Our reader Robert G. reports this interesting story.
He tried to use Amex points to get 2 Continental Airlines OnePass tickets to Europe.
Continental Airlines had no seats available.

To his disbelief, by placing his miles in Delta Airlines Skymiles, he was able to get the flights on Continental Airlines that he needed.
Robert is rightfully pretty fed up with Continental Airlines.

Pointswizard.com Spin: Our reader ran into the same problem we have had in the last few years. Continental Airlines is very stingy with frequent flyer tickets. Although Continental Airlines releases statistics stating how many rewards it redeems - this is not reality based for the average traveler.
Maybe these redemptions are for trips going to Alaska in January?

We earned those miles through travel and credit card purchases. We should be able to redeem them even on good flights for example Florida in the winter or Europe in the May or June.

If you’ve spoken to people less than 40 years old you know a large number of them are also totally fed up with Continental Airlines. Therefore they are switching to JetBlue and Southwest. They switch because they can buy one-way fares and not be penalized and for easy frequent flyer reward redemption.

Continental Airlines may be losing customers in the same way as General Motors lost customers in the 70’s and 80’s.

Will they ever come back or will they stay away like GM customers have done?

From Sept. 1 through Sept. 30, 2008, Continental OnePass® members can earn 8,500 bonus miles and save up to 20 percent on rentals of five consecutive days or more at participating* Budget airport locations in the U.S. and Canada.

To make a reservation:

* Sign in to your OnePass account.
* Go to the Advanced Car Search tab.
* Enter BCD Number U072500 and Coupon Number MUAZ041.

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here for offer-don’t forget to sign into your OnePass account.

“The announcement from US Airways in June that it was going to start charging coach passengers $2 for soft drinks and bottled water — water! — on all its domestic flights, as well as $1 for coffee or tea, is only the latest sign that when it comes to flying these days, there increasingly is no such thing as a free lunch.

The other major carriers have yet to follow US Airways’ lead — though it may just be a matter of time. But some airlines are finding creative ways to up the ante, by adding new nonalcoholic beverages to their offerings, like Monster Energy drinks and Vitaminwater, and charging for them. Meanwhile, all domestic airlines but Continental have replaced free meals in coach on flights in the United States with at least some food sales.

Buying your own food or drinks at the airport is one alternative to being held economic hostage by the airlines, but who has time to wait in line for water when you’re late for your connecting flight? You can also pack a lunch at home — but just make sure your salad dressing is in a three-ounce container, inside a one-quart, zip-top plastic bag to get through security.

So what exactly do you get these days? What follows is a sampling of the current food and drink policies for flights within the United States, and what you can expect to shell out for a little sustenance. (The offerings are slightly better on international flights, on which most foreign carriers continue to offer free alcoholic drinks, meals and snacks. But most United States carriers do not give out alcoholic drinks on trans-Atlantic routes.)” (via nytimes.com) by MICHELLE HIGGINS

Pointswizard.com Spin: READ MORE about specific airlines policies

Each month, the Global Trends in Travel video series airing on Continental Airlines takes passengers to exotic destinations around the world. Now you can visit one of these incredible destinations yourself by entering the FLY AWAY SWEEPSTAKES, courtesy of In-Flight Media Associates (IMA).

This month IMA and the Maui Visitors Bureau invite you to enter and win a romantic getaway for two to the tropical island of Maui.  Continental Airlines is the carrier that gets you there.

Enter the FLY AWAY SWEEPSTAKES now and get ready to experience your own trends in travel today!

Pointswizard.com Spin: CLICK HERE TO ENTER

OnePass is turning 21, and we’re inviting our best customers to celebrate at our Texas Hold ‘em Tournament in Las Vegas. The winner will take home an astonishing 21 million miles.

You don’t want to miss the celebration of our landmark event - a Texas Hold ‘em Tournament at the legendary Golden Nugget Las Vegas, winner of the AAA Four-Diamond award. The Golden Nugget recently completed a $170 million renovation and expansion of its features and amenities. This event will be held from Aug. 6 to 10, 2008.

Try your skill against 420 other OnePass members and see if you have what it takes to win the grand prize —21-million-miles. The top 40 finalist will receive prizes. All players and their guests will be treated to parties with food, drinks and live entertainment on Aug. 6 and Aug. 7.

On Friday, Aug. 8 the top 40 players and their guests will be invited to join Continental executives for a wine dinner at Grotto Ristorante. On Saturday, Aug 9th, the top 10 players and their guests will join the executives for dinner at Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse.

