First of all, as a newbie, I would like to say hello and apologize for the long and rambling post that is sure to follow.


I am in the process of planning a destination wedding (for around 50 people) to Oahu, with most flying out of IAH, and have been working with the Costco group travel office. We were hoping to fly via Continental, but the agent found that United had the best rates, for next March ($580 R/T). I was hoping that United was a partner airline of Con., but that doesn't seem to be the case.

My question is, I remember seeing something in the news about most of the major airlines changing their partnership arrangements so that most were connected (Con., Delta, United, NW, etc...). Have any of you heard anything about this? Also, does anyone have any tips/secrets in regards to acquiring FF miles? My fiance and I already signed up for a Continental World MC, but I'm sure there are other things we can do.

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Thanks,


Chris F.

Welcome to Flyertalk. BaylorBear. You didn't ramble hardly at all.

It's not true that most or all airlines are honoring each others' frequent-flyer programs; that would defeat the whole point, as FF programs are supposed to build and reward loyalty to a specific airline or airline group.

There is instead a short list of major alliances which are in some flux at the moment. You have to keep track.

If you're planning a mass airlift IAH-Hawaii and want to earn CO miles, you can fly on CO or NW. If you fly UA, you can earn UA or DL miles (although the DL arrangement may not last much longer, because they've announced their intent to ally with CO and NW instead).

You can also go IAH-DFW-HNL on AA -- and earn AA or BA miles.

I would contact Continental directly and negotiate a "group and meeting" fare. Same for hotels. No middle man means no comission and more savings 90% of the time.

I agree, with enough people on same plane, you might even be able to charter one. imagine the party you will have on the plane!!!

"I would contact Continental directly and negotiate a "group and meeting" fare. Same for hotels. No middle man means no comission and more savings 90% of the time."


I called CO's group department (GroupWorks) and they quoted me over $900 R/T. However, when I used the "Vacation Package" link, on CO's website, I got an airfare quote of around $580 R/T. Can anyone find the logic in this?

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Thanks,


Chris F.

I knew I wasn't crazy; I found the story I was asking about. Evidently, Delta, will join NW and CO in sharing frequent flyer miles. Here's the article: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/...in519637.shtml


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Thanks,


Chris F.

There is nothing to indicate that you will be permitted to "share" miles between separate FF accounts.

Share was probably the wrong word. I should have said, accumulate miles for one airline, when flying on another. Is that better? :-)



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Thanks,


Chris F.