This is OK if you're willing to try your luck in the upgrade crapshoot that takes place in the days and hours just before your flight -- maybe the 75Ks will do well. But if you want to get seats in F right off the bat using a companion cert then you have to hope that they will make U space available. Not holding my breath on that.

The cynic in me wonders whether they are thinking they'll effectively issue a challenge to some marginal elites this way: You can no longer use the 50% F mileage bonus on companion fare tickets to get over the top to renew your status so you have to fly more or spend more than in the past to qualify.

Edited to add: The above quote from AKLifetimeFlyer is something he got from the AS FB page. I didn't mean to make it look as if he were defending AS.