I just wanted to ask if any other A-List Preferred/Business Select travelers have had the same experience during the pre-flilght line up with their accompanying Companion Fare?

It seems that there is an increasing effort to not allow flyers who pay for Business Select fares (or even A-List Preferred status) to be able to fly with their Companion Fare. I fly mostly Business Select and my son (11) is my CP. It seems appropriate that we should be able to board together, since it's almost assured one of us will have to sit in a middle seat (mostly me!).

I have received responses from the boarding agents such as: "You need to purchase a Business Select Fare for your Companion Fare to board together", "You can board after all the Business Select have boarded", "You can board during family boarding (although my son wouldn't qualify for that privilege either!), or finally: "Sorry, he needs to board at his regular spot (normally middle B or low C)".

It seems to me that SWA has made a conscious decision to downgrade the "value" of the CP benefit and make it harder to use. I've had a CP for more than six years running and only lately have I had this issue. Since I'm A+Preferred, I can board as A-16 most of the time and it seems that there is no value in purchasing Business Select when traveling with my CP, even though I would be willing.

If anyone at SWA has read this, is there a reason you are creating a policy which intentionally directs your frequent travelers away from your most profitable fares when they take advantage of using their CP status, a long standing benefit of RR?