I suspect the *B is for "Bronze" a.k.a. no status.. or rather no *known* status (to their computer). Given it was an award ticket (in both cases, if I read correctly) this, in some sense, might make sense (although I've had *G printed on SQ award tickets with UA miles, so go figure).

This could also be a hint as to the rollout of Star wide upgrades and other benefits... ie even no status must be coded as something for the purpose of waitlisting, priority etc. Just a thought.