You might remember that MrsMJonTravel and I are traveling to Europe next year to celebrate a certain unnumbered birthday. We are flying over on the big day, spending a few days with friends, and then traveling up to Venice where we will board the then brand new Celebrity Reflection for a 14-night cruise from Venice to Barcelona. I posted previously that I had nabbed 2 first class seats on United from Dulles to Rome next October, and was waiting for return flights to open up in mid November.

Well, the calendar finally ticked forward far enough for me to start looking at availability. For the return trip, there are no real nonstop options from Barcelona at this time, so I knew I’d be connecting. Furthermore, I followed Lucky’s advice and used the Continental website to perform my search. Not that I ever doubted, but boy was he right about it being a better way to book awards than United.com. Of course, November isn’t exactly a peak travel time for US-Europe travel, so I’m not surprised that availability was out there, but I have to say, it was easy to find exactly what I wanted.

For the return, I was thinking Lufthansa via Frankfurt or Munich. There is no First Class availability right now, but Business is available and I nabbed 2 seats. A321 service to Frankfurt and then 747-400 service from Frankfurt to Dulles. Continental.com could not assign seats so I rang up the Continental elite line and retrieved our Lufthansa confirmation numbers (we are in separate PNRs for the return) then gave Lufthansa a call. Row 3 on the A321 and row 1 on the 747-400, which I’m pretty pleased about. Something about riding in the nose of a 747 appeals to me. Also, I’ll keep an eye out for First Class, and if availability happens to appear, I might switch to that. Business is plenty acceptable for a trans-Atlantic flight, but this is an important trip for us, and a visit to the First Class terminal in Frankfurt would be icing on the birthday cake for sure.

Note: This is reposted from 12/24. The original post went missing due to a technical error.

Well double miles of course!  Check your mailboxes.  Not explicitly clear that this was targeted other than Mrs MJonTravel* and I both received the mailer.  Your mileage may vary, but definitely worth a little closer read of your junk mail pile!   This offer covers a pretty broad swath of spots I might buy something from so I’ll be working my Continental OnePass Plus card pretty heavily during the promotion period which runs through August 22, 2011 according to the mailer.  Since these miles will become Mileage Plus miles at the end of the year, my United card is going in the sock drawer through 8/22 with the exception of United and Star Alliance travel purchases.

* Edited to add:  After closely reviewing Mrs MJonTravel’s offer, I found that it was only for gas, grocery, and dining purchases.  My offer on the other hand covers: “…. bookstores, clothing stores (including shoe, accessory, and specialty apparel stores), convenience stores, department stores, dining establishments (excluding fast food/quick service restaurants), movie theaters, video rental stores, Theatrical stage productions, concerts, shows, contract entertainers (including comedians, magicians, and DJs), and their supporting services (including ticket, booking, and casting agencies and equipment services). Purchases not eligible to receive bonus rewards include, but are not limited to, purchases made at superstores, warehouse clubs, discount stores and their affiliates. Online and catalog purchases are not eligible to receive the bonus rewards unless the merchants have correctly identified and billed the transactions.”

Again, your mileage may vary.  Read carefully if you got an offer.

I’m not a professional credit card flipper.  Don’t get me wrong, back in the day when Citi would give you bonus miles for the Citi AAdvantage card over and over again, I would open a new account and close it in a year or 2 routinely.  I estimate I’ve earned something in the vicinity of 250,000 AAdvantage miles doing so.  That would make me a wannabe bit player in the credit card mileage earning game.  I’ve had a few different United Mileage Plus Visa’s along the way as well.

Recently, I’ve been making a concerted effort to reduce the number of credit cards I carry.  Compared to what the papers report as the average number of cards a person carries, I guess I’m on the low end at 5 or so.  I really want to lower that number to 3 but I’m not quite sure how at this stage in life.  I carry the Amex Platinum for lounge access (Membership Rewards is an added bonus), the Starwood Preferred Guest Amex because it earns Starwood Points, the most valuable currency for frequent travelers (IMHO), a United Mileage Plus Visa for United miles and use at non-Amex accepting establishments, and I also picked up a no annual fee Fidelity Rewards Amex Card (more on that some other time).  I think that’s a pretty tidy card portfolio that seems to work for me.  Not to mention, I don’t have to work terribly hard at keeping up with more cards than I can count.

Then, I saw this 50,000 mile offer for the Continental OnePass Card.  Chase, the card’s issuer is pretty tight on multiple sign-up bonuses these days, so I won’t be repeating the bonus I received for my United Mileage Plus Visa (also issued by Chase) anytime soon.  This seemed like an excellent way to enhance my stockpile of Mileage Plus miles (since Continental and United are combining) with relative ease so I pulled the trigger on an application.  I applied last Sunday, and my card arrived on Friday.  I’m enjoying my first purchase at the local Starbucks.  If you’re looking for a mileage card right now, check this one out.

