Hi FlyerTalkers,

I wanted to ask your opinion of both Continental and United's mileage programs. Browsing through the threads on Mileage Plus, it seems like there are a ton of problems with program.

As it stands right now, I have 25,000 United points from CC use and light flying over the past few months.

In the next few months, however, I have some big point accruals coming up:

25,000 coming in from another Chase rewards CC
10,000 bonus for graduating college

plus 20,000 dollars cash to place in accounts to accrue mileage. Potentially another 30,000 right there.

That said, I think Continental's program might be more suited to my current needs. I can exchange the 25,000 points on the Chase rewards for Continental miles. Didn't see anything about a college grad bonus. I'm assuming OnePass has similar deals for opening up brokerage accounts.

What attracted me to Continental was the low mileage for flights to South America (I'm moving to Argentina this week). Also, RTW tix are 140,000 miles, as opposed to 200,000 for United.

Any advice?

Thanks in advance
Dan

I would avoid making a decision based on the number of miles for a particular destination. First, they will both be *A, so they will likely converge. Second, this is the first thing that can be devalued.

I am not particularly thrilled with ANY FF program at the moment. And the worsening global economy is not helping redemptions any.

Personally, I have had the best luck redeeming with Aeroplan (*A), but that just happens to work for my particular itineraries. YMMV.

Flying Blue (AF) used to be decent, but the rumor is it sucks now unless you're an elite.

Last year, I flew enough to qualify for OnePass Platinum and MP 1K. I've been 1K most of the last 10 years and was new to Continental last year.

Continental flies newer planes and has a complimentary (non-cert) based upgrade policy. Their service is pretty good, but their coach seats are cramped, (no economy plus like on United) especially if you're tall. Their partner network is decent and they have a good selection of flights to South America, which may be important to you.

Despite the many complaints about UA, they aren't all bad. First off, internationally to Asia and Europe, they have excellent coverage of the globe. Going to and within Europe, LH is an excellent partner. Although UA has a certificate based upgrade program, if you make 1K, you're set. I rarely fly coach.

These days it feels almost impossible to tell how many miles you need anymore for an award.

I would say AA then UA. CO has better service and planes, but their awards are not as plentiful. DL seems to be the chintziest.