I'm inclined to agree with you, constructive blocking has the same net effect as a stated policy, a la UAL.

However, CO isn't even a month into Star, and already there is substantially better integration with partners (at least online) than we ever had with ST. Heck, LH isn't even available online yet... that's a huge amount of inventory that's not 'visible' presently.

So yes, I think the benefit of the doubt is still valid in this case. If we see a pattern of this 6 months, or a year into the alliance, then I think we might have a reasonable concern.