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Continental

Beware: New Fees on Chase Checking Accounts

February 9, 2011

One of Chase’s best deals last year was the 25,000 mile sign-up bonus on Personal and Business checking accounts. All you had to do was either utilize direct deposits or use your check cards 5 times a month to avoid fees. No longer. You now need to have one of the following to avoid monthly [...]

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It Never Hurts to Ask: The Art of Emailing for Points

February 9, 2011

The phrase; “it never hurts to ask” certainly applies to the loyalty points world. Whether it’s by giving  upgrades or waiving fees, travel companies want to keep their top customers happy. I’ve been reading a lot of reports lately of people successfully complaining to Chase and American Express because they got sign-up bonuses that were less [...]

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Earn Mountains of Miles for Valentines Day Purchases

February 8, 2011

The online flower retailers usually offer some of the most lucrative points bonuses, which translates to me that they must have incredibly inflated prices. In fact, some of the Valentine’s Day deals are jaw-dropping;  Continental’s Double Miles with Teleflora when using your Continental credit/debit card equals out to 50 miles per dollar spent! That’s cheaper than [...]

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100 Free Continental OnePass Miles

February 5, 2011

UPDATE: Continental is now part of United. Simply register for this promo and get 100 free miles. This is targeted towards Continental Debit/Credit card holders, but its worth a try even if you don’t have the card. Tip of the hat to Points Wizard!

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Use Points and Miles to Escape the Wrath of Winter

February 2, 2011

I hate winter. There, I said it. I’ve lived in the Northeast my entire life and I’ve been putting up with cold, dark winters because I haven’t known any better. However, I’m starting to think that living in a warmer climate during the winter months is something I will need to do at some point [...]

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Reminder: Continental Mileathon Began Feb 1

February 2, 2011

UPDATE: Continental is now a part of United. Just a friendly reminder that the Continental Mileathon Promo began yesterday (Feb 1, 2011). The prizes are listed here: and qualifying activies are listed here: If you’ve been waiting to get the 50,000 mile sign-up Continental credit card I wrote about here, you can now pull the [...]

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How to Use Same Day Flight Changes to Your Advantage

January 31, 2011

One of the perks I enjoy most about my Diamond elite status, is the ability to Same Day Confirm for free to other flights when traveling domestically. Knowing how to use Same Day Flight changes with your airline is critical to traveling “smarter,” even if you aren’t a frequent flyer. I have personally used SDC to increase [...]

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How to Create Your Own Continental One Way Award

January 27, 2011

UPDATE: Continental is now part of United. Of all the US legacy carriers, I think Continental.com is the best when searching for award tickets. It’s a pretty shrewd engine that smartly searches award availability on United and US Airways as well as a host of other Star Alliance carriers like Lufthansa, Air Canada, LOT, TAP, [...]

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50,000 Continental Miles for Chase Mastercard, No Annual Fee First Year

January 26, 2011

UPDATE: This card is no longer available since the merger of Continental and United. This is the best Continental deal I’ve seen in along time and one of the most lucrative deals out there. And if you wait until February 1, 2011 to open up the card, it will count as 20 “points” in the [...]

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Emirates/Continental Relationship Ends March 26, 2011

January 8, 2011

While Emirates is not in a global alliance, they do partner with a number of airlines, including Continental and United. However, as of March 26, 2011, you will no longer be able to use your Onepass miles for Emirates or earn Continental RDMs (not elite miles) when flying Emirates (per the chart here). The great thing about Continental’s [...]

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Star Alliance Contest: Free Business Class Round The World Tickets

January 8, 2011

If you have a couple minutes, you might as well enter this interesting Star Alliance contest. The contest is meant to publicize the Star Alliance Upgrade program, which allows you to use a bunch of Star Alliance frequent flyer program miles to upgrade full Y (expensive) fares. So if you are flying United and have [...]

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Continental.com Sneaky Award Pricing

January 4, 2011

Update: Continental is now a part of United. I was searching for awards to Honolulu today for a client and decided to use Continental.com, which has a decent award engine. I was happy when I saw low-level business class awards for Newark-Honolulu through Chicago on United for 40,000 miles each way. EWR-ORD-HNL in “Business” When [...]

