One great source of travel deals is your good old trusty travel rewards credit card. But such a card can do more than stack up the miles for you. If you’re interested in a card that combines a ton of bonus miles with amenities like club passes and special treatment at hotels and resorts, then you may want to take a peek at the Continental Airlines OnePass Plus Card. This is the card we’ll be discussing today.
Continental Airlines One Pass Plus Card Review: Get Travel Miles & Rewards
Offered by Chase, this card gives you a good number of opportunities to earn bonus miles. Here’s a list:
- You’ll receive 25,000 bonus miles just for making your first purchase with it. Apparently, that’s enough miles to give you a nice round trip within the continental U.S.
- You’ll get 5,000 bonus miles if you add another person to your account within your first two months.
- You’ll get an additional 10,000 bonus miles when you spend $25,000 on your card each year.
You’ll earn 1 mile per dollar that you spend on purchases. For airfare that you buy directly from Continental, you’ll earn double miles for each dollar spent. Another venue where you can earn double miles is ShopOnePass, an online shopping site where you can earn OnePass Miles from retail partners of Continental Airlines. The merchants here include familiar retailers like the Apple Store, Macy’s, and Pottery Barn.
When you’re set to redeem your miles, you have several options. A favorite for a lot of travelers will be to use the miles for airfare on Continental flights. Since Continental is part of the Star Alliance airline network, your miles can be used on a total of 28 airlines. Besides the flights, though, you can also use the miles for hotel stays and for car rentals. Note that more than 60,000 hotels are available to you.
No Checked Baggage Fee for Your 1st Bag
Irritated by baggage fees? With this card, you can forget about the checked-bag fee on your first bag on Continental. And sticking with Continental keeps paying off because you’ll earn two day passes for the Presidents Club each year — a much less hectic way to decompress if you have to wait in between your flights. Another annual benefit: a pair of Continental travel discount certificates. To gain the Presidents Club passes and discount certificates, you’ll need to make a qualifying transaction like a purchase or balance transfer, each year of your membership.
When you’re ready for room service and more, check in with the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection. You’ll be able to enjoy free breakfasts, room upgrades, and other perks at more than 600 properties worldwide.
Purchase Protection & Travel Insurance Coverage
Besides the terrific miles bonuses and travel rewards, you get access to some other services. If you need help while traveling, you can talk to the concierge service, which can assist you with finding the right hotels and restaurants, and can recommend some entertainment ideas for you. You can benefit from purchase protection such as extended warranty coverage, return protection, and price protection.
And of course, there’s also travel insurance. You can expect some reimbursement for baggage delays and lost luggage. When you rent a car with your card, you’ll have coverage for the rental in case of damage or theft. Speaking of theft, if you find unauthorized purchases on your account, you’ll be covered by zero liability protection. There are fraud alerts for your convenience, too.
No Annual Fee For The First Year
Normally, the annual fee for this card is $95, but it’ll be waived for your first year. If you do any amount of traveling on Continental, then you’ll quickly wipe out that annual fee with the savings you’ll get from the waived checked-bag fee.
The APR for purchases and balance transfers is 14.24%, while the cash advance APR is 19.24%. But if you fail to make a payment, go over your credit limit or end up with a return payment, then you’ll invoke a much higher penalty APR.
Before you book travel or use any certificates, just note that you might encounter some blackout dates or restrictions. You’ll need to see the terms and conditions of your account for more details.
A lot of travel rewards credit cards offer a few incentives like a few thousand bonus miles. By contrast, the Continental Airlines OnePass Plus Card gives you an opportunity to acquire 40,000 bonus points and other great rewards. If you’re a frequent flyer at Continental, then it’s a card that deserves your attention.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
This card becomes particularly useful if you work for a company that allows you to book your own travel, and then reimburses you for the cost. Just make sure to pay off balances in full each month so you’re not paying any interest.
Don’t forget Continental is merging with United. You can get a United card also and receive double miles when they merge. Hmmmmm!
Thanks for your great points. One other thing though is that you could also check your general rewards cards to see if they offer travel rewards anyway. You may or may not need a specific travel card, but they are great if you are a frequent traveler.
This card has been toggling between 30,000 bonus points and 40,000 bonus points over the last year or so. So it’s good to see it settling at the higher point level right now. Also, the annual fee was increased from $85 to $95 a year. It also used to have a statement credit of $50 as part of the bonus but I guess that’s gone now. At any rate, I can’t complain about the extra 10,000 points added to the pot.