It’s certainly taken long enough, but we finally have some specifics on when Continental miles will become worth something (i.e. when Continental will leave Skyteam and join Star Alliance).

From their mass email yesterday:

Regarding SkyTeam, Continental intends to end its participation in the SkyTeam Alliance after the last scheduled flight on Oct. 24, 2009.

We continue to work through the details of our planned exit from SkyTeam and entry into Star Alliance, but anticipate our participation in Star Alliance will begin promptly after we leave SkyTeam.

We’ll have to wait until the end of October to learn whether Continental will provide access to awards throughou tthe Star Alliance the way that every other Star Alliance member except United does. If that’s the case, their miles will be worth more than United’s, assuming that they offer international first class redemptions and they don’t gut their award chart in the meantime.

And of course Continental offers a nicer domestic product than United does.

The ill-advised flyer who has been accumulating and hoarding Continental miles for years will finally see their unlikely strategy pay off!