Continental Airline Tickets

Which Airline Rewards program do you think is better, American Airlines or Continental Airlines ?

If you search online also, you will see that American Airlines and Continental have a lot of partner airlines that still permit people to receive rewards point from them. Okay thank you. One side question, to qualify for Gold standard and so on. Do you need to reach a threshold of points without using them at all or can you use them and still get the gold standard just by flying frequently ?

Public Comments

1. Given that I have over 700,000 miles with American, I think American's program is better.
2. It depends on where you're planning to go in the future and what airline partners you consider to be the best airlines for you and the ones you think you'll be flying the most with. Continental will soon merge with United Airlines and fly under the United name, both airlines are members of the Star Alliance and American Airlines is a member of the One World Alliance. The Star Alliance and the One World Alliance are considered by many people to be the two best airline alliances. Although the Continental One Pass program will most likely be merged with the United Airline's Mileage Plus program in the future, it's probable that the frequent flyer program after the merger is complete will use the United Mileage Plus name. I would skip the Continental program and use another Star Alliance member if that is the alliance that your prefer. I'm a member of both United's Mileage Plus and American Airline's AAdvantage frequent flyer programs. I use the AAdvantage program much more often because I fly very frequently on one of AA's partners, but for others if will be different, depending on their destinations and airlines that they prefer. You can always join multiple programs, but will need to use one account as often as possible to reap the benefits of being a frequent flyer.
3. It really depends on where you are flying. American is part of the OneWorld Alliance which includes partners of British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and about 7 other airlines. Continental is part of the Star Alliance which includes United, US Airways, Lufthansa, Air Canada, Sinapore Airlines, ANA, Thai Airways and about 12 other airlines. Definitely Star is the bigger alliance and flies to more destinations, but one thing to ask is what airline has the most flights from where you are flying from? Also what places will you most likely visit? American is very strong in Latin America, South America, decent in Europe and has lots of flights in and out of Dallas, Chicago, New York, Miami and Los Angeles. Continental which is in the process of getting approval to merge with United is strong in Latin America, Europe, decent in Asia and has lots of flights in and out of Houston, New Jersey and Cleveland. Some people like Continental's service and a year or two ago, it was named as best North American legacy carrier. To qualify for elite membership on an airline, you need to fly at least 25,000 miles a year with them. You do not need to fly all 25,000 at once but can accumulate them over a period of 1 year. The benefits of elite membership can include upgrades to Business Class if there are seats available. Sometimes airlines save the emergency exit aisle for their better customers as that row has more legroom.