Nothing but my opinion, and we all know how those are, but I have to say I’ve seen a difference at United since merger day one on October 1st.  I’ve done 5 segments since then and the staff all seem to be genuinely pleased with the changes that are underway.  Heck, even the people in the Red Carpet Club were nicer.  :)

I think it’s an exciting time at United, and it’s good to see an airline out there dusting itself off and looking like it may be able to kick some butt.  I’ve always thought United had a great brand franchise and excellent route structure.  With Continental’s very good managers coming on board, especially CEO Jeff Smisek, I think the new United may be one to watch.  I’ll have fun doing just that, and flying them too.

Continental Airlines and American Express Membership Rewards will part ways next year.  Announced today, I don’t think this is a big surprise.  What was not yet announced, but I expect will likely happen, is an end to lounge access with Continental for Amex Platinum and Centurion Card holders.  While I suppose it’s still possible that the new United will offer lounge access after the merger with Continental, I personally am not getting my hopes up. Remind me to read a little harder next time, lounge access to Continental President’s Clubs ends on 9/30/11 as well.

There was other news in the same press release.  Amex will begin offering new benefits to its Platinum and Centurion Card members on December 1st.  Directly from the release:

1. $200 Airline Fee Credit — Cardmembers can check a bag or enjoy an in-flight meal on American Express. Every year American Express will cover up to $200 of incidental airline fees that are charged on the Cardmember’s enrolled Card on a selected airline. The $200 Airline Fee Credit can apply to fees such as baggage fees, flight change fees, in-flight food and airport lounge day passes.
2. 20% Travel Bonus — When Cardmembers use Membership Rewards Pay with Points to pay for part or all of their travel including airlines, hotels, cruises and vacation packages, they will get 20% of those points credited back to their account. For example, if a Cardmember redeems 30,000 points to pay for an airline ticket, American Express will credit 6,000 point to the Membership Rewards Cardmember’s account.
3. American Express® Travel App — This complimentary mobile app will help keep travelers informed with flight alerts, an airport lounge locator, airport guides and more.

Moderately useful stuff for some folks that might be flying on an airline where they hold no elite status.  We’ll see how the new bennies work in practice.

Not that I ever doubted the outcome, but late Friday, we learned that Continental and United would be able to proceed with their merger without fear of getting sued by the Justice Department.  Pending shareholder approval, the 2 airlines are headed towards an October wedding that will create the biggest airline on the planet.

Whether or not this is good for anyone is not for me to decide.  Frankly, as long as I can fly from A to B with some level of certitude,  and for a price that doesn’t exceed my mortgage payment, airlines can merge all they want.  Of course, many do not agree with my sentiment.  Notably, some members of Congress seem intent on waiving the re-regulation flag now that justice has reached the conclusion that there is no logical reason these companies should not be allowed to merge.

I love how the first words to be shouted by the anti-anything crowd when it comes to the airline industry is that “fares will rise.”  Well boohoo.  Is that a bad thing?  Afterall, we are talking about an industry that hasn’t made money since the Wright Brothers first took off from Kitty Hawk.  Fares will rise?  I sure as hell hope so.  Let me give you a little anecdotal evidence of why that’s not a bad thing.  Way back in the stone ages, OK, 1984 or so…..  my parents assembled the funding to buy your trusted blogger a roundtrip ticket from Raleigh, NC to Washington, DC.  Cost: $188 dollars.  (Yes, I’m an airline geek from way back to remember something like that)  On the other hand, I just purchased a roundtrip ticket for a flight from Washington to Raleigh for travel in 2 weeks that cost….. wait for it….  $198 dollars.  I’m no economist, but something tells me that in real dollars, that’s less than what my parents paid in 1984.

Don’t get me wrong.  I can think of a long list of things that airlines do to travelers that should raise the shackles of Congress or anyone else.  And you better believe, I love a cheap airfare as good as the next person.  But raise the re-regulation flag because a merger may lead to increased airfares?  Seriously, you’ve got to be kidding me?  And yes, I have heard of Southwest Airlines, and their low fares…and profits.  More on that later.

I’m actually sitting on an airplane now blogging via GoGo.  I’m traveling with 2 other colleagues whom I’ll spend the week with in Seattle on a project.  I’ll be there for a week, but both colleagues will actually be traveling on to Los Angeles for another week of work while I return home.

One had the misfortune to pack 57 pounds of clothing for her 2 week business trip, and was dinged by Delta for a whopping $90 dollars for the extra 7 pounds.  Frankly, I was shocked the fee was that high.  $50 dollars seems more the norm, at least that’s what I paid American back in February when returning from a cruise.

