I applied for the personal account online. I then called Chase and requested the $25/year Continental debit card. If you had a problem with a specific CSR, try contacting them again until you get a CSR that can help. FWIW, the phone CSR that helped me was American.

I signed up in October, Miles posted in November. How long do I need to keep the account open to avoid any mileage clawback? Safe to close now?

When did you try this? Today the CSR said I had to go to a branch, otherwise I'd have to wait 30 days to order over the phone because I'm a new customer.

Can anyone confirms what still counts for ach with chase?

OK, I took another look at the T&C after reading the comments from some of you about only needing the account open by 12/31, and went all in. Grabbed Mrs. FTF, went down to my Chase branch and both of us opened personal and business accounts. (Actually we both needed biz accounts as she has been running her biz from a personal account and I have just left my company to work free-lance, so not even an open-and-close thing.)

Looking forward to 100K OnePass miles between us.

Very grateful to everyone for their contributions to the thread. ^

Happy New Year!

FTF

The sheet of paper with the tracking number that was handed to me, specifically states that the account need to be open for at least 6 months or the miles will be debited from the account at closing.

Thanks for these details, Happy.

Have you noticed which debit card purchases are "qualifying" such that they receive mileage credit? I ask because I am considering opening a checking account at another bank, and it permits the opening deposit to be made with a debit card.

NON PIN transaction, meaning the debit card is used as a credit card - the purchase amount is not immediately deducted from your account, rather it goes through the credit card processing network and shows up in a few days with a distinction to identify it is not a PIN transaction.

Not sure if this would work with your purpose though as the other bank obvious wants the account opening money in hand, i.e. same as cash. Otherwise it would allow credit card to be used.

Tried to sign up another friend today. The application changed again. Now it doesn't let you continue with the coupon code. Chat online said it needs to opened in branch. So it looks like online options will be ending for this even if they do continue the program for next year.

Friend happens to be in a state with a branch and stopped earlier at the branch but didn't bring the coupon code with them. Branch told them they no longer offer this. Online chat verified the coupon code is good through today and if person had brought this with them to the branch they would have been able to open this up with the promotional miles.

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You are now chatting with 'Nina'

Nina: Hello, I'm a Chase Banking Specialist. How may I assist you today with your checking account opening?

you: I am trying to set up an online account using the 25K continental coupon, but its telling me I don't have the correct debit card, but it doesn't let me select the continental debit card.

Nina: I am very sorry for the inconvenience you are having while trying to complete your online application.

Nina: Our online application does not have the option to select the Continental Airlines Debit Card. You will have to select the basic card for the online application to proceed and visit your nearest Chase branch or contact our Customer Service department at 1-800-935-9935, they are open from 7am-9pm your local time to request this type of debit card program.

you: But its saying I need to proceed without the coupon code, so how will I be able to get the 25K miles from the coupon?

Nina: If the application is not going to allow you to proceed it may be that this type of coupon promotion may only be redeemed at a local Chase branch only.

Nina: Do you have the coupon offer with you to view the details?

you: Yes.

Nina: Great! Does the coupon offer have the option of applying or only the option of printing out your coupon?

you: I went into the bank earlier (but didn't have the coupon code with me). They told me they no longer offer the 25K miles.

Nina: I am very sorry for that. You can still be able to qualify for the offer as long as you have used it before the coupons expiration date.

Nina: What is your offer state for the expiration date?

you: By December 31, 2010.

Nina: Allow me to verify the code to see if it may be opened online. What is the 16 digit coupon code?

you: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nina: Thank you.

Nina: I have verified the code and the offer is still valid to use today but it will expire after today's date. Also this specific type of promotion must be redeemed with an account opening at your nearest Chase branch. You'll need to select the option to print out your coupon to take with you when you open your account.

Nina: It's been a while since I've heard from you. Are there any other questions I may also assist with?

Nina: Since we have not heard from you in a while we need to end this chat session. Please exit your chat by clicking on the “X” in the upper right hand corner and you may reopen a new chat by clicking on the Chat Now icon for help. Thank you for chatting with Chase and happy holidays!

Happy New Year!
 

Took Mr. Bergy Bits on a hot New Year's Eve date to a Chase branch about a half hour away. Armed with numerous printouts & aided by a bank rep who knew her stuff, we opened the following for each of us:

a) Personal checking + debit card (25,000 miles after conditions met);
b) Business checking + debit card (25,000 miles after conditions met);
c) Continental business credit card (20,000 miles after conditions met,
first year fee waived);
d) Continental personal credit card (30,000 miles after conditions met, first
year fee waived).

