have mine too. The mag stripe still works and I used in at an Eticket machine about a year ago.

I also have the paper Temporary card that they sent me when Travelbank was converted to Onepass.

I still have mine as well.

This was later - 2 Hr Gold + Silver/Bronze coupons. I joined the PClub in '92 when the 2 hour upgrade was in effect - since you always had to arrive at exactly 2 hours before flight time.

The original coupons before the 2 hour upgrade - were issued after 5K miles for Gold and 10K miles for Silver/Bronze. You got two (I believe) segment coupons. These could be used at time of ticketing. It took four coupons if you had a connection - RT. These old coupons could also combined - for Hawaii and Europe. But it took several - so better to use domestically.

I am pretty sure the sequence was:

Mid - late 1980's - Segment coupons, for confirmed upgrade at ticket time, combinable for Hawaii/Europe. Gold 2 per 5K miles, Sliver/Bronze 2 per 10K miles.

About 1990-91 - 2 hour for Gold, 2 hr with coupon for Silver/Bronze

1992 - 2 hour upgrade on Y and H fares only. No upgrades on other fares.

1993- ~2000: 2 hour upgrade restored included Hawaii. Companion for Gold. Others maybe coupon.

2000+: EUA - fares not prioritized except for Y - then discount fares based on ticketing date

2004-5+: EUA based on fares then ticketing date.

Please correct/add comments if you can remember.