Earn and Burn

Ethel and I are heading off on vacation in a few days (right - what! again?). It wasn't our first choice, but we decided to go with Continental Airlines, it's not as if the Star Loose Association Alliance ever gives us a chance to use accrued miles anyway, right..

Needless to say, we were kind of stoked when we Continental announced that it was joining the Star Loose Association Alliance, as we thought our miles accrued on this trip would go into our respective Star Loose Association Alliance accounts.

Think again. That would be logical only from the perspective of the person accruing the miles. From perspective of an airline, it's treading on dangerous ground, as it gives customers a chance to accrue miles faster (one single account, vs one account per airline).

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Will the frequent flyer programs be combined?
There are no plans to combine the programs at this time. Each would function with reciprocity under the Star Alliance umbrella.
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Will customers be able to combine Continental and United frequent flyer accounts?
No. Customers will keep an account with one airline and use the reciprocity between programs to "earn and burn" on other airlines.
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From experience, "earn and burn" really means "earn and desperately try but fail miserably to use before expiration"