Not sure what the "it" is - if it's new/changed benefits it's not entirely surprising. Too hard to keep track of otherwise. Also, many of hte benefits are tied to renewal fee (e.g., club passes, FF rebate) so that doesn't change. Other things like promotional discounts the partners probalby want them in place right away.

As for passes, maybe existing passes can still be used by third parties? As for the change presumably they realized just how often they were being transferred, if not outright sold. It's one thing if you give it to your spouse when she's traveling alone but it probalby became the minority of cases and too hard to distinguish between a spouse and a child and a friend/work colleague and a "friend" who bought it from eBay.