# AGR/Continental Update



## AlanB (Nov 1, 2011)

The following was posted over on Flyertalk tonight by AGRInsider:



> Update on the AGR partnership with Continental
> A new partnership with United Airlines is in the works! In the meantime' date=' here’s an update on the Continental partnership:
> 
> Points to miles and miles to points transfers between AGR and Continental will end on December 31, 2011. If you plan to transfer Continental Onepass miles to AGR points or are eligible to redeem AGR points for miles, please do so prior to the deadline.
> ...


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## Ryan (Nov 1, 2011)

Nice!


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## rrdude (Nov 1, 2011)

Umm, 'good so far?"


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## Steve4031 (Nov 1, 2011)

This is COOL!!!! GF and I are traveling to DCA on United in January. I can rock that select plus card and get us into the lounge at ORD. Of course we will use the CA in Washington, DC and NYP.


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## the_traveler (Nov 1, 2011)

I'm glad I've transfered as much as I can, and will now only "lose" 52 OnePass Miles (which were combined with my Millage Plus Miles)!




I'd rather "lose" 52 than 24K+ of each!


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## Trogdor (Nov 1, 2011)

> Through March 2012' date=' members will be eligible to earn Amtrak Guest Rewards points on Continental operated flights. And beginning in March, members will be able to earn points on United operated flights.[/quote']
> 
> I'm a little confused by this.
> 
> ...


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## Rail Freak (Nov 1, 2011)

I've been buying & transfering Miles to AGR all year long. I guess this is the end of the line!!! Sure was good while it lasted!!!


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## rrdude (Nov 1, 2011)

That was my understanding too, I'm just assuming some legacy routes, or "operated by" routes, will continue to be labvled as CO, in the system, and they are saying that ".........even if you travel on CO ........after this date.......you'll still earn miles........)

Could be wrong tho


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## Trogdor (Nov 1, 2011)

Could be legacy routes, but "operated by" goes away once SOC occurs, because in the FAA's eyes, everything will be "operated by" United (excluding, of course, the bazillion express/connection carriers and Star Alliance codeshare partners).


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## colobok (Nov 1, 2011)

Ryan said:


> Nice!


What is nice? That Continental to AGR transfer will end???


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## sechs (Nov 2, 2011)

colobok said:


> Ryan said:
> 
> 
> > Nice!
> ...


Since Continental is ending, technically, it was going to end, anyway.
The excitement is that the relationship will have new life at United.


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## Anderson (Nov 2, 2011)

Since United was often a "conduit" for miles transfers through other programs, is there a decent replacement conduit out there?


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## Ryan (Nov 2, 2011)

sechs said:


> colobok said:
> 
> 
> > Ryan said:
> ...


Exactly. It sure beats the alternative of the whole program ending.


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## Tumbleweed (Nov 2, 2011)

So, it appears a person would be able to transfer miles on the same basis as before, except they would be United miles??


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## jis (Nov 2, 2011)

Trogdor said:


> > Through March 2012' date=' members will be eligible to earn Amtrak Guest Rewards points on Continental operated flights. And beginning in March, members will be able to earn points on United operated flights.[/quote']
> >
> > I'm a little confused by this.
> >
> ...


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## Trogdor (Nov 2, 2011)

jis said:


> Trogdor said:
> 
> 
> > > Through March 2012' date=' members will be eligible to earn Amtrak Guest Rewards points on Continental operated flights. And beginning in March, members will be able to earn points on United operated flights.[/quote']
> ...


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## jis (Nov 2, 2011)

Trogdor said:


> For the purpose of determining AGR credit, they'll have to use some other measure than flights operated by Continental, because Continental as an airline ceases to exist once the entire carrier is on SOC. That means every flight will carry one code (UA), and there will be no CO-coded flights in the system.


I have been given to understand that Continental as an airline does not cease to exist until 31 Dec 2011. One Pass Program gets credited miles flown on Continental until then and MP gets credited UA flown miles, unless explicit request is made to credit the other account. But then I have not researched this. I just read blurbs coming from them. So they can certainly credit AGR based on CO flights until the time that they continue crediting CO miles to OP and UA miles to MP. I have also heard a rumor that this state of affairs may get extended to the end of Feb '12. I don;t believe that has anything to do with SOC. SOC has to do with which regulatory certificate they operate under. It does not say anything about how United Continental Holding chooses to organize its business units operating under whatever SOC they operate under.


