Originally Posted by iahphx
I guess some would argue that their "companion pass" is an elite benefit, but it's so difficult to obtain (100 flights in a year!) and of fairly limited benefit (they make you designate only one companion, and it's cumbersome to change it), that I can't believe "real" WN travellers are salivating over it.
The 3rd place for elite could have been a protest vote against devaluation of legacy elite programs (fewer upgrades, for one thing). I can't think of another good explanation for the result.
Incidentally, in the era of double credit (just ended last month for SWABIZ customers), companion passes were quite common. 50 flights was do-able. By the end of 2007, CP's will be pretty rare.
Companion Passes are used, IIRC, an average of 4 times per year. Four free trips (even if the holder is traveling on an award) is a reasonably good perk. Yet top level elite status on a legacy carrier is more useful to most people, primarily (in my opinion) if it can break loose award seats for redemption.