There are a lot of miles at stake

Lay your chips on the table and get on the player’s list for the 21st Birthday Texas Hold’em Tournament. There are millions of OnePass miles up for grabs, and your odds of winning have never been better.

If your luck holds out, here’s what you could win:

Prizes:
The top 40 players — 50,000 bonus miles
10th Place — 100,000 bonus miles
9th Place — 150,000 bonus miles
8th Place — 200,000 bonus miles
7th Place — 250,000 bonus miles
6th Place — 300,000 bonus miles
5th Place — 350,000 bonus miles
4th Place — 400,000 bonus miles
3rd Place — 500,000 bonus miles
2nd Place — 1 million bonus miles
1st Place — 21 Million bonus miles
Register now to secure your spot in the tournament

To register, enter your OnePass number here and then purchase the Golden Nugget Event Package**. To book the hotel package, call the Golden Nugget at 800-634-3454 and provide Registration Code TB2M63. This will secure your spot in the tournament. Entries are limited and will fill up fast. Book your hotel package before July 11, 2008 and you will receive 5,000 bonus miles.

Tournament Agenda

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008
Tournament registration begins at 12:00 p.m.
Hotel check-in at 3:00 p.m.
Evening reception from 7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Welcome party event hosted by Fremont Street Experience for all players and a guest including food, liquor and live entertainment.
Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008
Tournament play 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Buffet lunch 12:00 p.m. (players only)
Evening reception from 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
OnePass birthday celebration party for all players and a guest including food, liquor and live entertainment.
Friday, Aug. 8, 2008
Tournament play 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Buffet lunch - 12:00 p.m. (only for players actively participating in the tournament)
Winner’s dinner with Continental executives at Grotto Ristorante - 7:30 p.m. (top 40 players and their guests)
Saturday, Aug. 9, 2008
OnePass Q&A session and airline update with Continental executives - 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. (attendance optional)
Tournament play 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Buffet lunch - 12:00 p.m. (players only for players actively participating in the tournament).
Winner’s dinner with Continental executives at Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse+ 7:00 p.m. (top 10 players and their guests)
Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008
Hotel check-out at 12:00 p.m.
(Times are subject to change)

Attire

Tournament - casual
Receptions - business casual

Pointswizard.com Spin: Link to the offer then click on “OnePass is turning 21 and you could win 21 million miles”

Last sign up day Mon., Jun. 30, 2008

If you have a problem registering with Safari browser use Firefox or IE

OnePass® members can earn miles for every dollar spent with participating Thanks Again merchants. Simply register up to five credit or debit cards in the program. Then use your registered credit or debit card at participating merchants and your miles will automatically be credited to your OnePass account*.

OnePass members may also take advantage of the following special offers:
-Through 6/30/08, enroll now and get a 500 mile bonus after your first transaction at a participating merchant.
-Each time you spend $200 with a participating dry cleaner over a two calendar month period, you’ll get 200 bonus miles**

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to see if there are merchants near you or recommend some. Click here to register.

Offer valid through May 31, 2008

	Get 10,000 bonus miles when you open the checking account with Direct Deposit.
	Get another 10,000 bonus miles and earn 1 mile for every $1 in qualifying purchases with the Chase Continental Airlines Preferred Banking Card for a $65 annual fee per checking account or choose a lower annual fee option and earn 1 mile for every $2 in qualifying purchases with the Chase Continental Airlines Banking Card for a $25 annual fee per checking account.

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here for all the details and the code you’ll need

It’s just what you wanted - a continental.com Gift Registry.

Introducing continental.com Gift Registry. It’s easy to create your own gift registry and then notify your friends and family. Simply sign up at continental.com and create your own Gift Registry. You’ll then be allowed to create and send announcements to several friends and family members, which will include instructions on how they can make deposits into your TravelBank. You can use the money in your TravelBank to purchase travel on Continental.

It’s the perfect gift for any occasion, including holidays, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and graduations. And with our global network of flights, the lucky-go-travelers can fly to more than 280 destinations served by Continental worldwide.

Pointswizard.com Spin: Valid for members with a U.S. billing address. Only one continental.com Gift Registry is allowed per OnePass member. A minimum contribution to the Gift Registry of $25 USD is required. Read more, give or create

“Know if your carrier adheres to this rule — it could be your saving grace
Even though U.S. airlines have weakened the Rule 240 clauses in their contracts of carriage, it still pays to have a copy with you to show the airline’s ground service agents what your rights are when your flight is badly delayed or canceled.

