Ahhh - the infamous email has arrived in my inbox telling me of the delightful changes ahead at Continental. Mark Bergsrud finishes by telling me that "he appreciates my business and looks forward to serving me soon." Thanks for nothing Mark.

1st bag fee...why bother for just 15 bucks? Might as well just made it 25 dollars and the press would have been just as bad.

500 mile minimum gone. This only will discourage me from sticking with CO on flights that aren't direct. I could deal with a connection knowing that I was at least getting 500 miles for my effort. Now I have no reason to do so.

100% Plat match: td:

Why should I even bother for Plat any more? Continental definately has made more money off me staying loyal to them to acheive Plat. Upgrades are so sparse anyway, the biggest benefit was the extra miles. Now that's gone. They would actually keep my business more if they lowered gold. Oh well. 12 years of being their top level will come to an end next year and I'm actually not that upset by it. Flying isn't fun anymore.

Sail a Nacra

Amen to that.

From what I can tell from my own analysis....

1) discount off PC membership
2) better access to upgrades - assuming we keep the EUA system and don't go to 500m certs
3) better access to certain award inventory
4) no junk fees

I guess CO will now allow 25k domestic tkts w/o a Sat stayover, after all UA doesnt have that restriction.

Forgot thats a benefit to Us members and isnt a benefit to CO

Never Mind

Am I the only one who doesn't think the world is going to end? These are relatively small changes. In general, they match what everyone else is doing. Yes, it's a race to the bottom, but at least CO is among the last in that race.

I do think the disappearance of the 500 mile minimum is rather extreme (though I can't recall the last such flight I took). If you're unhappy, let CO know more directly than by posting here!

My biggest concur is that CO is aligning with UA, rather than UA aligning with CO. I think the Continental name will be history some day.

Look at it this way. The extra 25% for an Elite with 80K EQM is 20K miles. That is enough for a BF upgrade one way to Europe plus a $500 copay. The 25% is petty - seemed like a discriminator. With no SWU feature - this reduction was compensation. I just do not see how say 20K miles per Plat Elite affects the bottom line. CO already only releases reward travel when they know they can not sell the seat.

You think the change from 125% to 100% Plat bonus is a minor change in benefits?

I agree.

Xyzzy,

Do you have the contacts for getting in-touch with CO? I've done this so many times with US in the past (hence why I'm fly CO now ), and I have the exec offices and some other execs email for US Airways, but none for CO.

It might be helpful to post them in this thread.

Kind Regards,
MHT_Flyer....

The first bag fee is really not a big deal. I check 1 bag at the max no matter how long I am going. Even the reduction in miles is not a big deal I can't seem to use the million I have now

instead of pis*ing folks off with a lousy 15 bucks for a checked bag. why not just raise the fares 15 bucks and advertise "free" checked bags? standard marketing. with everyone beating the airlines to death, why not look like the good guy?

Interesting point, and not to be sarcastic about it, but I'm wondering if you or anyone else expected otherwise. UA brought CO into *A, so I'm willing to hazard a guess that there was language in the deal that covers FF program streamlining. One program can't head and shoulders stick out as better than the rest, as it will put the other members of the alliance at a clear disadvantage. There are large amounts of people on either side of the MP vs. OP debate who think that one program over another as they were until this announcement were clearly better. Some programs have perks you can't get elsewhere: TG and its 2 years of *G, as an example. *A is trying to keep a level playing field as it relates to high-yield frequent flyers. I can't say that I blame them.

I'm not saying in the least that I'm defending the changes, because as I said upthread, any action that makes CO look the least bit like US is nauseating to me. This is just my food for thought.

Being at the back of the pack in a race to the bottom is a noble point to make, but it's disconcerting to admit that you have a horse in that race in the first place.

The 500-mile thing will impact anyone dissatisfied with US for that reason who then switched to CO and reasoned that connecting in CLE couldn't be all that bad. 362 miles, if memory serves.

I just saw the email and all I kind say is this is pathetic! I mostly fly flights with <500 miles.