Tinman

To earn additional non flight EQM toward 1K (and avoid mileage runs in the fall), I am thinking of getting a Continental Presidential Plus Visa and giving up my Chase Mileage Plus given that:
1. there is a limit on EQM on Mileage Plus Chase Visa that can be credited to a mileage plus account, 10,000, and I have met it this year, and
2. my Red Carpet Club Membership is due, and
3. Continental EQM will become United EQM at end of year, and
4. Presidential Plus EQM earning is potentially more than Chase Visa (after a $50,000 spend)as I have not found the same limit of 10,000 EQM

Are these premises accurate?
(at least for this year, i.e . next year a 10000 EQM limit may be adopted for both cards/programs as they combine)

Any downside I am missing?

Am I right to interpret the "Flex" EQM that you use them when you need to earn status, and if you don't need them they carry forward to next year?
In my case as 1k this year, if I am at 94,000 EQM on Dec 20 this year, have no futher travel planned, and I have 11,000 Continental Flex EQM earned, I can transfer 6000 Flex EQM to Continental One Pass, then to Mileage Plus to get to 100,000, 1k on Mileage Plus, then have 5000 Flex EQM to use for 2012 status (acknowledging that combined program in 2012 may eliminate fle EQM and force current use, etc.)

Is there any reason to buy red carpet/president club seperately with these cards available?

What is the difference between the Presidential Plus Card and the Presidential Plus Card for Business? I can't see any:

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...?offer=PPC95SC

The promotion for getting the card is a 95.00 statement credit.
Does anyone have a link to bonus miles instead?

Thanks,
Tinman

RNE

That is correct.

No reason of which I know.

That seems anemic to me.

skj

There are several mentions of "first year free" offers for this card in the PMCO forum.

UA-NYC

Assuming you have the legacy MP Plat Visa that gets you 5K EQM at $35K spend and another 5K EQM for spending $5K on .com? I'd be more hesitant to get that card, it's fantastic and you won't be able to get it back as it's discontinued.

bmw303

just to clarify...this is a mastercard

Scottrick

These cards that include lounge access are essentially lounge memberships with a fee-free credit card attached. I think it is very unlikely that they will ever be offerred entirely free for the first year, as that would give anyone the option to get free lounge access (a purported $300-400 value) for free for a year and then cancel.

Other cards are usually about $95 per year but don't include lounge access. These are the ones that are free for the first year, essentially a $95 credit. So getting a $95 credit on a card with lounge membership is a great deal when you consider that you're getting a hundred bucks of a lounge membership, plus a free credit card for the year.

raehl311

I currently have a Continental Presidential Plus Master Card with no annual fee for the first year - so yes, I got a free lounge membership out of it.

Cuse44

^ My fiancee seems to get one of these no fee offers for the Pres Plus card at least once per month.

trach500

How does the EQM apply towards status? I am thinking about applying for the business card: CO Presidential Plus @ $395. It states I will receive 1K EQM for every $5K spend. I can easily spend 150K or more on this card. Is there a certain number of EQMs per status level at CO? I am not too familiar with EQms.

Also, what about the Hyatt perks? Can you convert Continental onepass miles into Hyatt Reward stays? This something I would definitely be interested in,

RNE

Helpful links:

Elite Qualification Requirements

Presidential Plus Card

~tc~

I have just gotten one of these, so I'm not speaking from experience, but my research came down to basically, you create this "pool" of "flex EQM" and you can pull out of the pool what you need to make the next status level. They ONLY count to status, and not to your mileage balance, but you get "regular" miles with the purchases too, so that's pretty much a wash.

The bigger advantage over the UA offering IMHO is that there is no yearly window - spend $5000, get 1000 EQM, and it just keeps rolling, so you'll never get screwed out of whatever is in the bank at the end of the year.

Sounds like a helluva deal to me. Seems it would be pretty easy to spend $50,000, and 10,000 miles could make a huge difference in your status!

All that said, there is a huge question mark out there of what will happen in the next year or so. I asked the CS person when I called for status of my application (which was approved in one day) and she said "we wouldn't offer it if it was ending right away". Great - thanks for the help.

