You should only see slEasyPass on partners if there is a connection to CO/CS/CM metal that would require the slEasyPass level. There is no expanded availability on any other partner metal yet that I know of.

Does anyone know if CO miles expire?

Yes and no.

They say they don't expire. But then the T&Cs also say that no activity in 18 months, and they can cancel everything out. But it's never been enforced AFAIK.

CO still continues to impress. I had an award ticket with CO miles using UA for the return. The two flight return got changed to a three segment itin due to the recent schedule changes by UA. So called CO and asked what could be done. After consulting with a supervisor, was told that they could replace the UA flights with a two flight itin on CO. There was no saver award on CO, but somehow they got it for me.

Is this unusual? I was really impressed, or was it b/c CO and UA were going to merge that they let this slip?

I'm curious with regard to your status with UA. I'm a Plat with CO and what you describe has usually been the norm for me over the years when changes occur (although there have been a few problems as well, of course, all of which were eventually rectified)......

I have no status with either UA or CO, however the FTer who gave the miles, was a gold member. I'm wondering if that is why they changed it. So is this another interesting benefit? Making award space available on their own flight when a partner screws up?

This year I've been flying a fairly balanced mix of CO and UA (based mainly on destination) and there is one big plus and one small one of CO that never seem to get mentioned.

Big plus: 24 hour same-day confirmed change (versus just three for UA).

This is huge for me when travelling on business. My departure times are often uncertain and unfortunately most of my clients won't pay for a Y fare. So I usually book the last flight out and then see about SDC if I finish up early. Sometimes I know fairly early on my last day, or even on the day before, when I'll be able to head out. With UA I still have to wait until three hours out to make the change which pretty much means if it goes through I have to hit the door immediately thereafter. With CO I can go ahead and make the change that morning and be set to go. That little bit of additional peace of mind and certainty is big for me.

Small plus: Standard row numbers on 737s

Twice this year I've gotten burned by the "TEDcraft shuffle" and found my nice Row 12 exit become the first row of E- when UA swapped A320 types. I usually catch them on check-in, but apparently I'm not always careful enough. The fact that CO standardizes the row numbers on it's 737s so you don't have to play guessing games about where the exits will be on a particular piece of equipment is a small thing, but it's a nice thing for a FF who can't always obsessively monitor equipment changes.

I am surprised no one mentioned this already. CO stooped waiving the booking fee for itineraries that can not be booked online. They now charge a phone booking fee for all phone bookings except for plats. Only plats have the ability to have the call center fee waived.

Darn does not sound like good news wrt to adding more online partners.

I just made an award resv on Croatia airlines and since it was not an online bookable partner, they waived a fee.