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Continental Mileathon 2011

January 2, 2011

UPDATE: Continental is now a part of United. Continental runs a recurring promotion, Mileathon,  which is similar to US Airways’ Grand Slam, but not nearly as lucrative. Bascially, you earn more miles for more activities that you complete. See below for the reward chart and qualifying activity. The earning period starts Feb 1 and goes thru [...]

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10 New Years Resolutions for Miles and Points Addicts

December 31, 2010

UPDATE: Few airlines continue to offer debit cards, severely limiting choices. We can all (myself included) do more to become better points masters. Here are 10 quick tips to maximize your points in the new year. 1) Open up a points-earning checking account/ debit card. Most major airlines have them, like Continental, United, US Airways, [...]

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Some Offers That Expire Today That You May Not Want To Miss

December 31, 2010

Happy new years eve! While we all prepared to ring in the new year in style, I wanted to remind you all of some stellar deals that end today. American Express to Delta Transfer Bonus: $250 Macys gift card or 20,000 Point Rebate (Rebate is the more valuable option) Delta 45,000 Point Sign Up Bonus [...]

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When Life Gives You Lemons, Use Points!

December 27, 2010

A VIP client of mine called me frantic today from San Francisco airport. His flight to Newark was cancelled due to ”Snowmageddon 2010″ and the next available flight Continental could reaccomodate him and his wife was for Saturday! They even gave him a hard time because he was on award tickets, which is complete BS. With a mile long [...]

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Reminder: Last Week to Qualify for 2011 Elite Status!

December 27, 2010

Almost all elite status calendars will reset on January 1, 2011, so you better act this week! Whether you need a couple thousand miles to make airline elite status, or a couple hotel stays to lock-in hotel status- you only have 5 more days to act.  If you don’t think you can possibly bear to [...]

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Continental OnePass Plus Chase Mastercard- 30,000 Point Sign-Up + $50 Statement Credit

December 22, 2010

UPDATE: Continental Airlines is now part of United and the Delta and American Airlines deals are no longer available. While not as lucrative as some of the 45,000 (Delta) -100,000 (AA) point deals currently being offered, 30,000 isn’t bad, especially since the fee is waived for the first year. Combine this offer with your personal [...]

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Starwood American Express 25,000 Point Sign-Up Bonus

December 21, 2010

10,000 points with your first purchase and 15,000 points if you spend $15,000 in the first 6 months. No fee for the first year. Application link. While I think the Hyatt card is a better deal (the equivalent of 60,000 Starwood points if you use the two Hyatt nights at top tier hotels) because they [...]

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Continental FareLock Offers Flexibility- For a Price

December 20, 2010

UPDATE: Continental is now a part of United. Continental recently launched a new program where you can hold a fare for up to a week for a small fee. The feature, FareLock, works on itineraries that are at least 18 days away (that was the threshold in my limited testing) and when searching for fares, [...]

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Continental Onepass and Elite Maximizer: A Good Deal?

December 19, 2010

UPDATE: The Presidential Plus Continental card is no longer available. This fall, Continental introduced their Onepass/Elite Maximizer program, which allows flyers to purchase extra Onepass miles and Elite Qualifying Miles with paid itineraries. If you purchase the extra Onepass miles (for roughly 3.5 cents each), you can then also purchase Elite Qualifying Miles, which are [...]

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Bargain Basement Buy-Up Upgrades on Continental

December 16, 2010

A friend emailed me today “Does this seem sort of silly to you? I went online to change seats on my Continental flight EWR-SEA next week- look at the options and the prices!”. To which I replied “Snag the cheap upgrade- now!”. Back on topic, it doesn’t take an economics genius to realize that it doesn’t [...]

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Continental Discontinues Baggage Waiver for Chase Debit Card Holders

December 10, 2010

I’ve written about the Continental Chase Debit Cards before and I think they provide great value, in terms of robust sign-up bonuses and bag waivers. However, as of April 1, 2011, these cards will no longer provide a first checked bag for free (up to $50 value round trip). Card holders seeking baggage waivers will [...]

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US Airways Launches Million Miler Program

December 10, 2010

Airline million miler status programs, glamorized by George Clooney in Up in the Air, are real programs that encourage longterm loyalty to a particular airline. While each airline has its up and down years, these programs are meant to cement the most loyal flyers and keep them when they might think about defecting to a [...]

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