Duh, should I blame the goof on brain freeze or multi-tasking? Probably should be both. Thanks for the correction.

MostlyAir...any idea on how long it will be after Oct 1 till award travel will be able to again be booked online?

Does anyone know if the 20k miles companion award is still available from Midwest? I tried calling them but they disconnected after 15 minutes on hold.

Here is some recently updated info on companion award:

http://midwestairlines.custhelp.com/...d-requirements

If you read the last paragraph, it states that a companion award is only valid for
"...tickets issued for Midwest Airlines/Midwest Connect. Travel on partner airlines is not eligible for companion 20,000 mile awards."

Does this mean that the YX20 award is no longer available, as there is no longer a Midwest Airlines?

New name, same old Midwest.

I understand that the old YX20 and YXMCC15 companion awards, though not available at the moment, will be available through the EarlyReturns program, within the next month or so. It looks like much of the best of both programs will compose the new ER.

That's excellent news!

I've always thought that companion awards were advantageous for everybody:

(a) Customers get free travel for fewer miles

(b) Airline still earns significant revenue in the reward process because there is a paid ticket

(c) Other customers have a better chance of finding a free seat available on their desired flight because, for example, a couple traveling "with miles" only uses one award-available seat instead of two

(d) People are encouraged to travel more often, which benefits people and airline. If I have 50,000 miles and burn it on two free tickets (25k each), we travel once and are down to zero. If I use two companion tickets we travel twice, plus I still have 10,000 miles left plus the miles I've earned on those two paid tickets.

Updated award chart posted, with the return of the companion award.

https://www.frontierairlines.com/fro...edeem-miles.do

Now, how about the return of the companion award booked on the Frontier (Midwest) MasterCard, which provided a 5,000 mile discount on the companion award, for travel charged to the Midwest MasterCard?

It's good to see some of the more popular features of MM carried over to EarlyReturns.

Was that award always there? I don't ever recall it (nor did I use it), and about 80% of my FF award travel redemption on Midwest was with the companion award. And always with the YX Mastercard. Did I spend 5,000 miles unnecessarily time after time??


+1

Certainly not everything we liked about YX can continue -- some things are probably uncompetitive, unworkable, or simply economic non-starters. But it's encouraging to see that they find some pieces where they bring together the best of both airlines and not just pay lip service to that concept. Happliy, this isn't just a "my way or the highway" process, and it makes the disappearance of Midwest go down a notch easier. And not just for homers like me but for long-time run-of-the mill Midwest FF'ers who notice things like the loss of companion award travel.

It was not always there, though I think it was there at the winding down of MM. I used it a few times through the years. The cardholder had to travel on the paid ticket.

Are you referring to me?

Dang...oh well.

LOL...don't sell your self short!

I found some posts on the old Midwest board, including from 2008 and 2009, which discussed the Companion award promotion in conjunction with the Midwest MasterCard.

From 2008:

This would be a good promotion to reinstate, especially during the slower period at the beginning of the year.

Glad to see the companion award is back, considering that I have just over 20k miles left in my Midwest account that was rolled into Frontier.

That award will come in handy after WN dials back the FL offerings out of MKE.