I agree with you 100%. I believe the changes made were done for compatibility with UA. The CO/UA relationship will be stronger than other CO relationship in the past. It can only get stronger.

Comments about Larry's departure and the changes are unfounded. I think the top person who makes the decisions on OnePass are Mark Bergsrud. Mark is very smart and astute on FF programs. I believe the changes are very logical.

Upgrade reciprocity has yet to be announced (whether there will be any). Just my gut feel - I do not think there will be any upgrade reciprocity for this year. Something could evolve next year - but if I were to guess - I think UA would move over to a system more like CO.

Inquiring minds want to know... what makes you think that? I think UA's sysmte cuts down on shenanigans, thoughts of shenanigans, last minute wait and see and gives more hope of upgrading traveling companions and others. Personally I prefer UA's (especially because of SWUs), but I know that's just a personal preference. If it wasn't for the direct flights (especially internationally) out of EWR, I would be over with UA.

If it were just the FF program changes, I would agree.

But we've seen these changes, alongside a more open mind this year towards things CO has traditionally shied away from. Things like codeshares or combination tickets with OALs in the past year. If you recall, several years ago, co.com would glady sell you a codeshare. Then they removed them made them tough to make them come up, or in select markets. Now they're starting to relax that a bit, and they're even allowing non-partner OALs to be booked at the site.

Combine that with the fact that CO is now more open to flights that don't follow the traditional hub-and-spoke model (e.g., LAX-HAV flight, some of the new LAX stuff, and there are even rumors of opening a crew base at LAX). CO had historically been a strong hub player, with no focus cities. Now they're looking at things like focus cities.

So what I'm saying is that the direction they're going in is changing. Instead of looking at running the place from an operations perspective, they're looking at it from more of a business perspective. Everything we've seen this year has been far less beancounteresque, if that's a word, with less of a focus on cost control vs. a focus on revenue expansion. Hence the Larry reference.

Long story short, everything I'm smelling regarding the direction CO is moving in is a net positive. Conicidence with Larry's departure? I'm not so sure...

UA has made comments that they like the simplicity of the EUA system, so I think they may be looking at that.

Cert management is a turn-off for customers, and it has a cost for the airline (e.g., handling of issues like recrediting certs that are overcharged in a rebook, for example).

The question is whether UA makes out by selling certs. Lower-level Elites in particular don't get too many certs and some buy additional ones. Or if people are short in certs, they have to buy more or downgrade.

This is why I think AA does EUA for EXP only, and still uses certs for lower-level Elites. Top tiers get enough upgrades to upgrade most flights anyway, that those who buy additional certs are probably not buying too many, so they can get the ease of automation without losing the cert revenue from the others.

Where do I buy tix?!

Start a blog and become a "reporter" so you can get a media pass.

These changes are good for me -- I'm especially pleased with the full EQM! Thanks COInsider for keeping us up to date!

Dear all,
Since Continental will be changing to Star Alliance, does anyone know if I will still be able to collect miles on Emirates Flights in November 2010?
Thank you all!

November 2010 is too far away to know anything definitively. If things do not change further than they are today then you will receive award miles (RDMs) but not elite miles (EQMs). But things could easily change in the next 14 months.

Dear sbm12

Thank you for your reply. I got wrong with the date; I mean November 2009 I�m flying with EK.
So should I receive award miles (RDMs) but not elite miles (EQMs), right? This is the change as of October 24?

Regards

Correct. In the very near term (and I think November 2009 is safe) you will receive RDMs but not EQMs on your EK flights.

Scott,

Thanks for the early release of this information.

One question of clarification for European members. Will the TATL point qualification method still exist (i.e. 15 TATL flights for Plat)?

It was never clearly documented, so if it is going to continue, would it be possible to have a webpage somewhere to lists the qualification requirements?

Thanks and cheers,

GenevaFlyer

So if these new fees apply to reward tickets reissued after Dec 15...
Does this mean that a reward booked now but changed, for example, on Dec 20 under the old fees/rules, this reward will then have the new fees applied to it for further changes/redeposit?

The notice on the CO website says the new fees are "for rewards redeemed on or after Dec. 15, 2009" which sounds like the reward has to be initially booked after Dec 15.

Scott,
Will "A" fares still earn 150% EQM? If not, what will the "A" fare earning be?

Thanks!

Earning on EVA is already gone ... I traveled on EVA last month (returning this month) and had to sign up with their reward program to earn the actual mileage flown because they told me that they no longer credit my Cont OnePass account for EVA paid flights.

How about rewards on EVA? Will EVA Air Series 1 Travel Rewards outlined below still be available after Oct. 27?

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...art_eva_1.aspx