Before the deregulation of the U.S. airline industry in 1978, every U.S. airline had to follow the same set of rules — including those dealing with “irregularities” such as canceled flights.
In those days, airline fares and routes were regulated by the Civil Aeronautics Board, the predecessor to today’s Federal Aviation Administration.
One of these rules, number 240, specified that if an airline couldn’t get you to your destination on time, it was required to put you on a competitor’s flight if it would get you there faster than your original airline’s net flight. Airlines were even required to put you in first class if that’s all that was available.

They rarely advertised this perk, however, since airlines naturally didn’t want to fork over scarce cash to fly customers on a rival carrier. But seasoned road warriors have always known they could approach the counter and say the magic words “240 me” to be put on the next flight out.

Airlines formed after deregulation — such as JetBlue, Southwest, and Spirit — were never required to follow these rules. Even so, some of these newer airlines may attempt to put you on another airline if there’s no other choice.
“While we don’t have a traditional Rule 240, we will purchase confirmed seats as necessary on another airline to get customers to their final destination in the event of irregularities within our control,” Todd Burke, JetBlue Airways’ vice president for corporate communications, told Airfarewatchdog.com.
In addition, if there’s a “significant delay,” JetBlue’s compensation may include a “partial or full refund,” in addition to accommodation on another airline.

However, in recent years, as “legacy” carriers such as American, United, and Delta have struggled to remain profitable, and some have slashed costs to emerge from bankruptcy, many have quietly weakened their Rule 240s.

United Airlines, for instance, no longer states in its contract of carriage that it will fly you in first class on a competitor, if that’s all that’s available, although it will transport you in coach class on another airline.

Although Delta Air Lines still has a Rule 240 in its contract, it no longer makes any mention of transporting passengers on other airlines in the event of a flight disruption.

Continental Airlines will upgrade a delayed passenger only on its own flights—not on a competitor’s—and only if doing so will get you to your destination earlier than would otherwise be the case.

US Airways has nothing in its terms of transportation concerning Rule 240, though spokesperson Amy Kudwa said the airline still applies the rule on all flights except international flights.

The good news is that Northwest Airlines still has a very traditional contract, little changed from the days of regulation. It will put you on another airline, in first class if necessary, if your original flight is delayed 60 minutes or longer.

It’s important to emphasize that these rules generally apply to situations within the airline’s control, such as mechanical problems. But if the flight irregularity results from a “force majeure event” such as bad weather, a riot, or a work stoppage, then all bets are off. And the legacy carriers may not have agreements with their newer competitors such as JetBlue and Southwest, so that they might not re-route you on those carriers.

Even if you are flying an airline that adheres to Rule 240, its employees may be reluctant to rewrite your ticket on a competitor because of the financial implications of doing so. So it pays to print out and carry a copy of the contract of carriage and present it to the gate agent if necessary.” By George Hobica [click to read via msnbc.msn.com]

The Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to see what your airlines policy is.
Know your rights.

Travelers have been complaining more often about frequent flier programs — namely, the lack of award seats on desirable flights, escalating fees for ostensibly free tickets and quicker expiration dates for miles.
The airlines counter that they are giving away more awards than ever, despite generally fuller planes, and that most programs allow members to book any open seat on any flight, albeit in exchange for more miles.

In a sense, both sides are right. But this debate misses a fundamental change that has occurred in the economics of frequent flier programs in the last decade. What began 27 years ago as a way to win the loyalty of travelers has turned into a lucrative business for the airlines.

Many airlines now earn hundreds of millions of dollars a year by selling miles to partners like credit card companies and hotel chains. Those companies, in turn, give the miles to customers as sign-up bonuses or rewards for hotel stays. That revenue is critical for the airlines in an era of escalating fuel prices. But it has also changed frequent flier programs into more complex businesses, where fliers are just one of the constituencies carriers are trying to please.
“The real change over the years has been the evolution from being a loyalty program for the airline’s best customers to today being a currency program for anybody’s best customers,” said Randy Petersen, publisher of InsideFlyer.com, which tracks frequent flier programs.
The currency is measured in accumulated miles, which consumers value so highly that thousands of companies now purchase them at prices ranging from one to three cents a mile. (About half of all miles given out these days, in fact, do not involve flying.)

One way that carriers are trying to reduce the mileage backlog is by adopting stricter expiration policies. Miles now typically expire after 18 months or two years of account inactivity, instead of three years.
Airlines are also offering more ways for members to use their miles, like bidding for things like Broadway tickets at online auctions, trading miles for merchandise or using a combination of cash and miles for air travel. (via nytimes.com)

Pointswizard.com Spin: CLICK HERE to read the whole article. Thanks to our reader Rob F. for the tip.