While I'm glad to see the exemption for CO elites, I think it is downright shameful that airlines have long established award redemption levels that command a hefty premium on the pretense that if there's a seat available, so too will their be an award seat, yet now, even that guarantee is being deliberately eroded.

It's amazing. WN went from offering Rapid Rewards on any flight with so much as a single seat available with only a few disclosed blackout dates to implementing capacity controls with a new "Freedom" level at double the miles. That move was widely panned by those of us who frequent WN. And yet, now, the "Freedom" award, so unwelcome when it was instituted, now appears to be better than that offered by the competition inasmuch as it will still net you a seat on any flight (except on the limited blackout dates). What a sorry statement about the state of the industry's frequent flyer programs.