I would also assume this is a very effective way of selling President's Club memberships, though, so it very well might stick around.

No international use surcharge too.

AquaDyne

Sorry to revive a slightly old thread, but my questions are similar to OP's and uncertainty similar to the above quote. Anyway, I have a few more questions so hopefully this will address them.

Situation: I fly UA. My business travel pattern will be changing for the next year from non stops to connecting flights thru IAH. So the value of a "United Club" (formerly RCC and/or PC) membership has gone up for me and I decided to purchase it... or a card that had it.

I currently have the legacy UA Visa that UA-NYC cited, but it's got a $140 fee (minus $60 for 1K, still steep at $80) and I find the EQM of limited use since my travel patterns rarely put me close to a threshold where it matters. I had planned on canceling it before the anniversary date and getting the "United Club Card", only to find out the "United Club Card" went away with the introduction of the new Explorer card (which I hold in about the same esteem as "Internet Explorer" but I digress.)

However, it looks I can get similar benefits with the CO Presidential Plus card, plus the rollover nature of the Flex EQM looks more valuable (save 'em up for 3 years and blow in a chunk when it matters). So I've pretty much decided to get this card. It seems silly to me to apply for a CO-branded card when CO will disappear in less than 6 months, but I'm guessing at some point they'll change the branding on the card and keep the same benefits.

Anyway, the questions:

1. Do I need to establish a OnePass account and/or get my UA status transferred to CO status before applying? (Looks like I need at least the account but not sure if status will affect incentives.)

2. Does it matter if I apply for this card before canceling my UA Visa, or might I benefit from "how can we keep your business" pressure from Chase when I call and tell them I plan to get this card? Better yet, any way to switch from UA visa to this card while maintaining the same account #/credit limit and avoiding the whole credit inquiry, etc.?

3. (Pure speculation) I'm concerned the CO card may go away soon due to the merger, but it looks like a new offering so it can't go away that fast... I'm inclined to wait a bit before applying, possibly to see if more incentives/offers appear, but I don't want the card to go away before I pull the trigger (like the UA Club card did.) Any thoughts on this?

Tinman

I will take a shot at your questions:

1. You will need a One Pass account for the miles to post, but you can switch them to your Mileage Plus easy enough, and then after the complete merge, not an issue. Status will not affect the card associated incentives.

2. It can't hurt to see if Chase will care about keeping your business on the Mileage Plus card by offering something, but worth a try. They will do a credit check regardless is my guess, though if you are concerned about being denied the Continental Card because you think that they will not offer additionsal credit limit, you can tell them that you will accept a decrease on the Mileage Plus Card or cancel it. I have done this in the past.

3. All speculation as you say. I am hoping no changes, i.e I like the FLEX EQM at no limit especially. Other posters have said there will be changes. If changes, hopefully previous holders will be grandfathered. I have the Mileage Plus VISA with the EQM which I am hoping to keep as well, but will give it up if the Charge Card EQM are limited from the two cards, then it won't be worth the fee.

Scott

~tc~

At the end of the day, this card IS the cheapest way to get a lounge membership. With as much as you're going to connect through IAH, that may be enough in itself, and all the other benes are gravy.

AquaDyne

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. After the club membership (which may pay for itself in free booze!) the card's essentially free. Given my current card requires $35K for 5K EQM stuck in the year I earn them (and my company buys my tickets so I don't get much EQM from united.com purchases) the CO card will get me 7K EQM for the same spend, which I can roll over up to 3 years. (And spend more and earn more, etc.)

I went ahead and applied for the CO card now. I'll hold onto my existing UA card until my anniversary date in December, by which time I hope there's more clarity on what they'll do with a CO-branded card when CO ceases to exist. Worst case I cancel it at the end of the year and got a $300 UA club membership out of it...

The one thing I'm giving up is the extra RDMs I'm currently earning on "everyday" purchases (groceries, etc.) but I think the Flex EQM trumps that in value.