Our conversation inspired me to check the fees other airlines are currently charging for overweight baggage.  I started with American, and their fee for 51 to 70 pounds remains a far more reasonable $50 dollars, and $100 dollars is the going rate for bags in the 71 to 100 pound category.  For reference, Delta’s fee for bags between 71 and 100 pounds is a whopping $175 dollars!  Then I looked at United.  $100 dollars for bags between 51 and 70 pounds if you’re not an elite customer.  (Note: I like that UA elites get a 70 pound per bag allowance.)  Continental charges $50 dollars for a bag weighing 51 to 70 pounds.  Continental does not accept baggage weighing more than 70 pounds.  In contrast to these airlines and in keeping with its history of simple and easy to understand policies, Southwest charges $50 dollars per piece for baggage weighing between 51 and 100 pounds.

The meaning of all this?  Learn to pack more efficiently.  I can handle a 5 day business trip with nothing but my 21″ Samsonite roller.  It takes a little practice, but its well worth your time and money.  And remember, it’s not a sin to do a little laundry on the road from time to time.  It’s certainly cheaper to do that than pay $100 bucks for your extra 7 pounds of clothes.

Now the rumor circuit is really flying on United and Continental.  The name will be United, the headquarters will be in Chicago, and Mr. Smisek from Continental will run the place.  Swell.  And now US Airways is back where it started, too small, and all alone.  US Airways could certainly benefit from a stronger alliance partner in a fortified United, but I just don’t get the feeling that there’s a lot of love left for US in this deal.

I speculated a while back that the idea of some sort of link between American and US Airways was a possibility.  I continue to think that American cannot just sit back and watch while the rest of the industry leaves it behind.  While management has its hands full with labor negotiations at the moment, I still wonder if US Airways might not be too tempting of a target.  This could begin with something short of a full merger, perhaps luring US into Oneworld and a closer domestic relationship, realizing many benefits of a merger without the hassle of combining disparate fleets of aircraft and labor groups.  Then perhaps a little further down the road, when both managements have successfully gotten themselves through labor talks, a bigger deal can be done.  Doug Parker, like so many other airline managers, got started at American so I don’t think the idea of him doing a deal with them is the most far fetched idea on earth.

This is all anyone’s guess at the moment, and let’s face it, I’m just some random guy who likes to talk about airlines.  Gonna be really fun watching things unfold in the next few months I think.

So here ya’ go.  My first post about Continental.    This won’t be news for many (already blogged about by Lucky and gleff and probably others), but it’s a start for me.  Cleaning out emails from the week, and found an offer from OnePass.  Did you know you can earn up to 100,000 OnePass bonus miles by registering for Mileathon?  Me either.  Register by May 31, 2010, and earn credits that can be converted into OnePass miles by completing qualifying activities at Continental.com by June 30, 2010.  Visit http://www.continental.com/mileathon for details plus terms & condtions.

Thanks so much to those of you who have taken the time to comment to the blog about travel related topics you’d like to read more about on the blog.  As you may have read, I’m giving away a $50 dollar American Express gift card to a lucky winner who comments to the contest entry post with a travel related topic they’d like to read more about here at Marshall Jackson on Travel.

Let’s face it.  I’m a niche player in the travel blogging universe.  I fly American and Delta, I rent cars from Avis and Hertz, and I stay at Starwood hotels first…and everyone else next.  Oh, and I cruise on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.  And those are the things I tend to blog about.  While I might not be able to target my blogging towards every comment I receive between now and when the contest closes on April 9th, I’ve already spotted some topics that I want to do something with.

Today, I’ll talk about the frequent flier program I’ll be learning more about.  Reader AstroGG would like to hear more about Continental OnePass.  I couldn’t agree more.  Living in DC, the only “hub” carrier we have is United out at Dulles.  But that’s 25 miles from my doorstep so I don’t really think of myself as a “hub captive” to United as I primarily fly from DCA.  That said, it makes sense for me to pool my Star Alliance miles somewhere when I do have to fly on a Star carrier.  I’ve decided that program will be Continental OnePass.  I’ve got my reasons for picking Continental, not the least of which is that I feel that if they do wind up merging with United, Continental will be the “surviving” airline even if they keep the United name.  Then there’s the not so small issue of United’s StarNet blocking habits.  Frankly, I think Continental is just a darn good airline.  So look for more information on Continental OnePass here at Marshall Jackson on Travel.  I commit to getting smart on the ins and outs of OnePass in short order, and we’ll learn together.

More to come.  And keep those comments coming.

Reader Peter M. brought this offer to my attention.  If you live in Connecticut, New York, or Texas you have an opportunity to earn AAdvantage bonus miles for electricity.  Peter reported an offer of 7,500 miles instead of the usual 3,000 miles, but I’m not seeing a mention of the 7,500 mile offer at the link provided, which makes me think the 7,500 mile offer may be targeted.  The 7,500 mile offer expires April 30th.  Either way, this is worth considering if you live in these states.  The mileage bonus is in addition to the 2 miles per dollar spent on the “supply” portion of your monthly bill.

Thanks Peter!

Edited:  Peter M forwarded links that are reflecting the 7,500 mile bonus.  Thanks again Peter!  Here they are.

Texas

New York

Connecticut