Continental and United are close to final integration into the new United Airlines. Detailed information for those interested in the facts of the merger can be found here. In the meantime, their frequent flyer programs are still separate point earning entities. To take full advantage of their new association, however, you need to link those two accounts. If you happen to already have elite status with one of them, it will then give you the comparable status with the other airline. For the best part, if you have redeemable miles in one of them, you can transfer them to the other airline and transfers can be made once every 24 hours and they are free. This allows you to take advantage of the better aspects of each program for the time being, for example, Continental has a better award calendar that allows you to utilize their alliance partners. (For more information about elite vs. redeemable miles, refer to the glossary)
Step 1: Click here to go to the Account Link page
This is where you enter your Continental and United information
Step 2: Enter one of the accounts now which will bring you to the next page that shows you the information you entered and allows you to fill out the information on the other account.
Step 3: Go ahead and link the accounts!
Now that your accounts are linked, you can transfer miles back and forth between airline programs!
In the next post, I will give you information on how to earn 100 miles that you can use to secure a great credit card that gives you 50,000 after your first purchase!
