Price is exactly the same on both wesbites but I get 2 bonus miles per dollar on my credit card if I book thru expedia whereas I cannot seem to find any benefit to booking on continental.com except that I get 24 hours to change my mind (which is not an issue). Tried to call continental but they "are experiencing larger than normal call volume" and cannot answer the phone apparently.

Comments welcome. Thanks in advance.

What is the change fee in each case?

Changes/cancellations are free on continental for 24 hours; otherwise standard change fee.

Expedia: whatever the airline charges

What would you get if you used your credit card to buy at continental.com?

Continental used to have a 500-mile booking bonus, but I don't think they do now.

The only disadvantage I can think of is if there is a radical flight change or cancellation, and you have to deal with Expedia rather than Continental. Given your experience trying to get hold of Continental, maybe that's not a big issue.

All good points. In general, continental has been great to deal with. The price is pretty average and if for some reason there is a radical change in schedule or cancellation, I will probably still be able to get a flight at similar price.

If your flight is delayed or cancelled, Continental might give you the "You didn't book through us so you have to tough it out line" if your ticket is through Expedia. Continental is not responsible for doing much other than getting you on another flight if you book through Expedia. Go through Continental.

Really? That's terrible. I ended up booking through expedia to get the extra miles on my credit card but the charge on my CC is from continental.

We booked through expedia when we flew to Thailand on United/ANA and ANA, not expedia, contacted us about schedule changes, etc.

Knock on wood but I have booked on expedia many many times and have not yet had a problem. Hopefully this won't me the first! We are taking a very early flight on Thu for a wedding that is on Saturday so it looks like, barring severe weather or something like the volcanic cloud, we should be fine.

I'm sure it will be fine. True cock-ups are very rare.