Continental is giving away elite status to people signing up for their co-branded Mastercard.
Register on the Continental website with offer code 58038 (for Platinum status) then go to the ‘Apply Now’ page and enter your OnePass account number and PIN code and complete the application by December 31, 2005 (so hurry – just 5 days left). You need to make your first purchase by March 1, 2006.
Other offer cards are 58039 for Gold status and 58040 for Silver status.
The offer is intended to be targeted. The terms and conditions say
- This offer is non-transferable and is intended only for the person to whom it was sent.
However, the website lets anyone register for the promo. So this one is a big ‘Your Mileage May Vary’. Print out the registration confirmation and all other screens along the process to put yourself in a better position later. If the status is what drove you to apply for the card you should be able to at least get the fee credited back later. (And you can always get the fee credited back within a month of it appearing on your statement if you press hard enough, that’s a right you’ve got on any credit card in the U.S.)
But it’s likely worth the $85 fee just for the 15,000 bonus miles with first purchase and 5% discount on all Continental tickets purchased with the card at continental.com for your first year as a cardholder.
The Flyertalk discussion of this offer is here.
Update 12/31/05: I titled the post ‘too good to be true’ and caveated that your mileage may vary. Not entirely surprisingly, Continental is not honoring the offer.
