Hello there. I am Newbie to the Flyertalk forum and must say that there is a lot of great information. Unfortunately, I was still not able to find an answer to my urgent question:

I am a Continental OnePass Silver Elite member for this year (2008). I work and live in Atlanta and fly a LOT of Delta, but I never made the switch to SkyMiles since I can earn OnePass miles. I also like OnePass a lot.

I really don't want to lose my elite status (I have 5,000 elite miles for this year) either, but I also understand that the new merger will bring changes to the SkyTeam alliance picture between Continental and Delta.

I have several domestic flights and one or two international flights to Europe coming up. I tend to fly a lot domestically and occasionally to Europe.

What are your thoughts? Should I make the switch? Do you think that I would be better off?

Thanks!

My thoughts: it's too early to tell. My guess is that CO will merge with someone and leave SkyTeam. But, if they don't merge, then there's no reason for them to leave (that I can tell). The NW/Delta merger probably won't be effective until near year end. And it will take a while after that for them to merge. So, unless CO merges quickly and leaves SkyTeam before the end of the year, I think things will remain pretty much the same for the next 12 months. Until it's clear what CO is going to do, there is just no reason to do anything.

If CO merges, I'm planning to switch back to CO.

It appears that CO is attacking the ATL area with MR quality fares. Last week you could get a ticket to POS for about 3.2 CPM. Id be watching the competition and fare prices before you make the decision.

That's my stance too. On top of that, DL has some massive award chart changes that it has worked up, so all the more reason to be cautious.

Hello and welcome! You have status with CO and they have a good product. Nothing is going to change anytime soon and many airlines have status match or elite qualifying runs for flyers looking to switch, so check out the options there before making a decision. We all hope that the 'new' DL product will incorporate many of the features of WP that make it an attractive program, but DL has a track record of devaluation over the years that leaves a lot to be considered down the road.