If you can't get a glimpse of the passenger manifest, the (relatively) new boarding pass scanners at the gate will show "STAR" when it flashes your name. I generally spend $25k - $50k/year on CO, and have been CO* for the last few. I don't think $25k is generally enough to get it, and $50k seems more than sufficient. It seems to get me a touch more courtesy "Thank you for flying with us, Mr. CO_1mm," but that's about it that I can tell, and I think that's the point. As a revenue-based qualification (I suspect top 1%, rather than top 10%), it's hard to set firm benefits since people will go in and out of the pool, and you want some consistency of service ("No, this isn't your cart this week, Mr. CO_1mm, you were on a 'W' fare..."). Better to leave it as a relatively undefined benefit.