Continental Bonus EQM's for BusinessFirst and Elites

[Eli]

I will be flying to Israel soon on Continental from EWR and from what I understand I will be getting 150% EQM's for flying BusinessFirst. The base mileage is 11,384, and 150% of that is 17,076. Is that correct?

Also, would being a platinum or gold continental elite member make those miles increase even more?

Would having an address somewhere besides the US increase it even more?

And which of those miles would be EQM's and which would be just miles available for an award?

Thanks

[Dan]

Elite status doesn't change Elite Qualifying Mileage (EQM) earnings.
As a BusinessFirst passenger you'll get 150% EQM's.
If you register for the double elite qualiying mileage promo (DEQM) you'll get 300% EQM's through 12/15.

If you have an Israeli address on your account you get 200% EQM's on BusinessFirst flights until 12/31.
If you have an Israeli address and are registered for DEQM you'll get 400% EQM's through 12/15.

As far as redeemable miles (RDM) for an award
If you're a non-elite you'll get 100% RDM +50% BusinessFirst Bonus.
If you're Silver Elite you'll get 100% RDM +50% BusinessFirst Bonus+25% Elite Bonus.
If you're Gold/Platinum Elite you'll get 100% RDM +50% BusinessFirst Bonus+100% Elite Bonus.
If you have a Presidential Plus card and are Elite you'll get another 25% bonus RDM.

[Eli]

Wow, very thorough Dan. Thanks.

I'm just not so good at math, so bottom line...how many miles will I get if I fly in 2 weeks and I am platinum and I'm flying BusinessFirst (Z or D class) and my address is in Israel?

How many EQM's will I get and how many RDM's will I get?

[Dan]

Wow, very thorough Dan. Thanks.

I'm just not so good at math, so bottom line...how many miles will I get if I fly in 2 weeks and I am platinum and I'm flying BusinessFirst (Z or D class) and my address is in Israel?

How many EQM's will I get and how many RDM's will I get?

No problem Eli.

EWR-TLV is 5,692 miles, round trip is 11,384.
BusinessFirst bonus makes this worth 17,076 round trip.
If you're platinum (assuming you dont have the pres plus card) your RDM's will be 28,460.

With an American address EQM's will be 34,152
With an Israel address EQM's will be 45,536.

YMMV because I have no experience with changing an account from US to Israel as to whether you'll get the the Israeli EQM's.

[Eli]

So I will end up getting less RDM's than EQM's? Is that even possible? Isn't every EQM an automatic RDM?

In other words, if I have 0 miles in my account right now, then after the trip I will only have 28,460 miles available for an award, but I will be only 30,000 miles short of retaining Platinum Status?

[Dan]

Isn't every EQM an automatic RDM?

Nope, no connection.

In other words, if I have 0 miles in my account right now, then after the trip I will only have 28,460 miles available for an award, but I will be only 30,000 miles short of retaining Platinum Status?  

Correct.

[Eli]

Ok so now that I flew the first segment, I see the following in my account:

EWR-TLV & Flight Bonus: 11,384 RDM's and 11,384 EQM's
Elite Status Twice As Fast: 5,692 EQM's
Route Bonus: 5,000 RDM's

TOTAL EQM's FOR ONE WAY: 17,076
TOTAL RDM's FOR ONE WAY: 16,384

So I got 300% EQM's and 200% RDM's plus a 5,000 bonus (perhaps for the promo - Fly RT from TLV and get 10,000 bonus miles - which I thought was only FROM TLV but apparently not)

I guess I didn't get the bonus for having my address in Israel - unless maybe that posts later.

Dan, you said I would get 150% RDM's for a non-elite, but I ended up getting 200% RDM's plus a 5,000 bonus!

[Eli]

My way back was even stranger, I got 200% RDM's, plus the 5,000 RDM "Route Bonus", and 400% EQM's! Maybe there needs to be a certain amount of time from when your address is registered in Israel in order to get the 400% EQM's, and that time limit was sometime between when I left and when I came back.

Either way I'm happy with the results. Thank you Dan for helping me figure this all out.

[Dan]

My way back was even stranger, I got 200% RDM's, plus the 5,000 RDM "Route Bonus", and 400% EQM's! Maybe there needs to be a certain amount of time from when your address is registered in Israel in order to get the 400% EQM's, and that time limit was sometime between when I left and when I came back.

Either way I'm happy with the results. Thank you Dan for helping me figure this all out.

More or less exactly what I said it would be, besides for the 5,000 mile bonus promo, right?

[Eli]

No, you told me I would get 150% RDM's and I got 200%...but who's counting.

Would it be a risk for me to call CO and complain that I only got 300% EQM's on the outbound instead of 400% like I got on the inbound?

If they give me the extra 100%, I'll be 200 miles short of 50K for the year. Time for a mileage run. EWR-ACY maybe? Neh...I'll just convince CO to give the EQM's to me as a nice gesture.

[Dan]

No, you told me I would get 150% RDM's and I got 200%...but who's counting.

Would it be a risk for me to call CO and complain that I only got 300% EQM's on the outbound instead of 400% like I got on the inbound?

If they give me the extra 100%, I'll be 200 miles short of 50K for the year. Time for a mileage run. EWR-ACY maybe? Neh...I'll just convince CO to give the EQM's to me as a nice gesture.

You lost me...didn't you say in post 3 that you were already plat?

Prob not worth the risk to call and complain, but definitely worth a mileage or run...try amtrak!

[Eli]

No mileage run necessary for me. I called to complain about the 5,692 missing EQM's and the next morning they were in my account along with a $125 ETC for all my trouble. And CO is currently running a promo that if you are 5,000 EQM's short of any level, they will make you that level - you just need to call. So my 49,727 miles for 2009 got me CO Gold and *A Gold.

TOTAL EQM's: 45,536
TOTAL RDM's: 32,768

[Charles The Govenor]

Is united matching that?