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## Tracktwentynine (Nov 2, 2011)

AlanB said:


> The following was posted over on Flyertalk tonight by AGRInsider:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Anderson (Nov 2, 2011)

1) Not that it will ever matter very much for me (hint: I take the train from Virginia to Arizona), but how would the direct earning work for Amtrak?

2) Again, to bump this...is there an alternative conduit for getting Holiday Inn points and the like into AGR, or should I slam an account together later this month to do a large block transfer?


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## jis (Nov 2, 2011)

Tracktwentynine said:


> If so, perhaps this is not all bad. Though I still lose 3,600 miles. Any way to somehow salvage those (I don't see any opportunities to fly Continental/United 1,400 miles before Dec. 31)?


Get a Continental One Plus Credit Card and spend $1,400 on it buying your favorite junk and the transfer the 5000 points and discontinue the card.


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## sechs (Nov 2, 2011)

Although this has been mentioned before, I think it's worth pointing out that one can currently link Miles Plus and Onepass accounts and combine the miles into one or the other account.

I did this and transferred out to AGR. Currently my Miles Plus account has seven miles, and my Onepass is at -183.


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## alanh (Nov 3, 2011)

Here's the email that went out today:



> While the Continental® OnePass® program will formally end in December, we're happy to inform you that a new Amtrak Guest Rewards® partnership with the United MileagePlus® program is in the works.
> In the meantime, here's what the changes mean for you as an Amtrak Guest Rewards member:
> 
> • December 31, 2011 is the last day that Amtrak Guest Rewards members will be able to
> ...


I think it's clear you won't be able to transfer AGR points to United miles, but it's not entirely clear about the other directions (United to Amtrak). If you want to do any transfers, you should do it before 12/31. Note that you can transfer United miles to Continental for free right now, if you want to consolidate.


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## PRR 60 (Nov 4, 2011)

alanh said:


> Here's the email that went out today:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Alan's posting of the Flyertalk post by AGR is pretty clear that points - miles transfers are ending in both directions. It has been announced that AGR members will be able to earn AGR points for travel on United. That will likely require you to enter AGR and your AGR number as your Frequent Flyer info for UA reservations. I'm wondering if the opposite will be available - will you be able to earn UA miles traveling Amtrak? That may not be very attractive to many here, but would be to many typical Acela travelers.

I'm also wondering if there will be some award opportunities: UA members being able to use miles for train travel, and AGR members being able to book flights with points. The AGR side would allow a member to use points for a combined air-rail trip - say fly transcon one way for 12,500 points and then ride back in a roomette for 35,000 points.

We'll have to wait and see what happens, but the good news is that there will be an AGR-UA partnership after 12/31/2011.


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## jis (Nov 4, 2011)

Actually if the United Club access by Select Pluses continues, that is one case where UA would be treating AGR members better than MileagePlus members. MileagePlus members do not get domestic lounge access for being Silver, Gold or Platinum or 1K AFAICT. One has to be a member of the Club. Gold and above do get lounge access on international itineraries for being *Gold. And in all cases UA reserves the right to deny access to anyone that is not have a flight ticket for the same day (with appropriate allowance for late night flight departures).


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## jb64 (Nov 4, 2011)

I know this is an AGR forum, but many of us got the Continental credit card from Chase because they gave a huge bonus. At times, it was more efficient to use this card and then transfer points to AGR. Any ideas as to what happens to that credit card's points? Do they become United? I haven't received anything about that. My year will end in early spring and I want to make sure I can transfer points to AGR or I will just cancel it. It had some nice benefits so I was considering keeping it even though you have to pay an annual fee.


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## railbuck (Nov 4, 2011)

jb64 said:


> I know this is an AGR forum, but many of us got the Continental credit card from Chase because they gave a huge bonus. At times, it was more efficient to use this card and then transfer points to AGR. Any ideas as to what happens to that credit card's points? Do they become United? I haven't received anything about that. My year will end in early spring and I want to make sure I can transfer points to AGR or I will just cancel it. It had some nice benefits so I was considering keeping it even though you have to pay an annual fee.


Yes, at some point early next year all Continental OnePass miles will be replaced with the same number of United MileagePlus miles. If you have both accounts now, you can link them and transfer miles. For example if you have UA miles they can be transferred to CO and then to AGR while that option is still available this year. Next year your credit card will earn UA miles instead of CO miles, and the rest of the benefits will continue.

More info here.


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## jb64 (Nov 4, 2011)

thanks Railbuck


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