An exciting end to a great year of earning miles!! :D

will there be a new promotion for 2011?

Tried my luck with the personal checking account during the previous round's extension to 31st Oct 2010. I cancelled my existing account on 25th Oct and re-applied on the 29th in the branch. All went smooth and received the 2 printouts with tracking no for 15k and 10k miles. The clueless branch officer made it easier (though it could also be the other way around). So far received 15k and waiting for the remaining 10k.

Seeing that the promotion was extended again to 31st Dec 2010, thought i'll try again, this time with the biz checking account and also the personal checking account for Mrs Paya Bunga.

So first up was cancelling our respective accounts which we did last week. On 28th Dec we went to the same branch where i previously opened my account with the clueless officer, hoping he will be the one attending to us again. Unfortunately we were attended by a different officer. He checked Mrs. PB's SSN and told us that the system shows that she had already opened a checking account before and had used the Continental 25k promotion early this year (she applied in March) and as such is not entitled to use this promotion again. That was indeed news to me as i dont remember anyone here getting such a response. He also mentioned that the promotion is tied to the SSN to ensure it can be used only once, which sounded like rubbish to me since 2 months ago at the same branch i was able to re-apply under the same promotion.

Since i was not convinced of the answer given, i thought i would try at another branch (so happens there are 4 branches within a 5 mile radius from my house) and would try first with my biz account. Went to the 2nd branch and was also shot down. The officer checked the system (using my SSN) and told me that the system shows that i've already applied for the biz account earlier in the year and that i just closed it last week (at this time the officer was giving me the look since i decided to reopen it just after a week of closing it). He then said i am not eligible to apply since its only once per calendar year (he read the T&C in the coupon print out) and told me to come back next year when there's another offer.

Not giving up, i decided to try another branch. Went in to the 3rd branch yesterday and applied the biz account and it seemed to be going pretty well but along the way, the system went down, so we couldnt proceed to complete the application. The banker told me to come back today while he'll get all the necessary paperwork done in the mean time. This morning i went in and he had already printed the relevant papers to be signed but i didnt see the 2 printouts of the tracking no. I asked him and he said he hadnt printed it yet, to my dismay. He then went to print them out and lo and behold, it actually worked ! I read the 1st printout and it did say 10k mile as usual. Then told him what about the 2nd printout for the remaining 15k and he said i'll get the debit card 2 weeks later hence there's no printout. Told him there must be a 2nd printout to show the tracking no. So he checked the system again and finally managed to print it out (unbelievable). The only minor setback is that my Onepass # only appeared on 1 of the 2 printouts. Pointed this to him and he said he'll get it sorted manually (whatever that means).

Seeing that it does actually work, went home and dragged Mrs to the branch nearest to my house (since the Mrs thought i was actually mad to be doing this again) which was where she first applied for the personal account. Unfortunately she got shot down again, but for a different reason. Apparently the coupon code didnt go thru as the officer said the system showed the coupon had already been used. I was surprised to hear that since i refreshed the screen few times before printing out the coupon. Still not giving up (and with much pleading with the Mrs), i quickly went back home (my house was just 3min away) to reprint another coupon. I refreshed about 6-7 times and printed 2 coupons just to be on the safe side. Went back to the branch and shockingly she received the same response - that the coupons were already used. Call me crazy (at this point wifey actually thot i was) but i still wasnt satisfied. So i decided do drive to the branch that approved my biz account this morning and try for the final time. Sadly, even there, the banker said that the coupons were already used.

So my question is how is that possible? I thought each coupon code was unique.

Anyway, cant say that i didnt try..at least got the 25k for the biz account..

Many pages ago this issue has been explained and work around posted.

There are apparently 2 series of coupons with 2 URLs to generate them. The first 7 or 8 digits are all the same in a series - and that is the determination of whether the coupon has been used. So you would need a coupon from the other series in order for the system accepts it.

If you do a thread search you may be able to unearth this or you can try to find it by starting to read the thread from posts dd in May or June (my vague memory it was that time frame.)

BTW, there are many posts about the condition of only ONE bonus per year was added in Mid Year.

If it's not too late, I'd like to offer a suggestion regarding getting the debit cards (This is mostly speculative because I opened my account in-store):

On the Chase homepage, under "Personal Banking," there is a "Debit Cards" button. Clicking this button, you'll see the available debit cards, one of which is the "Continental Airlines Debit Card." Selecting this card should refresh the page, and a green button at the bottom of the screen appears allowing you to "Upgrade current debit card."

This probably only works if you've got a valid account number and access to online banking already.

My wife's code and mines are the same except the last 3 digits. Both of us have no problem in getting the printouts.